THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
MAY 15
1928 – A version of Mickey Mouse appears in the Walt Disney silent cartoon Plane Crazy but his full official debut occurs six months later in Steamboat Willie.
1987 – The last episode of The Late Show With Joan Rivers screens after the host is fired by the Fox network.
2002 – The documentary Bowling For Columbine, directed by Michael Moore (above), premieres at the Cannes Film Festival.
2005 – Star Wars: Episode III Revenge Of The Sith, starring Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman, premieres at the Cannes Film Festival.
MAY 16
1929 – The first Academy Awards are held, in Hollywood. Wings wins the title of Outstanding Picture.
1986 – Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) returns from the dead on TV soap Dallas, a year after being killed off.
1990 – Muppets creator Jim Henson dies of toxic shock syndrome caused by pneumonia. He was 53.
1990 – US entertainer and Rat Packer Sammy Davis Jr dies, aged 64, of throat cancer.
2019 – The UK’s The Jeremy Kyle Show is axed by ITV when a guest dies after a show.
2019 – After 12 seasons, the last episode of US sitcom The Big Bang Theory (left) screens.
MAY 17
1900 – The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, by L. Frank Baum with illustrations by William Wallace Denslow, is first published – in Chicago.
1975 – British band 10cc release I’m Not In Love, one of their biggest singles.
2012 – American singer Donna Summer, known as the Queen of Disco, dies of lung cancer. She was 63.
MAY 18
1980 – Mt St Helens erupts in Washington state, killing 57 people and causing more than $1 billion in damage.
1980 – Ian Curtis, the lead singer of English band Joy Division, commits suicide. He was 23.
1985 – The movie Braveheart (below), directed by and starring Mel Gibson, premieres at the Seattle Film Festival.
1995 – US actress Elizabeth Montgomery (best known for playing Samantha in Bewitched) dies, aged 62, of cancer.
2001 – The movie Shrek (above), with voices by Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, debuts.
MAY 19
1987 – An attempted hijacking of an Air New Zealand Boeing 747 at Fiji’s Nadi airport is foiled, when flight engineer Graeme Walsh strikes the offender over the head with a bottle of duty-free whisky.
1994 – The final episode of TV series LA Law screens, after an eight-year run.
1994 – Former US first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dies, aged 64, of cancer.
1997 – Actors Sarah Jessica Parker, 32, and Matthew Broderick, 35, wed in New York.
2007 – Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End, starring Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, premieres in Anaheim. At the time it was the world’s most expensive film ($US300 million) to have been made.
2018 – Prince Harry and US actress Meghan Markle are married at Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth II grants them the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
MAY 20
1979 – Elton John becomes the first Western pop star to tour the USSR.
1983 – The Police release the single Every Breath You Take which becomes Billboard’s Song Of The Year.
1996 – English actor Jon Pertwee, who played Worzel Gummidge and was the third Doctor Who, dies of a heart attack. He was 76.
2003 – The reality TV series America’s Next Top Model, which was created by Tyra Banks (below), premieres.
2015 – After 33 years, David Letterman hosts The Late Show With David Letterman for the last time.
MAY 21
1932 – After flying for 17 hours from Newfoundland, Amelia Earhart (above) lands near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, to complete the first trans-Atlantic solo flight by a woman.
1980 – Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, produced by George Lucas, opens in cinemas in the UK and North America.
1991 – Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, 46, is assassinated by a suicide bomber, near Madras.
2000 – Acclaimed British actor Sir John Gielgud dies aged 96.