The Dutch led by Peter Minuit, buy Manhattan Island from Native Americans for trinkets and tools, valued at 60 guilders (around $24 in modern terms) on May 24,1626 and go on to found New Amsterdam which later became New York.
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What Happened in May?
Battles, revolts, and explorations. Learn about the noteworthy events in May that have taken place throughout the ages. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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Cardinal Richelieu lays the foundation stone for the the Sorbonne Chapel (Church of Sainte-Ursule de la Sorbonne) in Paris on May 1 1635. It served as the spiritual heart of the Sorbonne and eventually housed his tomb, Designed by Jacques Lemercier, it remains the only 17th-century structure from that era still standing.
The Fundamental Orders, often considered the first written constitution in North America, are adopted by the Connecticut Colony.
The city of Montreal is founded by French colonists under the direction of Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve.
The Battle of Dover (also known as the Battle of Goodwin Sands) takes place during the First Anglo-Dutch War between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands. It proved to be an indecisive battle although opinions about the outcome of that battle vary among historians of that period. The flagships were commanded by Admirals Robert Blake and Maarten Tromp.
Note: The battle is sometimes listed as May 19, 1652 based in the Julian calendar which was still in use in England at the time. The Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582, corrected the Julian calendar which had accumulated a 10-day error over time.
The Dutch East India Company's forces defeat the Portuguese on a sustained conflict culminating in the capture of Colombo on May 12, 1656 in Sri Lanka.a sustained, The Dutch eventually expelled the Portuguese entirely by 1658, ending Portuguese rule in the region.
The Treaty of Copenhagen is signed, ending the Second Northern War between Denmark and Sweden and establishing the modern borders between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. More
King Charles II of England is restored to the throne after the period of Commonwealth following the English Civil War. More
England King Charles II, issues a proclamation , on May 11, 1666 for prevention of the spreading of the infection of the plague. The proclamation ("The "Plague Orders") was entitled, "Rules and orders to be observed by all justices of peace, mayors, bailiffs, and other officers". It followed initial actions taken in early June 1665 which were implemented rapidly through the summer.
King Charles II of England grants a permanent royal charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company on May 2, 1670. The company was composed of a group of French explorers and the charter gave it the right of "sole trade and commerce" control of today's Canada entire Hudson Bay drainage basin.
The royal charter and naming the territory Rupert's Land, after his cousin Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the company's first governor. The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), is the oldest continually operating company in the world. More
Rupert's Land © 2004 Matthew Trump, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Treaty of Middle Plantation, guaranteeing peace between the Virginia colonists and Native American tribes. is signed on May 29, 1677, and ratified by King Charles II.
King Charles II assents the Habeas Corpus Act passed by the Parliament of England. The Act, significantly strengthening a person's right to challenge unlawful arrest and imprisonment.
This landmark legislation ensured that individuals detained could be brought before a judge to determine the legality of their detention. It's considered one of the four pillars of English liberty, alongside Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, and the Bill of Rights. The act is often wrongly described as the origin of the writ of habeas corpus in England although the writ of habeas corpus had existed before in various forms for at least five centuries before and has been amended several times since then, it remains on the statute book to this day.
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, the world's first university museum, opens to the public.
The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration, granting freedom of worship to Protestant nonconformists.
The witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts begin with the arrest of Sarah Osborne, Sarah Good, and Tituba. Over the next year, over 200 people were accused of witchcraft, and 20 were executed, with 19 being hanged and one being pressed to death. The trials eventually came to an end in early 1693, with the governor eventually pardoning those who had been convicted. More
The trials eventually came to an end in early 1693, with the governor eventually pardoning those who had been convicted. After the hysteria was over, Massachusetts recognized the witch trials for what they were and began a centuries-long process of atonement. Judges, juries, and accusers publicly apologized, but the apologies were of little comfort to affected families. By 1711 the state had exonerated the accused from all wrongdoing and offered monetary compensations to surviving family members. In 2002 the Massachusetts state legislature officially cleared the names of the last of the accused witches".
Above is an excerpt from https://firstamendment.mtsu.ed...
The War of the Spanish Succession ("Queen Anne's War"), begins as England declares war on France and Spain on May 15, 1702 to block the unification of French and Spanish crowns atter the death of the childless Spanish King Charles II. The war, fought in Europe and in the Colonies, concluded with the Treaty of Utrecht, in which Britain acquired new territory and trade concessions.
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The Russian city of St. Petersburg, named after the apostle Saint Peter is founded by Tsar Peter the Great on the site of a captured Swedish fortress. St. Petersburg is a Russian port city on the Baltic Sea and it was the imperial capital for 2 centuries.
It remains Russia's cultural center. Among its many beautiful sites, architecture and art is the Bronze Horseman, an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in the Senate Square opened to the public in 1782. The statue influenced an 1833 poem of the same name by Alexander Pushkin.
Andrew Shiva, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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The Battle of Ramillies is fought on May 23, 1706 It was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession ending in victory for the Allied forces (Anglo-Dutch), led by the Duke of Marlborough against the French.
The battle significantly impacted the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), a major European conflict stemming from the death of the Spanish King Charles II, the last Spanish Habsburg without an heir. It went on to impact the balance of power in Europe and led to the rise of England as a major global power. More
Yale Center for British Art. By anonymous
The Act of Union, uniting the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland into a single political state, becomes effective on May 1, 1707 and Scotland and England formally became the single Kingdom of Great Britain. Whales had already been part of England since the 1500's.
The city of New Orleans is founded by French colonists under the direction of French Louisiana governor Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. The site was the slightly elevated banks of the Mississippi River approximately 95 miles above its mouth, an area now called the French Quarter, More