FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2011

Today is Friday, May 20, the 140th day of 2011. There are 225 days left in the year.

526 ― Earthquake kills 250,000 in Antioch, Syria

1310 ― Shoes were made for both right and left feet

1498 ― Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calcutta, India

1867 ― British parliament rejects John Stuart Mills law on women suffrage

1874 ― Levi Strauss markets blue jeans with copper rivets, price $13.50 doz.

1927 ― At 7:40 a.m., Lindbergh takes off from New York to cross Atlantic for Paris

1927 ― Saudi Arabia becomes independent of Great Britain (Treaty of Jedda)

1959 ― Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship

1961 ― White mob attacks ``Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Al.

1989 ― China declares martial law in Beijing