May 19th, 296 CE—Aurelia Apollonia aka Dieus petitions the board of protostatai of Oxyrhynchus #OTD#OnThisDay, saying that while the normal rotation of duties would require her yoke of oxen to haul stones for construction, one of her oxen has injured its foot
#OnThisDay, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington state. It has often been declared the most disastrous volcanic eruption in U.S. history (depicted in St. Helens, 1981)
The PDP-10, a computer from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), played an important role in early computing. It made time-sharing common, and even helped build the early ARPANET, the precursor to modern internet. On this day May 17 1983, DEC announced the cancellation of the PDP-10, marking the end of an era. The PDP-10 legacy lives on in hacker folklore, and the ALT key on your keyboard is a legacy from WAITS, an operating system that ran on the PDP-10. #RetroComputing#DEC#PDP10#OnThisDay
Minecraft wird heute 15 Jahre alt und wir haben es immer noch nicht geschafft, das ZDF-Sendegebäude nachzubauen. Vielleicht, weil's ein Rundbau ist ...
#OnThisDay, May 16, 1568, Mary, Queen of Scots fled to England seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Queen Elizabeth I (depicted in Mary Queen of Scots, 2018)
#OnThisDay in 1917, the Austro-Hungarian navy attacked the Otranto Barrage. Three cruisers, two destroyers, and three submarines took part in the largest attack on the anti-submarine barrier. Of the forty-seven drifters on the barrage, fourteen were sunk and another four damaged.
Some drifters fought back, including the Gowan Lee, whose captain won the Victoria Cross.
#OnThisDay, 15 May 1946, Camilla Williams makes her operatic debut as Cio-Cio San with the New York City Opera. She is the first Black woman to sign a contract with a major US opera company.
#OnThisDay, 14 May 1943, Vera Leigh returns to France to work as a courier for the British Special Operations Executive.
A fashion designer, Leigh had fled France in 1942 after running escape lines for Allied airmen.
After her return, Leigh carried documents and equipment such as guns and explosives around her network's area. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1944, she was executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.
🌞 Good morning, #fediverse! This is GBH #News bringing you the world from #Boston. It's 54F at Logan Airport and visibility is 10mi.
Over the weekend, people in many parts of North America were able to see the Northern Lights, as the aurora borealis was visible much further south than usual.
Somerville observed its annual Porchfest, with the band Guster making an unexpected appearance.
#OnThisDay in 1965, the Rolling Stones recorded "Satisfaction."
#OnThisDay, 12 May 1743, Maria Theresa Habsburg is crowned Queen of Bohemia and consolidates her position as the ruler of the Austrian empire. The Seven Year War was promoted by rival claims to the empire, and she worked to elevate her husband to be Holy Roman Emperor. After his death she co-ruled with her son.
She sponsored trials of smallpox inoculation, having lost three of her children to the disease.
On 12th May 1820 Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy. The day is now celebrated worldwide as International Nurses Day. She enrolled at the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserswerth in Germany for two weeks of training in July 1850 and again for three months in July 1851. There she learned basic nursing skills, the importance of patient observation, and the value of good hospital organization.
One of this city's most haunting #monuments isn't even particular monumental: An unsuspicious window in the middle of #Berlin’s Bebelplatz (former #Opernplatz) - bookshelves in the ground.
Empty bookshelves.
Commemorating the #BookBurning which took place right here #OnThisDay, May 10th in 1933.