On this day, May 21st, 1850, Gustav Lindenthal was born in Brünn, Austro-Hungarian Empire, what is now Brno, in the Czech Republic.

Lindenthal began training as a mason and carpenter at the age of 16.  Two years later, he left for Vienna, becoming an assistant in the Empress Elisabeth Railway of Austria's engineering department.  While working in Vienna, he attended some engineering lectures that were open to the public, but never actually attended university or obtained a degree.  He was for all intents and purposes a self taught bridge engineer.

Lindenthal's lack of formal education hampered his successes in Europe, and he decided to move to the US in 1874.  His first employment was as a journeyman stonemason for the memorial granite building work the Centennial International Exhibition, which was in Philadelphia.  He then began working for the Keystone Bridge Company of Pittsburgh, for three years.  It was this employment that gave him the status of "bridge engineer."

In 1881, he created his own consulting business, and continued to build bridges in the Pittsburgh area.  Three years later, he founded the North River Bridge Company, in New York.  This business was intended to oversee the building of a bridge for the Pennsylvania Railroad over the Hudson River.  No such bridge was ever built, as the Pennsylvania Railroad decided upon tunnels under the river instead.  The Penn. Railroad hired North River Bridge Company  in 1904 to work on the New York Connecting Railroad, and specifically to build the bridge over the East River at a point called Hell Gate.  

Just prior to working on the Hell Gate Bridge, Lindenthal had been appointed Commissioner of Bridges, by the City of New York.  In addition to the Hell Gate Bridge, he worked on a number of other East River Crossings, and directed the Queensboro Bridge.  The Hell Gate Bridge, (originally known as the New York Connecting Railroad Bridge or The East River Arch Bridge, is a 1,017 foot, steel through arch railroad bridge, connecting Astoria Queens, and the Bronx, over the East River.  The Bridge also passes over Randall's/Ward's Island, making it a second "Triborough Bridge" (the other being the recently renamed Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, which runs parallel to the Hells Gate Bridge.  The bridge is considered an inspiration for the design of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in New South Wales, Australia, and Discover magazine estimates that if humans disappeared, the Hell Gate Bridge would disappear after at least one millennium, or roughly 700 years after most other bridges would have already fallen.  The bridge is still in use.

Lindenthal, proposed the first bridge across the Hudson River in 1920, it was to be a suspension bridge at 57th Street in Manhattan, however neither the City, nor the railroads liked the project.  Later, Othmar Ammann, a colleague of Lindenthal, proposed a smaller version, the George Washington Bridge.  He also worked on some other bridges around the country.  He continued to act as president and chief engineer of the North River Bridge Company, until his death.

On July 31, 1935, after long illness, Lindenthal died in Metuchen, New Jersey at 85 years old.

On this day, May 20th, 1927, a little known U.S. Air Mail pilot did what was to that point only something that could be imagined.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh took off at 7:52 AM from Roosevelt Field.  His destination, Paris's Le Bourget Airport.  Lindbergh arrived at 10:22 PM on Saturday, May 21, and instantly entered the annals of history.  He won the Orteig Prize.

Raymond Orteig was a New York hotel owner,(He owned the Hotel Lafayette, and the Brevoort Hotel) who on May 19, 1919 offered a reward of $25,000 to the first aviator to fly non-stop in either direction between New York City, and Paris.  In 1924, no one had won the prize, or in fact even competed for the prize.  Orteig extended the deadline for another 5 years, and aviators began to compete owing to the advancement of aviation technology.  Among those were Floyd Bennett, who was injured in a crash with Richard E. Byrd, whom he had previous accompanied on an alleged flight over the North Pole (it was later determined they had not actually accomplished this feat).

Lindbergh became the first American to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a fixed wing aircraft non-stop, and in addition, he was the first person to do so solo.  The other competitors for this prize had tended to have small teams, and Lindbergh's decision meant that he had to be at the controls for his entire 30+ hour flight.

Lindbergh was given a ticker-tape parade by the City of New York on June 13, 1927 for his accomplishment, along with a grand banquet at the Hotel Commodore with approximately 3700 attendees.

On this day, May 19, in 1962 a birthday celebration was held for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden.

The highlight of the night was Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President"

On this day, May 18th, in 2012 shares of Facebook, Inc., the Corporate owner of Facebook.com, first went on sale on the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York City.  The Initial Public Offering (IPO) had originally been filed with the Securites and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 1, 2012..  

The initial price was $38 per share, though by the end of May the stock was worth less than three quarters of its initial value.

There have been a number of investigations into the IPO, along with law suits filed regarding the underwriting, and trading glitches involved in it.

On this day, May 17th, 1829 John Jay succumbs to illness and dies. Born in Rye, New York on December 12th, 1745 Jay always maintained strong ties to New York. Throughout his long career Jay played many important roles. He served as the 1st Chief Justice of The Supreme Court, 2nd Governor of New York, 2nd United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs, United States Minister to Spain, 6th President of Continental Congress and Delegate to the 2nd Continental Congress from New York.

Many geographical areas are named after Jay including Fort Jay on Governor's Island and Jay Street in Brooklyn. In 1964, the City University of New York's College of Police Science was officially renamed the Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Jay is buried in The Jay Cemetery, a private family cemetery established by Jay himself after moving the family vaults to Rye from the Bowery in Manhattan in 1807. The cemetery is closed to the public and adjacent to the historic Jay Property. The Jay Cemetery is the oldest active cemetery associated with a figure from the American Revolution. 

On this day May 16th, 1990, James Maury "Jim" Henson died.  

Jim Henson was born in Greenville, Mississippi, on September 24, 1936.

The creator of the Muppets (a made up word for his type of puppet, sometimes claimed to be a combination of puppet and marionette), Henson started out as a puppeteer while in high school.  By the time he was a freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park, he was being asked to create a five minute puppet show for local TV station, WRC-TV, called Sam and Friends.  It was here that the prototype of the Muppets was first seen, including an early version of Henson's signature character, Kermit-the-Frog.

It was while doing Sam and Friends from 1954 to 1961, that Henson met Jane Nebel, who he married in 1959.

Sam and Friends was successful, but wound up doing many Commercials.  Henson's theory was that up to that point, the hard-sell had been the only way to sell things on television, why not make people laugh to sell things instead.

In 1963, Henson and his wife, moved to New York.  He had earlier formed Muppets, Inc, with his wife, but by this point, she quit muppeteering to raise their children.  Henson in turn hired Frank Oz and Jerry Juhl, who with Henson were the core of the writing team, and the people Henson credited with creating the humor and character of his Muppets.

During the 60s Henson and his Muppets, particularly Rowlf, the piano-playing, anthropomorphic dog, made regular appearances on the Jimmy Dean Show.  At this time, Henson also started exploring film-making, and was nominated for an Oscar in 1966.

In 1969, things would change completely, Henson was asked to work on Sesame Street, which he agreed to do.  Henson was credited with having a great deal to do with the success of Sesame Street, even by the creator of the show, Joan Ganz Cooney.

From 1975 to 1978, Henson's Muppets made appearances on the fledgling Saturday Night Live.  The writers of the show were never comfortable writing for, and were frequently disparaging of Henson's creations, with one writer stating unequivocally, "I won't write for felt."

This expansion into adult audiences, eventually begat, the Muppet Show.  Henson initially approached the US networks, but was rebuffed by executives who believed that the appeal would be limited to children.  Henson found a receptive audience in the United Kingdom, where Lew Grade agreed to finance the show.  The show was a success and ran for five seasons.  The show eventually spawned movies, and other spin-off TV shows.

Henson also started to venture into more elaborate, and sometimes darker projects, such as The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth.  

In 1986, Henson and his wife separated, though they remained close for the rest of his life, and never actually divorced.  Jane indicated that his work took almost all his time, and all five of his children began working with Muppets at an early age, at least partially due to the fact that, "One of the best ways of being around him was to work with him."

In 1990, Jim Henson, and his "Jim Henson's Creature Shop" in London, created the turtles for the feature movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  He was also developing a series eventually released in 1991, called Dinosaurs, which was a typical sitcom, but starring dinosaurs.

On May 4, 1990, Henson appeared on the Arsenio Hall show, after which he noted to his publicist that he was tired and had a sore throat, but felt that it would go away.  On May 12, Henson went to North Carolina with one of his children to visit his father and step-mother.  While in NC, he visited a doctor who examined him and found no evidence of pneumonia.  At 2 am on May 15, Henson, who had returned to New York early, and cancelled a Muppet recording session, told his wife who was visiting with him, that he might be dying, but did not want to bother going to the hospital, in spite of the fact he was having trouble breathing and coughing up blood.  Henson having been raised Christian Scientist, may have had religious reasons, but Jane felt it was more likely due to his desire not to be a bother to people.  Henson agreed to go to New York Hospital, (now New York-Presbyrterian Hospital) two hours later, being admitted at 4:58 AM.  Henson, could no longer breathe on his own, and had abscesses in his lungs.  His condition worsened quickly into septic shock, and in spite of aggressive treatment with multiple antibiotics, Henson suffered two cardiac arrests after his admission.

Jim Henson died on the Morning of May 16 at 53 years of age.  His legacy continued with his companies continuing on after his death.  He is one of only three people to be honored as both himself and as a character, Kermit the Frog, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the others being Mel Blanc, with Bugs Bunny, and Walt Disney, with Mickey Mouse.

On this day, May 15th, 1869, The National Woman Suffrage Association(NWSA) was founded in the city.

The NWSA emerged from a split in the American Equal Rights Association.  The other emergent group was the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). 


Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton opposed the Fifteenth Amendment, demanding that the amendment include women's suffrage.  They in turn founded the NWSA based upon a belief that a federal constitutional amendment was the best way to achieve their goals.  The AWSA pursued state-by-state changes.

The two organizations eventually merged in 1890, to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association(NAWSA).

On this day, May 14th, 1959, ground was broken for the Lincoln Center for the Performing arts. 

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was present.  It would be three and a half more years before the first building, the Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) opened.

On this day, May 13th, 1994, Johnny Carson, former host of The Tonight Show, made his last television appearance appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman, at the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan.

Johnny Carson had retired from the Tonight Show on May 22, 1992, and while he left open the possibility of further ventures, he made only a small handful of public appearances following his retirement.

His final appearance was a silent one.  The entire week of the appearance, the show had had the "Top Ten" list delivered by Calvert DeForest (In his role as Larry "Bud" Melman).  Each DeForest would claim to be a different famous person.  The last night that this gag was done, Letterman said that Carson was going to be delivering the Top Ten List, DeForest delivered the list in keeping with the running gag, but upon delivery, Letterman asserted that it was the wrong list, and asked that the "real" list be brought to him.  It was then, that Johnny Carson emerged, with the band playing "Johnny's Theme" from the Tonight Show."  Carson received a standing ovation from the audience, and asked David Letterman to sit behind Letterman's desk.  After a few moments sitting behind the desk, Carson left the stage without having said a single word to the audience.  Carson later indicated that he was suffering acute laryngitis.

Johnny Carson, made no further appearances on TV up to his death on January 23, 2005.

On this day, May 12th, in 1937, George Denis Patrick Carlin was born in Manhattan.  

George Carlin was a stand-up comedian, who worked the stand-up circuit, on television, film, books, and radio, and is perhaps best remembered for his "Seven Dirty Words" (that the FCC will not permit to be said) routine, and his comparison of "Baseball vs. Football".  His routines were noted for their dark humor mixed with politics, oddities of the English language, psychology, religion, and other subjects that were, and are considered taboo.

George Carlin died on June 22, 2008 in Santa Monica, California of heart failure.  He had a long history of cardiac troubles, including three heart attacks, the first in 1978.