Today in History

Sen. Joe McCarthy died at the age of 48. The Republican from Wisconsin was the leading anti-communist figure for whom the phrase McCarthyism was coined. He was the chairman of Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations (now the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs) and led investigations into Americans who were deemed communists. … [Read more...] about May 2, 1957

In Ireland the Irish word Bealtaine is the word used for May Day. Medieval Ireland marked this day as the changing of the seasons from spring to summer. The occasion was marked with bonfires in the hope that all would bode well for the coming harvest. May is also the month that Catholics devote to Mary the mother of God, and in Ireland the tradition of putting up a May altar in … [Read more...] about May 1, 1954

On this day in 1953, Irish American Massachusetts senator and soon-to-be president John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island. "Jack," as Kennedy was nicknamed, and Jackie met each other in 1951 at a dinner in Georgetown. The two dated for two years and in 1953, John F. Kennedy proposed. They married at the Catholic parish of St. Mary's Church in … [Read more...] about September 12, 1953

Irish American tennis star Maureen Connolly won the U.S. Open at only 18 years old on September 7 of 1953. Connolly defeated Doris Hart, 6-2, 6-4, making her the first woman in tennis to ever win the "Grand Slam." She had won the prior French Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon of that same year. After this achievement, Connolly went on to be named Associated Press Female … [Read more...] about September 7, 1953

Pierce Brosnan was born in Navan, County Meath. He was brought up by his grandparents and aunt, while his mother worked in England. At 11, he moved to England to join his mother. In an interview with Irish America in 2003, he described it as a difficult transition. He was singled out for being Irish in school. "There certainly were fights," he said, but the experience made him … [Read more...] about May 16, 1953