May 18th – On This Day
1991 - Chemist Helen Sharman from Sheffield was the first Briton to go into space, as a participant in a Soviet space mission.
May 17th – On This Day
1899 - Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of the newly named Victoria & Albert Museum, and proclaimed, "I trust it will remain for ages a monument of discerning liberty and a source of refinement and progress".
May 16th – On This Day
1943 - The famous ‘Dam Busters’ raid by the 617 Squadron of Lancaster bombers led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson breached the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany using the ‘bouncing’ bombs developed by Dr Barnes Wallis.
May 15th – On This Day
1921 - The formation of the British Legion by Earl Haig (known as 'Butcher of the Somme').. It brought together four National Organisations of ex-Service men that had established themselves after the Great War.
May 14th – On This Day
1894 - Blackpool Tower first opened to the public who paid a 6d (six pence) entrance fee, six pence more for a ride in the lifts to the top, and a further six pence for the circus.
May 13th – On This Day
1949 - Britain’s first jet bomber, the Canberra, was given its first test flight at Warton in Lancashire and was flown by Wing Cdr. RP Beaumont.
May 12th – On This Day
1945 - The publication of the first of the 'Thomas the Tank Engine' series by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. It was entitled 'The Three Railway Engines' and featured Edward, Gordon and Henry.
May 11th – On This Day
1964 - Interior designer and businessman Terence Conran opened his first Habitat Shop in London's Fulham Road.
May 10th – On This Day
1824 - The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London opened to the public. It houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900.