THE DAY IN HISTORY · MAY 15
May 15 in history
What happened on May 15: 3 moments from the Maps of History atlases, in 1850, 1919 and 1940, each linked to the map that shows it.
— Bloody Island massacre
15 May 1850 — At Clear Lake, US Army soldiers led by Nathaniel Lyon and J. W. Davidson kill Pomo men, women and children. Pomo workers had killed two settlers who had enslaved and starved them. Estimates of those killed at Clear Lake range from at least 60 to several hundred. A plaque erected in 1942 called the event a battle; a 2005 plaque names it a massacre.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
— Greek landing at Smyrna
15 May 1919 — Greek troops land at Smyrna under Allied warships to claim western Anatolia. The partition of the Ottoman Empire helps ignite the Turkish War of Independence. Within months, the peacemakers discover that drawing a map is one thing; establishing their settlement on the ground is another.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE WWI MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
— Battle of Sedan
13–15 May 1940 — German panzers come through the supposedly “impassable” Ardennes and cross the Meuse at Sedan. From there they race toward the sea.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE WW2 MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
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