May 14, 1948 The British evacuate Israel. The independent state of Israel is proclaimed in Tel Aviv under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion as British rule in Palestine comes to an end. Ben-Gurion and 36 fellow members of the Provisional Council of State sign the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel.

May 15, 1776 The first steamboat is built by a French nobleman, Marquis de Jouffroy d’Abbans. This boat succeeds in sailing a