May 19, 1536 London, England Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, is executed for treason, incest, and adultery Henry secretly married Anne before his annulment to his first wife, Catherine, was official. Anne bore Henry a daughter, future queen Elizabeth I, though Henry was hoping for a male heir. Anne became pregnant three more…
Franklin’s Lost Expedition, and the mummies it left behind
May 19, 1845 England The doomed Franklin Expedition begins its journey The expedition was intended to find the Northwest Passage, a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic north of Canada. The map Sir John Franklin possessed was severely inaccurate and he believed the journey would take 3 years. With this…
Woman stabs romantic rival at dance (1878)
From the Chicago Daily Tribune Published May 19, 1878 One woman stabbed another when the victim danced with the attacker’s husband. Both the victim, Narcissa Cowart, and the husband, Bob Southern, had been told to stay away from the other during a party, but eventually the pair danced. (Newspapers report different versions of the story,…
Man killed by police after killing spree
May 19, 1984 Manley Hot Springs, Alaska Michael Silka is shot and killed by Alaska state troopers following a murder spree Silka, a long-time drifter and an Army veteran, had recently found his way to Alaska, briefly staying in Fairbanks. There, he is suspected to have killed his neighbor, Roger Culp, on April 28, 1984.…
