VE Day celebrated (1945), smallpox eradicated (1980), USSR boycotts 1984 Olympics, AIM occupation of Wounded Knee ends (1973), Doctor No released (1963), first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (1877), Hernando de Soto reaches Mississippi River (1541), first eye bank opens (1944), Let it Be released (1970), Jean-Henri Dunant born (1828).
VE Day was celebrated. (1945) The United States and Europe celebrated the Allied victory in Europe after the surrender of all German forces the day before. Tens of thousands of POWs were released, and although there was sporadic little fighting for a few days afterward, the war was over.
WHO has certified that smallpox has been eradicated. (1980) Smallpox was a huge killer worldwide until a vaccine was created in the late 1700s. The last natural case of smallpox occurred in 1975; by 1979 it was clear that the disease had been eradicated, a fact confirmed by WHO in 1980.
The USSR announced it would boycott the 1984 Olympics. (1984) The USSR was responding to the United States’ boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, although it claimed it was boycotting the games because Los Angeles was too dangerous for their athletes . Other communist countries followed suit, drastically reducing competition in games.
The AIM occupation of Wounded Knee has ended. (1973) Members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) had occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota, for 71 days to protest the massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee in 1890. Federal agents responded, and though several people were killed during it ended peacefully when the protesters surrendered.
Doctor No was released. (1963) It was the first of the James Bond films and introduced Sean Connery to the world as the easygoing super-spy. The film was a success and the franchise took off with Connery starring in six more Bond films.
First Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show inaugurated. (1877) The show was initially held mainly for hunting dogs, and was so popular that it had to be extended one day longer than planned. It is one of the oldest continuously running sporting events in the United States, along with the Kentucky Derby which started two years earlier.
The first European reached the Mississippi River. (1541) Hernando de Soto crossed the Mississippi River on this day, the first European to see it. De Soto was one of the first of many Europeans who explored America in hopes of finding a route to China, and was also known to have conquered large parts of Central America and claimed them for Spain.
The first eye bank has opened in the United States. (1944) The first eye bank, a clinic that collects donated eyes and eye tissue and performs eye transplants, was founded in New York on this day by Dr. Townley Paton.
Let it Be was released. (1970) was the last studio album released by the Beatles, and was released just days after McCartney announced the band was breaking up.
Jean-Henri Dunant is born. (1828) Dunant was a Swiss businessman who was also the founder of the Red Cross. He was also the first person to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which he won in 1901 for his work with the Red Cross.
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