
May 1, 2008: Rising rivers throughout northeastern Maine and northwestern New Brunswick drive area residents out, force bridge closures and submerge many businesses and homes in the worst inundation in living memory, caused by 5 inches of rain and a rapidly melting snowpack. The Aroostook River in Masardis crests at 18.33 feet, a record level.
May 5, 2017: The newly designated Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, in northern Penobscot County, is added to a national list of 22 sites that President Trump’s administration is considering for possible reduction in size. Maine Gov. Paul LePage lobbied hard to get the site added to the list, having opposed the 87,000-acre monument’s
May 6, 1964: On his only visit to Maine, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) speaks at First Parish Church in Brunswick at the invitation of the Bowdoin Political Forum at Bowdoin College. King comes to Maine with Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), another nationally prominent civil rights leader, who was the chief organizer of the
May 7, 1792: After a proposal to separate the District of Maine from Massachusetts is revived, the first districtwide vote on the issue is held. The “no” side prevails, 2,524-2,074. Proponents of separation are encouraged – they would have won if not for strong opposition in only six of the 89 towns that provided referendum