Today In History

A long-time fraudster posing as a Saudi prince was jailed for 18 years on May 31, 2019.

Canadian nuclear physicist Louis Slotin died in hospital on May 30, 1946, nine days after receiving a blast of hard radiation.

Queen Victoria was unharmed during the second assassination attempt on her life on May 29, 1842.

The first quintuplets to survive beyond infancy were born in a small Canadian town on May 28, 1934.

After years as an underground trash dump, a disused mine shaft in Centralia, Pennsylvania had become a foul-smelling haven for vermin.

A notorious vigilante from Brazil who hunted down serial killers and other criminals, had his first taste of jail on May 24, 1973 at the age of 18.

The classic horror film The Shining , starring Jack Nicholson and directed by Stanley Kubrick, was released to American cinemas on May 23, 1980.

General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait premiered at Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 1974.

Former San Francisco council member Dan White was acquitted of the murder of his colleague Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone on May 21, 1979.

The English town of Staines changed its name on May 20, 2012, in an effort to distance itself from a non-existent person.