May The 20th

1. William Bradford was born in Barwell, Leicestershire, England 1663. Emigrating to America in November of 1685, he established the first printing press in Pennsylvania 1685 and in New York 1693. His first publication was the Kalendarium Pennsilvaniense Almanac by Samuel Atkins. In 1725 he began publishing New York’s first newspaper, The New-York Gazette. He died at age 89 on May 23rd in New York City. His tombstone is at the Trinity Church Cemetery.
2. In 1674 Poland obtained it’s first king – John III Sobieski, born August 17th 1629, Olesko, Ruthenian Voivodeship (Now as of writing Ukraine). Although elected to kingship in 1674, due to the ongoing war with the Ottomans, he was not coronated until two years latter on February 2nd 1676.
3. 1775 North Carolina becomes the first colony to declare independence from England. This is where the motto “First in Freedom” comes from on their License Plates. Also in 1861 North Carolina becomes the last state to secede from the union.
4. In 1861 Kentucky declares it’s neutrality in the U.S. civil war.
5. Amelia Earhart begins the first solo non-stop flight by a woman across the Atlantic Ocean, leaving from Newfoundland to Ireland the next day.