All Our Yesterdays 4

 This time, we're looking back to the week of 16th - 22nd May

On the 16th May, 1986, The action blockbuster Top Gun was released in American theatres, and it made Tom Cruise an international star.

On the 17th May, 1973, America watched in fascination as the televised Senate hearings on the Watergate affair opened. The first witness testified that Nixon's re-election campaign leader, Jeb Magruder, had hidden vital papers within hours of the burglary. The White House denied that President Richard M. Nixon's administration knew about the break-in at the Democratic Party Headquarters the previous June.

On the 18th May, 1874, India exploded a nuclear device in the Rajasthan desert It created nervousness in neighbouring Pakistan, which was severely beaten four years earlier in the third war between the two nations.

On the 19th May, 1935, Retired hero T.E. Lawrence died, five days after sustaining a fractured skull in a road accident. He was racing his motorcycle down a Dorset lane when he swerved to avoid two boys on bicycles and crashed. He never regained consciousness. Lawrence was better known as Lawrence o Arabia following his exploits as a dashing, young intelligence officer who let the Arabs in a guerilla war against the Turks and finally captured Damascus.

On the 20th May, 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis were granted a patent for using copper rivets to strengthen certain areas of trousers, notably pocket corners; the patent was credited with giving rise to blue jeans.

On 21st May, 1966, Cassius Clay is still The Greatest - British contender, Henry Cooper failed to deprive him of the world heavyweight boxing title. Clay knocked down Cooper in the sixth round in a bout in London. It was their second fight.

On May 22nd, 1098, Wilbur and Orville Wright patented their flying machine, four years after their historic first powered flight at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. That day, the 'Flyer I' made four flights, the longest-lasting a minute and covering 852 feet. They are still using the same machine, very much improved to make flights of 40 minutes, travelling up to 25 miles at altitudes up to 150 feet.

And this week in 1983, Spandau Ballet were spending their second of three weeks at number one in the UK chart with their song, 'True'

If the video doesn't play, click here

Thanks for reading. If you like this blog and want to read more, sign up for the weekly newsletter and feel free to invite your friends along to check out and bookmark the blog, because after all, the more, the merrier!