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May 20
5 moments across history
Vasco da Gama reaches India
After nearly a year at sea, Vasco da Gama's fleet reached Calicut on India's Malabar Coast, opening a direct maritime route between Europe and South Asia. The voyage reshaped global trade, linking the Atlantic world to the Indian Ocean spice networks and beginning a new era of Portuguese power overseas.
1498: Vasco da Gama reaches India
Christopher Columbus dies
1506: Christopher Columbus dies
1506: Christopher Columbus dies
Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain, after four Atlantic voyages that permanently linked Europe and the Americas. His legacy remains deeply contested: his expeditions transformed world history while also opening the way to conquest, colonization, and devastating losses for Indigenous peoples.
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent blue jeans
1873: Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent blue jeans
1873: Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent blue jeans
Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for riveted work pants, the durable design that became blue jeans. Built first for miners, laborers, and the rough conditions of the American West, the garment would eventually become one of the most recognizable pieces of clothing in the world.
Charles Lindbergh departs on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight
1927: Charles Lindbergh departs on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight
1927: Charles Lindbergh departs on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight
Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field in the Spirit of St. Louis, beginning his solo nonstop flight from New York to Paris. The daring crossing made him an international celebrity and proved that long-distance aviation could capture the public imagination as a new force in modern life.
The Battle of Hamburger Hill begins
1969: The Battle of Hamburger Hill begins
1969: The Battle of Hamburger Hill begins
U.S. and South Vietnamese forces began the assault on Dong Ap Bia, later known as Hamburger Hill, during the Vietnam War. The brutal fight for a remote mountain became a symbol of the war's human cost and intensified debate in the United States over military strategy and purpose.