Daily Calendar for May 15th, 2021

The Old Farmer's Almanac daily calendar gives you quick reference for the significant events on any day throughout the year.

Armed Forces Day

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.

Every Year

• International Day of Families

1600s

• 1602: English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold arrived at Shoal Hope in what is now Massachusetts. They caught so many cod there they renamed it Cape Cod

1610s

• 1618: Johannes Kepler verified his Third Law of Planetary Motion

1710s

• 1718: James Puckle was granted a patent for his "Defence Gun," the world's first rapid-fire gun

1830s

• 1836: The "Baily's Beads" solar eclipse phenomenon was first described

1850s

• Born 1856: L. Frank Baum (author)

• Born 1857: Williamina Fleming (astronomer)

• Born 1859: Pierre Curie (chemist)

1880s

• Died 1886: Emily Dickinson (poet)

1890s

• Born 1890: Katherine Anne Porter (novelist)

1900s

• 1900: Rain and fish fell from the sky in Olneyville, Rhode Island. Most of the fish measured 2- to 4-inches long.

1930s

• 1930: Ellen Church became the first airline stewardess, at Boeing Air Transport

1960s

• 1963: First live TV pictures received from a U.S. spacecraft, (Faith 7)

• Born 1969: Emmitt Smith (football player)

1970s

• Born 1970: Rod Smith (football player)

• 1972: Governor George Wallace of Alabama was shot

1980s

• Born 1980: Josh Beckett (baseball player)

• Born 1987: Andy Murray (tennis player)

2000s

• Died 2003: June Carter Cash (singer)

• 2005: Boston Red Sox player Manny Ramirez hit his 400th home run

• Died 2007: Jerry Falwell

2010s

• Died 2011: Barbara Stuart (actress)

• 2017: Four bear cubs playing on a backyard trampoline was caught on video in Avon, Connecticut

2020s

• 2022: Total Eclipse of the Moon.