May 17 Frenchmen Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit, set out from the Saint-Ignace mission on an expedition to explore the Mississippi river (reach border of Louisiana and Arkansas)
Famous Birthdays
May 8 Johann Valentin Eckelt, German composer, born in Werningshausen, Germany (d. 1732)
May 29 Cornelis van Bijnkershoek, Dutch jurist who helped develop international law along positivist lines, born in Middelburg, Netherlands (d. 1743)
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