ON THIS DAY MAY 7
1429 The siege of Orleans is broken by French heroine Joan of Arc, boosting morale and paving the way for victory in the Hundred Years War (in realisty 116) with England.
1765 The HMS Victory, the world’s oldest naval ship still in commission, is launched. 1867 Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel – in whose memory the awards that bear his name are given out each year – patents dynamite. 1934 The world’s largest pearl, at a whopping 6.4 kg, is found at Palawan, Philippines.
1942 The Battle of Coral Sea ends, stopping Japanese expansion. It is Japan’s first defeat of World War II. The battle marked the first time that two forces fought only using aircraft without the ships ever sighting each other. 1945 World War II: The unconditional German surrender to the Allies is signed by General Alfred Jodl at Rheims, France.
1952 The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all computers, is described.
1954 The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in an embarrassing French defeat in Vietnam.
1986 Canadian Patrick Morrow becomes the first person to conquer the Seven Summits (the highest peak on each continent).
1994 Expressionist Edvard Munch’s iconic painting, The Scream, is recovered after being stolen earlier in the year.
2004 American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamic militants. The act is filmed and released on the Internet.
2012 Paeleoclimatological researchers say dinosaur farts may have warmed the earth. 2015 Explorers find silver from pirate Captain William Kidd’s treasure near Madagascar. 2019 Hackers seize control of the computer system of the US city of Baltimore, demanding a ransom in Bitcoins to unlock them.
2021 Hugo Ernesto Osorio Chávez (“The Psychopath of Chalchuapa”) is arrested in Chalchuapa, El Salvador, after the graves of 40 people is found on his property.
2022 Afghan women are told by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to cover up in public, or their male guardian will face criminal punishment.
2023 Syria is readmitted into the influential Arab League, 10 years after being thrown out for repressing pro-democracy protesters