May 25: Africa Day (1963); Independence Day in Jordan (1946) A memorial to George Floyd following his murder. 1810 – The Primera Junta, the first independent government in Argentina, was established in an open cabildo in Buenos Aires, marking the end of the May Revolution. 1940 – Second World War: German troops captured Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, forcing British forces to evacuate via Dunkirk. 1955 – Joe Brown and George Band, members of the British Kangchenjunga expedition, made the first ascent of the world's third-highest mountain but deliberately did not set foot on the summit. 1967 – Having purged a group of rivals, Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Il-sung delivered the "May 25 teaching", entrenching his son Kim Jong-il as his designated successor. 2020 – George Floyd, a black American man, was murdered (memorial pictured) during an arrest by a white police officer in Minneapolis, sparking protests in the U.S. and other countries. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi (d. 1607)Anna Maria Rückerschöld (d. 1805)Gustav Holst (d. 1934)Cillian Murphy (b. 1976) More anniversaries: May 24 May 25 May 26 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Many artworks related to the Black Lives Matter movement have been created. These works are seen as a direct tribute to those who have died or more broadly to the movement. Often the pieces are created in the streets as to be more publicly visible. This mural in Greenpoint, Brooklyn lists the names of African Americans killed by law enforcement officers in the United States, ending with George Floyd, whose murder on May 25, 2020 sparked global protests that raised the visibility of the Black Lives Matter movement. Mural credit: unknown; photographed by Rhododendrites Recently featured: Germanicus The Cocoanuts In the Loge Archive More featured pictures

May 24: Aldersgate Day (Methodism) Eric XIV of Sweden 1567 – The mentally ill King Erik XIV of Sweden (pictured) and his guards murdered five incarcerated nobles, including some members of the influential Sture family. 1689 – The Act of Toleration became law, granting freedom of worship to English nonconformists under certain circumstances, but deliberately excluding Catholics. 1798 – The Irish Rebellion of 1798 began, with battles beginning in County Kildare and fighting later spreading across the country. 1963 – United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy met with African American author James Baldwin in an unsuccessful attempt to improve race relations. 2014 – A gunman involved in Islamic extremism opened fire at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing four people. Robert Hues (d. 1632)Philip Pearlstein (b. 1924)Magnus Manske (b. 1974)Stormé DeLarverie (d. 2014) More anniversaries: May 23 May 24 May 25 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns against Arminius in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the patrician gens Claudia. The agnomen Germanicus was added to his full name in 9 BC when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honor of his victories in Germania. In AD 4 he was adopted by his paternal uncle Tiberius, himself the stepson and heir of Germanicus' great-uncle Augustus; ten years later, Tiberius succeeded Augustus as Roman emperor. As a result of his adoption, Germanicus became an official member of the gens Julia, another prominent family, to which he was related on his mother's side. His connection to the Julii Caesares was further consolidated through a marriage between him and Agrippina the Elder, a granddaughter of Augustus. He was also the father of Caligula, the maternal grandfather of Nero, and the older brother of Claudius. This bust, depicting Germanicus in AD 4, is in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Sculpture credit: unknown; photographed by J. Paul Getty Museum Recently featured: The Cocoanuts In the Loge Black-crowned barwing Archive More featured pictures

May 23: Aromanian National Day Louis of Nassau 1568 – The Dutch Revolt broke out when rebels led by Louis of Nassau (pictured) invaded Friesland at the Battle of Heiligerlee. 1873 – The North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and assert Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Territories. 1934 – During a strike against the Electric Auto-Lite company in Toledo, a fight began between nearly 10,000 American strikers and sheriff's deputies, later involving the Ohio National Guard. 1999 – Professional wrestler Owen Hart died immediately before a World Wrestling Federation match after dropping 70 feet (21 m) onto the ring during a botched entrance. Ignaz Moscheles (b. 1794)Franz Xaver von Baader (d. 1841)David Lewis (d. 1981)Luis Posada Carriles (d. 2018) More anniversaries: May 22 May 23 May 24 Archive By email List of days of the year About

The Cocoanuts is a 1929 pre-Code musical comedy film starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo). Produced for Paramount Pictures by Walter Wanger, who is not credited, the film also stars Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw, Margaret Dumont and Kay Francis. The first sound film to credit more than one director (Robert Florey and Joseph Santley), it was adapted to the screen by Morrie Ryskind from the musical play by George S. Kaufman. Five of the film's tunes were composed by Irving Berlin, including "When My Dreams Come True", sung by Oscar Shaw and Mary Eaton. Principal photography began on February 4, 1929, at Paramount’s Astoria studio, and it premiered on May 23, 1929, at the Rialto Theatre in New York. Film credit: Robert Florey and Joseph Santley Recently featured: In the Loge Black-crowned barwing Rhina Aguirre Archive More featured pictures

May 22: National Maritime Day in the United States Prayut Chan-o-cha 1766 – A magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck Constantinople and was followed by a tsunami that caused significant damage. 1874 – Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem was first performed in the San Marco church in Milan to commemorate the first anniversary of Alessandro Manzoni's death. 1998 – In Public Prosecutor v Taw Cheng Kong, the Court of Appeal of Singapore overruled a High Court decision in the only time a statute in Singapore had been ruled unconstitutional. 2014 – Prayut Chan-o-cha (pictured), the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, launched a coup d'état against the caretaker government following six months of political crisis. Jovan Vladimir (d. 1016)John Forest (d. 1538)Charles Aznavour (b. 1924)Apolo Ohno (b. 1982) More anniversaries: May 21 May 22 May 23 Archive By email List of days of the year About

In the Loge, also known as At the Opera, is an 1878 impressionist painting by the American artist Mary Cassatt. The oil-on-canvas painting displays a bourgeois woman in a loge at the opera house looking through her opera glasses, while a man in the background looks at her. The woman's costume and fan make clear her upper class status. Art historians see the painting as commentary on the role of gender, looking, and power in the social spaces of the nineteenth century. The painting is currently in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which also holds a preliminary drawing for the work. Painting credit: Mary Cassatt Recently featured: Black-crowned barwing Rhina Aguirre Chester Cathedral Archive More featured pictures

May 21: World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development Busoni c. 1897 1138 – The Crusades: The siege of Shaizar ended, and the Emir of Shaizar became a vassal of the Byzantine Empire. 1864 – American Civil War: The inconclusive Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia ended with combined Union and Confederate casualties totaling around 31,000. 1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal, linking Manchester in North West England to the Irish Sea, officially opened, becoming the world's largest navigation canal at the time. 1925 – The opera Doktor Faust, unfinished when composer Ferruccio Busoni (pictured) died, was premiered in Dresden. 2014 – A Taiwanese man carried out a stabbing spree on a Taipei Metro train, killing four people and injuring 24 others. Feng Dao (d. 954)Tommaso Campanella (d. 1639)Armand Hammer (b. 1898)Linda Laubenstein (b. 1947) More anniversaries: May 20 May 21 May 22 Archive By email List of days of the year About

The black-crowned barwing (Actinodura sodangorum) is a non-migratory bird from Mainland Southeast Asia in the family Leiothrichidae, the laughingthrushes. The species's first sighting was reported in April 1996 at Ngọc Linh, Vietnam, and it was formally described in 1999. The black-crowned barwing is the only bird in the genus Actinodura to have a black crown. It has transverse barring on the wings (wingbars) and a crest, which are characteristic of the genus. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, high-altitude shrubland, high-altitude grassland, and plantations. This black-crowned barwing was photographed in the Ngọc Linh Nature Reserve, Vietnam. Photograph credit: JJ Harrison Recently featured: Rhina Aguirre Chester Cathedral El Tatio Archive More featured pictures

May 20: National Day of Remembrance in Cambodia (1975); National Awakening Day in Indonesia (1908) 325 – The First Council of Nicaea (depicted), the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church, was formally opened by Constantine the Great. 794 – According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King Æthelberht II of East Anglia was beheaded on the orders of Offa of Mercia. 1714 – J. S. Bach led the first performance of his Pentecost cantata Erschallet, ihr Lieder at the chapel of Schloss Weimar. 1927 – With the signing of the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty of Ibn Saud over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become Saudi Arabia. 1941 – World War II: German paratroopers began the Battle of Heraklion on the island of Crete, capturing the airfield and port in Heraklion ten days later. William Fargo (b. 1818)Gertrude Guillaume-Schack (d. 1903)Nizamuddin Asir Adrawi (d. 2021) More anniversaries: May 19 May 20 May 21 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Rhina Aguirre (20 May 1939 – 30 October 2021) was a Bolivian disability activist, politician, and sociologist. An opponent of the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s, Aguirre was an early activist in the country's human rights movement. Exiled to Ecuador by the regime of Luis García Meza, she collaborated with Leonidas Proaño's indigenous ministry and worked closely with the country's peasant and social organizations. Blinded in both eyes by toxoplasmosis, Aguirre took up the cause of disability rights, joining the Departmental Council for Disabled Persons upon her return to Bolivia. In 2009, she joined the Movement for Socialism and was elected to represent the department of Tarija in the Chamber of Senators, becoming the first blind person in Bolivian history to assume a parliamentary seat. This photograph of Aguirre was taken in 2014. Photograph credit: Chamber of Senators; edited by Krisgabwoosh Recently featured: Chester Cathedral El Tatio Short-beaked echidna Archive More featured pictures

May 19: Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day in Turkey (1919); Victoria Day in Canada (2025) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle 1655 – Anglo-Spanish War: England invaded Spanish Jamaica, capturing it a week later. 1743 – French physicist Jean-Pierre Christin published the design of a mercury thermometer using the centigrade scale, with 0 representing the melting point of water and 100 its boiling point. 1828 – The United States Congress passed the largest tariff in the nation's history, which resulted in severe economic hardship in the American South. 1915 – First World War: Australian and New Zealand troops repelled the third attack on Anzac Cove, inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking Ottoman forces. 2018 – The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (both pictured) took place at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, England. Alcuin (d. 804)Claude Vignon (b. 1593)Nora Ephron (b. 1941)John Gorton (d. 2002) More anniversaries: May 18 May 19 May 20 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Chester Cathedral is a cathedral of the Church of England and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh, is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since 1541, it has been the seat of the Bishop of Chester. This photograph shows the interior of the Lady Chapel at Chester Cathedral, built between 1265 and 1290 in the Early English Gothic style. It contains the Shrine of St Werburgh, dating from the 14th century, and also has a sedilia and a piscina. It is decorated with carved roof bosses representing the Trinity, the Madonna and Child, and the murder of Thomas Becket. Photograph credit: David Iliff Recently featured: El Tatio Short-beaked echidna Margaret Hamilton Archive More featured pictures

May 18: Haitian Flag Day in Haiti (1803); Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Crimean Tatar Genocide in Ukraine The Bath School after the explosions 1302 – Armed insurrectionists massacred the occupying French garrison in Bruges, Flanders, killing approximately 2,000 people. 1695 – An earthquake measuring Ms7.8 struck Shanxi Province in northern China, resulting in at least 52,600 deaths. 1927 – Disgruntled school board treasurer Andrew Kehoe set off explosives with timers and a rifle (aftermath pictured), causing the Bath School disaster in the Bath Consolidated School in Michigan, killing 44 people in the deadliest mass murder in a school in United States history. 2009 – The Sri Lanka Army killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader and founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to bring an end to the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war. Thomas Midgley Jr. (b. 1889)Ester Boserup (b. 1910)Jean-François Théodore (d. 2015) More anniversaries: May 17 May 18 May 19 Archive By email List of days of the year About

El Tatio is a geothermal field with many geysers located in the Andes Mountains of northern Chile at 4,320 metres (14,170 ft) above mean sea level. It is the third-largest geyser field in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The geothermal field has many geysers, hot springs, and associated sinter deposits. These hot springs eventually form the Rio Salado, a major tributary of the Rio Loa, and are a major source of arsenic pollution in the river. The vents are sites of populations of extremophile microorganisms such as hyperthermophiles, and El Tatio has been studied as an analogue for the early Earth and possible past life on Mars. Photograph credit: Diego Delso Recently featured: Short-beaked echidna Margaret Hamilton Kiwifruit Archive More featured pictures

May 17: International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia Anne of Denmark 1590 – Anne of Denmark (pictured) was crowned the queen consort of Scotland in a ceremony at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh. 1863 – American Civil War: At the Battle of Big Black River Bridge in Mississippi, Union forces under John A. McClernand defeated a Confederate rearguard and captured around 1,700 men. 1900 – The first copies of the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum were printed. 1954 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and therefore unconstitutional. 1987 – An Iraqi jet fired two Exocet missiles at the American frigate USS Stark, killing 37 personnel and injuring 21 others. Caroline of Brunswick (b. 1768)Erik Satie (b. 1866)Little Gerhard (b. 1934)Maggie Laubser (d. 1973) More anniversaries: May 16 May 17 May 18 Archive By email List of days of the year About

The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is one of four living species of echidna. It is covered in fur and spines, has a distinctive snout to help detect its surroundings, and uses a specialized tongue to catch insects. Its extremely strong front limbs and claws allow it to burrow quickly. It repels predators by curling into a ball and deters them with its spines. During the Australian winter, it goes into deep torpor and hibernation. As the temperature increases, it emerges to mate. Female echidnas lay one egg a year and the mating period is the only time the solitary animals meet. A newborn echidna grows rapidly on mother's milk and is expelled into the mother's burrow when it grows too large for the pouch. It leaves the burrow when it is around six months old. The species is found throughout Australia and in coastal and highland regions of eastern New Guinea. It is not threatened with extinction, but human activities have reduced its distribution in Australia. This photograph shows a Tasmanian short-beaked echidna (T. a. setosus), a subspecies of the short-beaked echidna, near Scottsdale, Tasmania. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp Recently featured: Margaret Hamilton Kiwifruit Lysander Spooner Archive More featured pictures

May 16: Global Accessibility Awareness Day (2024); Malcolm X Day in some parts of the United States (2025) Junko Tabei 1426 – Mohnyin Thado captured Sagaing to become the king of Ava, in present-day Myanmar. 1605 – After a scuffle in which one cardinal received broken bones, a papal conclave convened in Rome elected Camillo Borghese as Pope Paul V. 1929 – The first Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California. 1975 – Japanese climber Junko Tabei (pictured) became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Pietro da Cortona (d. 1669)William H. Seward (b. 1801)Amanda Asay (b. 1988) More anniversaries: May 15 May 16 May 17 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Margaret Hamilton (December 9, 1902 – May 16, 1985) was an American entertainer and educator, with a fifty-year career in entertainment spanning theater, film, radio and television. She was best known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West and her Kansas counterpart Almira Gulch in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz. A former schoolteacher, she worked as a character actress in films for seven years before she was offered the role that defined her public image. In later years, Hamilton appeared in films and made frequent cameo appearances on television sitcoms and commercials. She also gained recognition for her work as an advocate of causes designed to benefit children and animals and retained a lifelong commitment to public education. This photograph shows Hamilton as Miss Eddels in Sid and Marty Krofft's Sigmund and the Sea Monsters c. 1973. Photograph credit: NBC Television Network; restored by Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Kiwifruit Lysander Spooner Cape Barren goose Archive More featured pictures

May 15: Feast day of Saint Carthage (Catholicism); Nakba Day in Palestinian communities; Peace Officers Memorial Day in the United States Statue of Valentinian II 392 – Roman emperor Valentinian II (pictured) was found hanged in his residence in Vienne, in present-day France. 1725 – Bach led the first performance of his cantata Ich bin ein guter Hirt, BWV 85, about Jesus as the Good Shepherd. 1855 – Thieves stole 224 pounds (102 kg) of gold from a train travelling from London to Folkestone, England. 1864 – American Civil War: A small Confederate force, which included cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, forced the Union army out of the Shenandoah Valley. 1916 – Jesse Washington, a teenage African-American farmhand, was lynched in Waco, Texas. Hilary of Galeata (d. 558)Emily Dickinson (d. 1886)K. M. Cariappa (d. 1993) More anniversaries: May 14 May 15 May 16 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Kiwifruit is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus Actinidia. The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa 'Hayward') is oval, 5–8 centimetres (2–3 inches) in length and 4.5–5.5 cm (1+3⁄4–2+1⁄4 in) in diameter. Kiwifruit has a thin, fuzzy, fibrous, tart but edible, light brown skin and light green or golden flesh with rows of tiny, black, edible seeds. Kiwifruit is native to central and eastern China, with the first recorded description dating back to the 12th century during the Song dynasty. In 2023, world kiwifruit production was 4.4 million tonnes, led by China with 55% of the total. This focus-stacked photograph shows the cross-section of a kiwifruit grown in Portugal. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus Recently featured: Lysander Spooner Cape Barren goose Xbox 360 Archive More featured pictures

May 14: Feast day of Saint Matthias (Catholicism) Monument to the Battle of Lewes 1264 – Second Barons' War: King Henry III was defeated at the Battle of Lewes (monument pictured) and forced to sign the Mise of Lewes, making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England. 1857 – Mindon Min was crowned as King of Burma. 1863 – American Civil War: Union troops captured Jackson, the capital of Mississippi. 1931 – Five people were killed in Ådalen, Sweden, as soldiers opened fire on an unarmed trade union demonstration. 1948 – David Ben-Gurion publicly read the Israeli Declaration of Independence at Independence Hall in Tel Aviv. Fanny Imlay (b. 1794)Mary Seacole (d. 1881)Miranda Cosgrove (b. 1993)Taruni Sachdev (b. 1998; d. 2012) More anniversaries: May 13 May 14 May 15 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 — May 14, 1887) was an American abolitionist, entrepreneur, lawyer, essayist, natural rights legal theorist, pamphleteer, political philosopher, and writer often associated with the Boston anarchist tradition. He is known for establishing the American Letter Mail Company, which competed with the United States Postal Service. This undated photograph of Spooner was taken by Amory Nelson Hardy. Photograph credit: Amory Nelson Hardy; restored by Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Cape Barren goose Xbox 360 Ottmar Mergenthaler Archive More featured pictures

May 13: Yom HaZikaron in Israel (2024) Aftermath of the Enschede explosion 1909 – The inaugural edition of the Giro d'Italia, a long-distance multiple-stage bicycle race, began in Milan; the Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna was the eventual winner. 1958 – US vice president Richard Nixon's motorcade was attacked by a mob in Caracas, Venezuela. 2000 – An explosion (aftermath pictured) at a fireworks factory in Enschede, Netherlands, resulted in 23 deaths and approximately €450 million in damage. 2008 – Nine bombs placed by the Indian Mujahideen, then an unknown terrorist group, exploded in a 15-minute period in Jaipur, India, killing 80 people and injuring more than 200 others. Maria Theresa (b. 1717)John Littlejohn (d. 1836)Alicja Iwańska (b. 1918)Gary Cooper (d. 1961) More anniversaries: May 12 May 13 May 14 Archive By email List of days of the year About

The Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) is a species of goose endemic to southern Australia. It was first formally described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801. Adult Cape Barren geese are large birds, typically measuring 75 to 100 centimetres (30 to 39 inches) long and weighing between 3.7 to 5.2 kilograms (8.2 to 11.5 pounds), with males generally being larger than females. The plumage is mostly pale grey with a slight brown tint. The head is somewhat small in proportion to the body and mostly grey in colour, save for a pale whitish patch on the forehead and crown. Cape Barren geese are largely terrestrial, only occasionally swimming. They predominantly graze on grasses, sedges, legumes, herbs, and succulents. This Cape Barren goose was photographed near Karatta, on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp Recently featured: Xbox 360 Ottmar Mergenthaler Euphaedra themis Archive More featured pictures

May 12 B-17 bombers intercepting the Rex 1743 – War of the Austrian Succession: Habsburg ruler Maria Theresa was crowned Queen of Bohemia after Austrian forces drove French troops from the territory. 1938 – During an exercise to demonstrate air power, United States Army Air Corps bomber aircraft intercepted the Italian ocean liner SS Rex (pictured) 620 nautical miles (1,100 km) off the US Atlantic coast. 1948 – The United Kingdom publicly announced that it was independently developing nuclear weapons, after the US Atomic Energy Act of 1946 ended cooperation on the matter. 1968 – Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force began the defence of Fire Support Base Coral in the largest unit-level action of the war for the Australian Army. 1998 – Four students were shot and killed by Indonesian soldiers at Trisakti University in Jakarta, which led to widespread riots and the resignation of President Suharto nine days later. Thomas Palaiologos (d. 1465)Otto Frank (b. 1889)Moto Hagio (b. 1949) More anniversaries: May 11 May 12 May 13 Archive By email List of days of the year About

The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detailed launch and game information announced later that month at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). This photograph shows the "Pro" model from the launch line-up, which featured a 20GB hard drive, wireless controller and a silver DVD bezel. Photograph credit: Evan-Amos Recently featured: Ottmar Mergenthaler Euphaedra themis Allies of World War II Archive More featured pictures

May 11 Shireen wearing press vest 868 – A copy of the Diamond Sutra was printed in Tang-dynasty China, making it the world's oldest dated printed book. 1889 – Bandits attacked a U.S. Army paymaster's escort in the Arizona Territory, stealing more than $28,000. 1970 – Lubbock, Texas, was struck by a tornado that left 26 people dead. 2010 – Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party after failing to strike a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats. 2022 – Shireen Abu Akleh (pictured) was killed by Israel Defense Forces in Jenin refugee camp. 2022 – Myanmar civil war: Government troops killed 37 unarmed civilians in Mondaingbin. Richard Feynman (b. 1918)Judy Ann Santos (b. 1978)Zenna Henderson (d. 1983) More anniversaries: May 10 May 11 May 12 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Ottmar Mergenthaler (11 May 1854 – 28 October 1899) was the inventor of the linotype machine, the first device that could easily and quickly set complete lines of type for use in printing presses. Mergenthaler was born into a German family in Hachtel in the Kingdom of Württemberg. He was apprenticed to a watchmaker in Bietigheim before emigrating to the United States in 1872 to work in Washington, D.C., with his cousin August Hahl. In 1876, Mergenthaler was approached by James O. Clephane and his associate Charles T. Moore, who sought a quicker way of publishing legal briefs. By 1884, he conceived the idea of assembling metallic letter molds, called matrices, and casting molten metal into them, all within a single machine. In July 1886, the Mergenthaler Linotype Company installed the first commercially used Linotype in the printing office of the New-York Tribune. This photograph shows Mergenthaler at approximately 45 years of age in 1899; he died that year in Baltimore of tuberculosis. Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Euphaedra themis Allies of World War II Auxiliary Territorial Service Archive More featured pictures