Today in history

I'm a great believer in having to know where you came from to know where you are going. We all learn from our mistakes, from our past; because it is our past that shapes who we are. Whether that's on an individual basis or the planet we live on.

I thought I would do something a little different this week. I thought I would give all who read my column a history lesson. Some of you might remember some of the things listed and some more might have never heard of them before, but I think since each of the events listed below the world has learned a lot.

On this date in...

1889 - The first Eiffel Tower elevator became open to the public.

1928 - The first motion picture is projected publicly in Athens, Greece.

1927 - Ford Motor Company manufacturers its 15 millionth Model T automobile.

1937 - San Francisco Bay's Golden Gate Bridge opens.

1942 - Belgium Jews are required by Nazis to wear a Jewish star.

1942 - The Battle of Bir Hakeim takes place in World War II.

1969 - Apollo 10 returns to earth after a successful eight-day test for the data needed for the upcoming moon landing.

1973 - Beatles "Beatles 1967-1970" album goes #1.

1977 - The anticipated movie "Star Wars" debuts.

1988 - The Stanley Cup Playoffs - Edmonton Oilers sweep the Boston Bruins in four games.

1989 - Danish parliament allows legal marriage among same-sex couples.

1994 - Michael Jackson and Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie Presley tie the knot.

2004 - United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of murdering 161 people after helping to carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.

2004 - The New York Times publishes an admission of journalistic failure after falsely reporting and lacking in skepticism towards sources helped promote the belief that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction during the buildup to the beginning of the 2003 war in Iraq.

These are just some of the events that have happened on May 26 in the decades and centuries previous.

It really makes you wonder. Would there have been a War on Terrorism, lasting as long as it has, without the publication of false material? Would we have ever seen the moon without the Apollo 10? Would movies even exist without the enterprising minds who made it possible?

I have only chosen one day, due to our publication date, to demonstrate just how much has happened in the history of the world on May 26.

Looking back, you can't help but look ahead and wonder what lessons we will learn over the next few decades or what consequences will we face? Past, present and future are more intertwined than we think.