First Commissioned Female Airmail Pilot
On May 23, 1918, Katherine Stinson became the first woman hired by the post office to deliver airmail in the US. She had several other notable firsts and records in her short flying career.
This Day in History
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Birth of Mary Cassatt
Artist Mary Stevenson Cassatt was born on May 22, 1844, in Allegheny City (present-day Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania. She was called one of the three great ladies of Impressionism, and is credited with helping popularize the art style among American art collectors.
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Birth of John L. Hines
General John Leonard “Birdie” Hines was born on May 21, 1868, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. During World War I, Hines successively commanded a regiment, brigade, division, and corps in combat. He was the first person to do that since the Civil War.
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First Woman to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic
On May 20, 1932, Amelia Earhart completed the first solo flight across the Atlantic by a female, five years to day after Charles Lindbergh first made the same trip.
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Death of Nathaniel Hawthorne
American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, while on a trip with former president Franklin Pierce to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.
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Siege of Vicksburg
On May 18, 1863, the key Siege of Vicksburg began. The fight for this Mississippi River stronghold became one of the longest and most demanding Union operations of the Civil War.
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Butterfly Series
On May 17, 2010, the USPS issued the first stamp in the Butterfly Series. The stamps were created for use on envelopes that couldn’t be sorted on the USPS’s automated equipment, otherwise known as “nonmachinable.” They’re often used for greeting cards.
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Birth of the Laser – International Day of Light
On May 16, 1960, Theodore Maiman fired up a device that turned a flash of light into something sharper, brighter, and far more useful. His first working laser later gave May 16 its place as the International Day of Light, a yearly reminder of how light-based science changed medicine, communications, industry, and daily life.
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Birth of L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was born on May 15, 1856, in Chittenango, New York, about 30 miles from Mystic’s home in Camden. Long before he created Dorothy, Toto, and the Yellow Brick Road, Baum followed a winding path through printing, stamps, poultry, theater, newspapers, sales work, and children’s books.
