✈️ This Week In History - Earhart Flies Across The Atlantic

Welcome back History Nerds,

We hope you’ve had a nice start to your week so far. Maybe, we can make it a bit better with some dark history! Reading through some of the things that happened this week in history makes us extremely grateful to be living in the present day. Let’s just say history wasn’t very pretty at times. Let’s get straight into it so you know what we’re referencing! And, as always, make sure to reply to this email if you think we’ve missed anything.

Did You Know? On April 1, 1946, a massive tsunami hit Hawaii—but some locals didn’t evacuate because they thought the warnings were an April Fools’ joke. The wave, triggered by an earthquake in Alaska, killed over 150 people and destroyed entire towns. Afterward, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center was created to make sure future alerts came with fewer punchlines and more survival.

During Your History Lesson You’ll Learn About:

• The Beheading of King Henry VIII’s Cheating Second Wife

• Constantine's Baptized On Death Bed

• The Eruption of Mt. St. Helens

• Amelia Earhart Flies Into the History Books

A Queen’s Fall: The Execution of Anne Boleyn

On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, met her end on a scaffold within the Tower of London, her life severed by a French swordsman’s blade for charges of adultery, treason, and incest. Her execution was not merely the fall of a queen but a seismic shift in England’s religious and political landscape, born from a king’s relentless pursuit of power and a male heir. Anne, once the dazzling, sharp-witted woman who captivated Henry and upended a kingdom’s faith, became a scapegoat in a court where ambition and betrayal danced a deadly waltz. Her death marked the culmination of a tragic arc, one that reshaped the Tudor dynasty and echoed through centuries.

Anne’s rise had been meteoric, her charm and intellect ensnaring Henry’s heart in the 1520s, when he sought to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Refusing to remain a mistress, Anne demanded marriage, igniting a chain of events that severed England from the Catholic Church. Henry’s break with Rome, the establishment of the Church of England, and the dissolution of monasteries all bore her influence, as she championed reformist ideas. Yet her failure to produce a surviving son—delivering only the future Elizabeth I in 1533—soured the king’s ardor. By 1536, Henry’s gaze had shifted to Jane Seymour, and Anne’s enemies, led by Thomas Cromwell, wove a web of accusations. The charges—adultery with multiple men, plotting the king’s death, and an incestuous affair with her brother George—were likely fabricated, but they served their purpose. Tried and convicted in a spectacle of injustice, Anne faced her fate with composure, her final speech proclaiming her loyalty to the king.

The execution of Anne Boleyn was more than a personal tragedy; it was a pivot in England’s history. Her death solidified Henry’s autocratic grip, as he reshaped the monarchy’s divine authority. It also cleared the path for Jane Seymour, who would bear Henry’s longed-for son, Edward VI. Yet Anne’s legacy endured in her daughter, Elizabeth, whose reign would define an era of English glory. The scaffold’s shadow lingered, a stark reminder of a king’s caprice and a court where love could turn lethal.

Constantine's Last Act: Baptized Before the Curtain Closed

On May 22, 337, Emperor Constantine the Great, one of the most powerful rulers in Roman history, was finally baptized as a Christian—on his deathbed. That’s right: the man who helped make Christianity legal across the empire and pushed it into the mainstream waited until the very end to make it official. Constantine had been friendly with Christianity for years, even claiming a vision of a cross helped him win a key battle. But when it came to baptism, he played the world’s longest waiting game.

Back then, some people believed it was best to get baptized as late as possible—just in case you sinned again afterward. Constantine clearly took that advice seriously. But regardless of the timing, the move was a big deal: he became the first Roman emperor to be baptized, setting a precedent that helped shift the empire’s identity from pagan to Christian. It was like Rome flipping its entire religious branding overnight.

Constantine’s last-minute baptism didn’t make his influence any less massive. He helped build churches, promoted religious freedom, and laid the groundwork for Christianity to grow into a global religion. The Roman Empire would never be the same. And as for Constantine? He may have waited until the final credits rolled, but when he joined the church, he made it count.

A Global Shift: WHO’s 1990 Step for Equality

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted with catastrophic force, claiming 57 lives and reshaping the Pacific Northwest. A 5.1-magnitude earthquake at 8:32 a.m. triggered a massive landslide, unleashing a searing blast of ash, gas, and rock that tore across 230 square miles at 300 miles per hour. Forests were flattened, lakes vaporized, and rivers choked with debris, while an ash cloud soared 15 miles high, cloaking towns from Yakima to Oklahoma in darkness and grit. The disaster, among the deadliest volcanic events in U.S. history, left communities reeling and caused millions in damages.

For two months prior, earthquakes and a bulging cryptodome had signaled the volcano’s unrest, prompting evacuations—though some, like lodge owner Harry R. Truman, stayed behind. The eruption’s ferocity obliterated homes, bridges, and livelihoods, with ash clogging machinery, grounding flights, and smothering crops. Mudflows surged down the Toutle River, burying entire valleys. Cleanup became a grueling ordeal, as masks and shovels defined daily life in ash-choked towns.

Mount St. Helens’ eruption reshaped volcanology, driving advances in monitoring and hazard prediction. The mountain’s scarred, truncated summit stands as a memorial to those lost and a reminder of nature’s raw power. Yet, amid the devastation, life has returned, with wildflowers piercing the ash—a quiet symbol of renewal in a landscape forever changed.

Amelia Earhart Flies Into the History Books

On May 20, 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and she made it look easy—despite everything going wrong. She took off from Newfoundland, aiming for Paris, but bad weather, icing, and a busted fuel gauge forced her to land in a cow field in Northern Ireland instead. Still, it counted. She’d flown over 2,000 miles alone, in a tiny red plane, with nothing but guts, grit, and a thermos of soup.

At the time, only one other person had ever pulled off a solo Atlantic flight: Charles Lindbergh, five years earlier. But Amelia didn’t just match him—she made history on her own terms. She became an instant icon, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, and spent the rest of her life breaking records and pushing boundaries. In 1937, while attempting to fly around the world, she vanished over the Pacific and was never found. Her disappearance became one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history—but by then, she’d already secured her legacy.

Amelia Earhart wasn’t just a pilot—she was a symbol of boldness, possibility, and refusing to stay grounded. Her 1932 solo flight wasn’t just about crossing an ocean—it was about proving what could be done when you don’t let fear fly the plane. She may have disappeared, but her story will never fade.

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See You Next Time!

We hope that you enjoyed this edition of the LOL History newsletter! See you next week!

— Evan & Derek - LOL History Co-Founders