May 15 in Pop Culture History

May 15 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

May 15 History Highlights

  • 1911 – With Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. The United States, the United States Supreme Court declared Standard Oil to be an “unreasonable” monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and ordered the company to be broken up.
  • 1941 – Joe DiMaggio began a 56-game hitting streak.
  • 1970 – President Richard Nixon appointed Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army generals.
  • 2008 – California became the second U.S. state (after Massachusetts in 2004) to legalize same-sex marriage
  • If you were born on May 15th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… August 22nd (prior year)

Quick History of Time on Earth

If the history of the universe was condensed into a year, the Milky Way would form on May 15, life on earth would appear on September 21, and the dinosaurs would go extinct on December 30. Modern humans would evolve on December 31 at 11:52 PM and Columbus would discover America at 11:59:58 PM. (this factoid is valid for the next few million years)

May 15 is…

Chocolate Chip Cookie Day
Day of Families
Over the Rainbow Day
Peace Officer’s Memorial Day
Pizza Party Day

May 15 Birthday Quotes

“I believe that dreams – daydreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain machinery whizzing – are likely to lead to the betterment of the world.”
– L. Frank Baum

“Television and radio do a wonderful job in focusing attention on the problems of our society.”
– Richard J. Daley

“The men may be the head of the house, but the women are the neck and they can turn the head any way they want.”
– Lainie Kazan

“Stay busy and take care of your own business.”
– Eddy Arnold

“Truth is whatever people will believe.”
– Roger Ailes

May 15 Birthdays

1856 – L. Frank Baum, American novelist (died in 1919)
1902 – Richard J. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (died in 1976)
1905 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (died in 1994)
1918 – Eddy Arnold, American singer-songwriter (died in 2008)
1930 – Jasper Johns, American painter and sculptor
1940 – Roger Ailes, American broadcaster (died in 2017)
1940 – Lainie Kazan, American actress
1981 – Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress
1990 – Stella Maxwell, New Zealand model

May 15 History

1501
Ottaviano Petrucci opened the first modern-style music publishing house by producing the first book of music made from movable type in Venice.

1536
Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stood trial in London on charges of treason, adultery, and incest. Found guilty, she was executed a few days later, on May 19.

1793
Diego Marín Aguilera flew a glider for approximately 1,000 feet during one of Spain’s first attempted manned flights.

1800
President John Adams ordered the new US federal government to leave Philadelphia and move to the nation’s new capital Washington DC.

1858
Royal Opera House opened in Covent Garden, London, with a performance of Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots.

1862
President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture, later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture.

1869
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the New York National Woman Suffrage Association.

1895
A guesstimated F5 tornado hit Sherman, Texas, and killed 73 people.

1891
Pope Leo XIII defends workers’ rights and property rights in the encyclical Rerum Novarum.

1928
Walt Disney’s character Mickey Mouse premiered in his first (silent) cartoon, Plane Crazy. 1929’s Steamboat Willie had sound. Plane Crazy was re-released with sound later in 1929.

1932
Japanese insurgents plotted to kill Charlie Chaplin and their own Prime Minister to provoke war with the US and incite “restoration” in the name of the Emperor.

1935
Albert Einstein was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal for his outstanding fundamental contributions to theoretical physics, especially his relativity theory, at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA.

1940
Nylon stockings were sold for the first time in the United States.

1940
Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their hamburger restaurant in San Bernardino, California.

1942
Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAACs) was formed, granting women official US military status.

1953
Stanley L. Miller’s paper on synthesizing amino acids under conditions that simulated primitive Earth’s atmosphere was published in Science. Miller had applied an electric discharge to a mixture of CH4, NH3, H2O, and H2 (believed at the time to be the atmospheric composition of early Earth.), creating a mixture of amino acids, hydroxy acids, and urea.

1955
Makalu – 27,838 ft (8,485 m) – Nepal/Tibet – First ascent: May 15, 1955, by Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy

1958
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 3.

1960
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 4.

1972
In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shot and paralyzed Alabama Governor George Wallace, who was campaigning to become president.

1976
#1 Hit May 15, 1976 – May 21, 1976: The Sylvers – Boogie Fever

1982
#1 Hit May 15, 1982July 2, 1982: Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder – Ebony and Ivory

1985
May 15, 1985 (fiction) Lord Richard Croft, father of Lara Croft disappeared, Tomb Raider, Video Game/Film

1993
#1 Hit May 15, 1993July 9, 1993: Janet Jackson – That’s The Way Love Goes

2001
The final Friends episode aired on NBC: The One with Monica and Chandler’s Wedding.

2010
#1 Hit May 15, 2010 – May 21, 2010: Usher featuring will.i.am – OMG

2010
Jessica Watson became, at age 16, the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted, around the world, solo.

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

A polar bears’ fur is not white. It’s actually pigment-free and transparent and reflects visible light

The Seven Deadly Sins #5- Anger is the loss of rational self-control and the desire to harm others.

The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.

TV star Soupy Sales once asked the children who watched his show to send him “funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents” from their parent’s wallets and purses. He was suspended for two weeks when his parents complained.

“My mom won’t give us the money, she said we’d only spend it on drugs.” … “Well, we would.” – Sid & Nancy #moviequotes

“As Bertrand Russell once said, ‘The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.’ I think we can all appreciate the relevance of that now.” – Shaun

The Capital of Sudan is Khartoum

Multiple similar Objects that are hidden together are called a Stash.

‘Petrichor’ is the word for ‘the smell of rain.’

The speed of a clock’s second hand is exactly 1 RPM.

“After all, tomorrow is another day!” – Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) #moviequotes

Being famous means you have to comb your hair every time you go outside.

More Pop Culture History Resources