May 14
May 14 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 231 days remain until the year's end. It falls in spring (northern hemisphere) and under the astrological sign of Taurus.
External references
Curated jump-off points to the major almanacs, encyclopaedias and primary sources for this date.
Astronomy
On May 14 the Sun's declination is approximately +18.8°. At this latitude the Sun is north of the celestial equator, giving the Northern Hemisphere longer days than nights.
For specific rise/set times at your location, see the U.S. Naval Observatory, or the NASA APOD archive for any imagery published on a May 14.
Position in the year
Holidays & observances
No widely-observed holidays catalogued for this day in our base set. See the external almanacs above for region-specific observances.
Events
A selection of widely-documented historical events that took place on this date. Years marked BCE follow standard astronomical convention.
1607 — English colonists made landfall at the site of Jamestown, Virginia. ↗(419 years ago)more
The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about 2.5 mi (4 km) southwest of present-day Williamsburg.
1796 — Edward Jenner administered the first smallpox vaccination, to eight-year-old James Phipps. ↗(230 years ago)more
Edward Jenner was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from Variolae vaccinae, the term devised by Jenner to denote cowpox.
1804 — The Lewis and Clark Expedition departed from Camp Dubois near St Louis. ↗(222 years ago)more
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select group of U.S.
1948 — David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel. ↗(78 years ago)more
The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, was proclaimed at the Tel Aviv Museum on 14 May 1948, at the end of the civil war phase and beginning of the Arab–Israeli War of the 1948 Palestine war, by the Va'ad Leumi led by David Ben-Gurion, the executive head of the World Zionist Organizat...
Notable births
1686 — Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist. ↗(340 years ago)more
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit FRS was a physicist, inventor, and scientific instrument maker. He was born in Poland to a family of German origin, although he spent much of his life in the Dutch Republic. Fahrenheit significantly improved the design and manufacture of thermometers; his were accurate and consistent enough that different observers, each with the...
1944 — George Lucas, American filmmaker (Star Wars). ↗(82 years ago)more
George Walton Lucas Jr. is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the Star Wars franchise and its fictional universe, the Indiana Jones franchise, and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman of Lucasfilm before selling it to the Walt Disney Company in 2012.
Notable deaths
1610 — Henry IV of France, assassinated by François Ravaillac. ↗(416 years ago)more
Henry IV, also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty.
Numerical & calendrical curiosities
| Day-of-year (135) | 3^3 × 5 · composite (no) |
|---|---|
| Days remaining (231) | 3 × 7 × 11 |
| Date code DDMMYYYY | 14052026 · no palindrome in next 200 years |
| Sun declination | +18.78° (Cooper approximation) |
| Distance from solstice | 37 days |