President Harry S. Truman led the effort to establish a single holiday for citizens to come together and thank our military members for their patriotic service in support of our country. On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Days. The single day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under the Department of Defense and is observed on the third Saturday in May.
Daily Calendar for Saturday, May 20, 2028
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Saturday, May 20, 2028
Died
- Christopher Columbus (explorer) –
- Joseph Carr (president of NFL) –
- Gilda Radner (actress) –
- Stephen Jay Gould (paleontologist & author) –
- Robin Gibb (musician; member of the Bee Gees) –
- George Wendt (actor) –
Born
- William Thornton (architect) –
- Dolley Madison (U.S. First Lady) –
- William Fargo (businessman) –
- Allan Nevins (historian) –
- Jimmy Stewart (actor) –
- Joe Cocker (musician) –
- Cher (singer & actress) –
- Tony Stewart (race car driver) –
- Trinity Rodman (soccer player) –
Events
- First Council of Nicaea (which standardized how to calculate the date of Easter) likely convened –
- D. Hyde patented the fountain pen –
- Homestead Act signed –
- Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a patent for riveted pocket openings for pants. –
- The Saturday Evening Post published its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting –
- Charles Lindbergh began first nonstop solo flight across Atlantic –
- First airplane catapulted from a dirigible –
- A 680-pound goliath grouper was caught off Fernandina Beach, Florida –
- Rare Madagascar teal duck born, Louisville Zoo, Kentucky –
- Up to 20 million honeybees escaped from a tractor-trailer after it overturned on a highway in Newark, Deleware –
- The Planetary Society’s LightSail-A, a sun-propelled sail, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. –
Weather
- Strafford, Vermont, received 10 inches of snow –
- Six inches of snow fell on Lexington, Kentucky –
- Codell, Kansas, hit by a tornado –
- For the second year in a row, Codell, Kansas, was hit by a tornado on this date –
- For the third year in a row, Codell, Kansas, was hit by a tornado on this date –
- A tornado took to the ground in Kansas City, Missouri, and traveled 71 miles –
- Near Eloy, Arizona, scientists began a 3.5 week experiment to study the nature of dust devils. –