Source: Historynet.com
0495: Pope Gelasius asserts that his authority is superior to Emperor Anastasius.
1873: Prime Minister John A. Macdonald introduces the Act establishing the North West Mounted Police in the House of Commons; Royal Assent May 23.
1887: Coal mine explosion near Nanaimo kills 148; worst mining disaster in BC history.
1912: First Titanic victims buried in Halifax.
1915: Lt.-Col. John McCrae composes his poem In Flanders Fields in 20 minutes, after he witnessed the death of his friend, 22 year old Lt. Alexis Helmer, the day before.
1952: The first airplane lands at the geographic North Pole.
1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman prime minister of Great Britain.
1982: A British submarine sinks Argentina’s only cruiser during the Falkland Islands War.