This week in history spans six centuries and six continents, delivering ten moments that changed the world. On 8 May 1429, a teenage Joan of Arc broke the English siege of Orléans and turned the tide of the Hundred Years' War. On 7 May 1824, a completely deaf Beethoven stood on stage in Vienna as his Ninth Symphony received its world premiere — and had to be turned around to witness the applause he could not hear.
In sport, Cy Young threw baseball's first modern perfect game in Boston on 5 May 1904, retiring all twenty-seven batters he faced. Two days later in Oxford, Roger Bannister shattered the supposedly impossible four-minute mile barrier in 3:59.4 on 6 May 1954. On that same date in 1937, the Hindenburg airship exploded over New Jersey, killing thirty-six and ending the era of passenger airships in under sixty seconds.
The week also marks the invention of the microchip concept: on 7 May 1952, British engineer Geoffrey Dummer first published the theoretical blueprint for the integrated circuit. Just eight years later, on 9 May 1960, the FDA approved the world's first oral contraceptive pill, reshaping women's lives across the globe.
Two moments of immense political weight anchor the week. On 8 May 1945, the German Instrument of Surrender ended World War Two in Europe — V-E Day — silencing six years of war. And on 10 May 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first Black president after twenty-seven years in prison.
Eight events. Six centuries. One extraordinary week.
This episode includes AI-generated content.
続きを読む
一部表示
8 分