May
in History
Compiled by Chris Rowan
Mother’s
Day
In
1872, Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the lyrics to the Battle Hymn of the Republic,
proposed the idea of an observance called Mothers for Peace Day. The
idea evolved into a day honoring motherhood. On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow
Wilson declared the second Sunday in May as a national day of
observance to honor the nation’s mothers.
Memorial
Day
On
May 5, 1866, residents of Waterloo, New York, gathered to honor Americans who
died fighting for the Union in the Civil War. They called the event “Memorial
Day.” It became a national day of remembrance, first observed on May 30, 1868.
Now it honors all Americans who died in war and is observed on the last
Monday in May.
On May 30, 1945 New York City held its last Memorial Day parade sponsored by Civil War veterans.
Firsts
In Education
On
May 3, 1765 the first medical school in the 13 colonies opened in Philadelphia.