May 8th, 1945

World War II officially ended in Europe after Germany’s complete and  unconditional surrender. The war would continue to be fought in the Pacific until September 2nd, 1945.

May 9th, 1974

The US House Judiciary committee began impeachment proceedings against President Richard M. Nixon after the controversial Watergate incident, where the Nixon administration spied on the DNC at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.

May 10th, 1994

Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president of South Africa after being imprisoned from 1962-1990 over his protest of apartheid, the nation’s segregationist policy.

May 11th, 1960

Israeli intelligence agents in Buenos Aires took Adolf Eichmann into custody. Eichmann was a former key Nazi official who would be tried, convicted, and executed in Israel.

May 12th, 1820

Florence Nightingale, an English social reformer who trained women in the profession of nursing, was born in Florence, Italy. In honor of her, International Nurses’ day is celebrated on May 12th each year.

May 13th, 1846

After the heavily disputed and controversial annexation of Texas, the United States Congress declared war on Mexico. The war would end slightly less than two years later with the Mexican Cession.

May 14th, 1948

Israel, the first Jewish state, declared its statehood. This was controversial seeing that the British had promised the territory to both Jewish and Arab peoples in World War II.