Doodle this day in History

May 25 - #OnThisDay Ibn ‘Abbād, also known as Benavert, drowns at sea in 1091. He was the last Emir of Sicily. He led the Arab resistance against the Normans as they were conquering Sicily. Grand Count Roger I was besieging Syracuse on this day in history.

May 24 - #OnThisDay the first Eurovision Song Contest takes place. Each country who participates submits an original song that represents their country. It has been held annually except for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 1956 Switzerland was the host country and they won.

May 23 - #OnThisDay Scottish privateer Captain William Kidd is hanged. He was hanged twice (as the first time the hangman’s rope had broken) and his body was gibbeted over the River Thames at Tilbury Point. It served as a warning to future would-be pirates.

May 22 - #OnThisDay Blanche of England dies whilst pregnant with her third child. The child did not survive. She was the daughter of King Henry IV of England. She married Louis III, Elector Palatine. This was so that England could make a strong alliance with Germany.

May 21 - #OnThisDay four convicts attempt to escape Alcatraz Island. The federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay operated from 1934 until 1963. In total there 14 escape attempts made by 34 prisoners.

May 20 - #OnThisDay King Æthelberht II of East Anglia is decapitated by Offa, King of Mercia. The circumstances are unclear on why these one Anglo-Saxon king ordered the other to be beheaded. Medieval sources tell us that Æthelberht II was betrothed to Offa’s daughter.

May 19 - #OnThisDay German postmaster and alleged witch Katharina Henot is burned at the stake for sorcery in Cologne. She may have been the first female postmaster in Germany, which is somebody who is in charge of a post office.

May 18 - #OnThisDay passengers are unloaded onto Nazino Island. 6,700 prisoners were deported to the island. They had very few supplies, little to no tools, and a lack of clothing or shelter suited for the Siberian climate. Within 13 weeks there were nearly 4,000 deaths.

May 17 - #OnThisDay Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is beheaded. He was the nephew of King Edward IV and therefore first cousin once removed of King Henry VIII. Stafford was accused of listening to prophecies of the Henry VIII's death and plotting to kill the king.

May 16 - #OnThisDay Torii Suneemon is crucified. He was a Japanese ashigaru (low class footman in feudal Japan) who served the Okudaira family. He was a member of the Nagashino garrison when the fortress was besieged. Enemy forces led by Takeda Katsuyori attacked the defenders.

May 15 - #OnThisDay Japanese samurai Niwa Nagahide dies. Nagahide was also known as Gorōzaemon as well as Hashiba Echizen no Kami. He served as senior retainer to the Oda clan and in 1573 he became a daimyō of the Niwa clan. He took part in at least sixteen battles in his life.

May 14 - #OnThisDay the Lewis and Clark expedition begins. It would continue until September 1806 lasting a total of 862 days. Meriweather Lewis and William Clark explored the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and also reached the Pacific Ocean in 1805.

May 13 - #OnThisDay the May 68 protests in France become a general strike. 10 million workers (two-thirds of the labour force and one third of the country’s overall workforce) walked off the job in the largest general strike in French history.

May 12 - #OnThisDay Tony Hawk is born. He is an American skateboarder and entrepreneur. He owns the skateboard company Birdhouse. The Pro Skater video games are named after him. Tony Hawk professionally skated from 1981 onwards. He specialises in vertical or “vert” skateboarding.

May 11 - #OnThisDay Matilda of Flanders is crowned Queen of England in 1068. She was the wife of William, Duke of Normandy since 1051. Her tenure began from the 25th of December 1066 (the same day William was crowned King of England) but her coronation came at a later date.

May 10 - #OnThisDay Frankish shepherdess Solange of Bourges is beheaded. Legend says Solange’s severed head invoked three times the Holy Name of Jesus. Next time she picked up her own head in her hands and walked with it to the church in the local area.

May 9 - #OnThisDay the Second Battle of Artois begins. It was fought in France between forces of the Triple Entente (France, Britain, British Empire troops from Canada and India) versus Germany. In total some 20 Entente divisions fought against 18 German divisions.

May 8 - #OnThisDay the Tollund Man is discovered. He is a naturally mummified corpse. He is estimated to have lived in the 5th Century BCE and died sometime around 405 to 384 BCE at the age of 40. He was found in present-day Denmark.

May 7 - #OnThisDay the Battle of the Wilderness ends. This 1864 battle was part of the American Civil War. Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant led his forces against Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Union casualties were 17,666 whereas Confederate casualties were 11,033.

May 6 - #OnThisDay Japan invades Taiwan. The Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the indigenous Taiwanese people. On this day 100 men, commanded by American Captain Douglas R. Cassel, landed and fortified an area by the sea.