1497 – John Cabot sets sail for his second voyage from Bristol, England, on his ship Matthew looking for a route to the west (other documents give a May 2 date).
1639 – Dorchester, Mass., formed the 1st school funded by local taxes.
1774 – The British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish the colonists for their increasingly anti-British behavior. The acts closed the port of Boston. [see Mar 28]
1775 – North Carolina became the first colony to declare its independence. Citizens of Mecklenburg County, NC, declared independence from Britain.
https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/may-20/
