Today in 1901, a newspaper article proclaimed 16 year old May Kaarlus as perhaps the greatest trick shot billiard player in the whole world. She really could play that well, though the career of this pool table prodigy went on to take a surprise turn.
Today in 1926, American Gertrude Ederle swam from France to England, a record-setting crossing of the English Channel she made in stormy weather!
Today in 1953, some 10,000 people took part in Woodruff, Wisconsin's Memorial Day "Penny Parade." They were raising to build a hospital, urged on by the leader of the effort, Dr. Kate Pelham Newcomb.
Today in 1943, Norman Rockwell's painting "Rosie the Riveter" was on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. But that's not the image that we think of today as Rosie, and just as there were multiple depictions of the character, there were multiple real-life inspirations for those depictions.
Today in 1882 inventor Maria Beasley received the patent for a collapsible life raft. But Beasley was one of those inventors who came up with idea after idea in a bunch of fields, so there's lots more to her story.
This month in 2008, a high school athlete from a very small town competed as a team of one in the Texas track championships, and finished first two years in a row.
Today in 1887 (or, by some accounts, 1888), the birthday of a composer who’s really only now getting the acclaim she deserves: Florence Price.
Today in 1983, the birthday of Jessica Cox, the first person born without arms to become a licensed pilot. And that’s just one of her many accomplishments.
Today in 1949, a first for American network TV: a female comedian did a standup routine on the air. Here's the story of comic Jean Carroll.
If this time of year is a little too drab and grey for your tastes, head to Puerto Rico’s northern coast for Festival de las Máscaras de Hatillo: the Festival of Masks.
![Riveting team working on the cockpit shell of a B-25 [i.e. C-47] bomber at the plant of North American Aviation, Inc., Inglewood [i.e. Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach], Calif. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division/Wikicommons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_the_Riveter#/media/File:Riveting_team2.jpg](https://www.bradycarlson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240529riveter-80x32.jpg)
