14 May in history
6 events that happened on 14 May, from 1607 to 1973.
✦ Anniversary of the day
1607 CE 419 years ago
English colonists land at Jamestown
Settlers of the Virginia Company came ashore on a peninsula in the James River and built a fort. Despite famine and disease, Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in America.
1610 CE 416 years ago
Henry IV of France is assassinated in Paris
François Ravaillac stabbed the king when his carriage was halted in the rue de la Ferronnerie. Henry, who had ended the Wars of Religion, was succeeded by his eight-year-old son Louis XIII.
1948 CE 78 years ago
David Ben-Gurion proclaims the State of Israel
As the British Mandate ended, Ben-Gurion declared Israel's independence in Tel Aviv. Neighbouring Arab states invaded the next day, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced in the war.
1955 CE 71 years ago
Soviet bloc signs the Warsaw Pact
The USSR and seven Eastern European states formed a military alliance days after West Germany joined NATO. The pact lasted until 1991.
1973 CE 53 years ago
NASA launches Skylab, America's first space station
Skylab was launched on the last Saturn V flown. Damaged on ascent, it was repaired by its first crew, and three crews lived aboard for a total of 171 days.
