1915 German submarines sink the U.S. ship "Gulflight."
1931 The Empire State Building is completed and dedicated.@
May 2
1780 The French set sail to support the Americans in the Revolutionary War.
1969 Wawona Tunnel Tree, a sequoia in Yosemite National Park, is discovered to have fallen.
1983 A severe earthquake in central California is the strongest to strike the area in twelve years.@
May 3
1765 The first medical school in the colonies is founded and will later be called the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
1989 A painting by American artist Jasper Johns, "The Diver," is sold for $4.18 million and nets the highest amount ever paid for a work by a living artist.
1991 The Exxon Corporation and the state of Alaska withdraw from a $1.1 billion settlement resulting from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.@
May 4
1626 Dutch colonist Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland and settles on Manhattan Island, which he later buys from the Native Americans for about $24 dollars.
1932 Al Capone, named Public Enemy No. 1 by the Justice Department, is jailed for income tax evasion.
1970 Four students are killed by National Guardsman during an antiwar demonstration at Kent State University in Ohio.@
May 5
1925 John T. Scopes, a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, is arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
1961 NASA launches "Mercury 3" spacecraft carrying Commander Alan B. Shepard on the first U.S. sub-orbital flight.
1987 A joint tribunal orders the U.S. to return $451.4 million in frozen assets to Iran.@
May 6
1937 The Hindenburg zeppelin explodes while landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
1957 Senator John F. Kennedy wins the Pulitzer Prize for his book "Profiles in Courage."
1992 Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev visits Fulton, Missouri the site of Winston Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech.@
May 7
1915 The "Lusitania" is sunk by the Germans, and 124 Americans die.
1945 The Germans formally surrender to General Eisenhower at Rheims, France.
1992 President George Bush is horrified as he tours the burned out areas affected by the recent Los Angeles riots.@
May 8
1541 Spaniard Hernando de Soto discovers the Mississippi River.
1861 Richmond, Virginia is made the capital of the Confederacy.
1945 WW II in Europe ends (V-E Day).@
May 9
1914 Mothers Day is established by Presidential Proclamation.
1926 Admiral Richard E. Byrd makes the first flight over the North Pole.
1939 The first Catholic beatification of an American Indian, Kateri Tekakwitha, takes place.@
May 10
1797 The "United States", the first ship of the U.S. Navy, is launched.
1869 California Governor Stanford drives the golden spike into the last railway tie in Promontory, Utah, completing the transcontinental railroad.
1904 James Gordon Bennett of the New York "Herald" finances an expedition to find David Livingston, the Scottish missionary lost in Africa.@
May 11
1910 Glacier National Park is founded.
1950 The Grand Coulee Dam is dedicated in Washington.
1973 Charges against Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo are dropped for their theft and release of the Pentagon Papers.@
May 12
1621 The first marriage to take place in Plymouth Colony is between Edward Winslow and Susanna White.
1898 The U.S. bombards San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1969 The first woman to sail solo across the Pacific Ocean is Sharon Sites Adams.@
May 13
1846 The U.S. declares war on Mexico.
1910 The Rainbow Bridge in Utah is proclaimed a National Monument.
1947 The Taft-Hartley Act is approved by the U.S. Senate which intended to limit the power of Unions by restricting the weapons they could employ.@
May 14
1838 The speaker of the Arkansas House of Assembly is tried and found guilty of killing a member of the House with a bowie knife on the House floor while in session.
1853 Gail Borden applies for a patent for her process for making condensed milk.
1930 The Carlsbad Caverns National Park is established in New Mexico.@
May 15
1602 Captain Bartholomew Gosnold anchors at New Bedford, Massachusetts and becomes the first Englishman to land on the New England coast.
1920 The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery.
1972 Governor George Wallace of Alabama is shot and paralyzed.@
May 16
1927 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that even though the manufacturing of liquor is illegal, all bootleggers must pay income tax.
1929 The first motion picture Oscars are awarded.
1991 Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first British Monarch to address Congress.@
May 17
1792 The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
1875 The first Kentucky Derby horse race takes place.
1989 A record price was paid for a painting sold at an auction when Vincent Van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" sells for $82.5 million.@
May 18
1917 The Selective Services Act is passed authorizing the registration and drafting of U.S. males between the ages of 21 and 30.
1933 The Homestead Bill is passed by Congress which grants 160 acre lots to settlers who have resided on their land for three years.
1980 Mount St. Helens volcano, dormant for over 100 years, erupts in Washington.@
May 19
1643 The first conviction for bribery in New York State occurs when Alderman Sharpe is convicted of accepting a bribe for voting for the Broadway Railway Franchise.
1862 The first annual Frog Jumping Jubilee is held in Angel's Camp, Calaveras County, California to commemorate Mark Twain's story "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."
1928 The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is created to develop the areas resources.@
May 20
1927 Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
1932 Charles Lindbergh begins the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
1991 General Norman Schwarzkopf is granted honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II of England.@
May 21
1861 North Carolina secedes from the Union.
1881 The American Red Cross is formed in Washington, D.C.
1930 Max Bishop of the Philadelphia Athletics becomes the only pitcher to hit three batters in his first inning in the major leagues.@
May 22
1819 The "Savannah" is the first U.S. steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
1959 The first African American Brigadier General Benjamin Davis, Jr. is appointed to the rank of Major General of the U.S. Air Force.
1992 55 million people watch Johnny Carson host his last "Tonight Show," ending his run of 30 years on that program.@
May 23
1611 Sir Thomas Dale replaces Lord Delaware as leader of the Jamestown Colony.
1788 South Carolina is admitted to the Union as the 8th state.
1990 The cost of rescuing the savings and loan industry may be as high as $130 billion.@
May 24
1624 The charter of the Virginia Company is revoked, and the colony of Virginia is now designated a royal colony.
1844 The English Crown grants a new charter to the London Company to be titled the Virginia Company and increases its powers of government in the American colony.
1899 Samuel Morse sends the first telegraph message from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland.@
May 25
1787 The Constitutional Convention is held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Constitution is drafted.
1898 The first American troops leave for Manila.
1987 5,000,000 people joins hands to form a human chain across the U.S. in a fund-raising event called "Hands Across America," a cause which gives aid to the hungry and homeless.@
May 26
1805 The Rocky Mountains are sighted for the first time by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
1864 The Territory of Montana is formed from a portion of the Territory of Idaho.
1987 The U.S. Supreme Court holds that dangerous defendants may be held without bail.@
May 27
1637 John Winthrop defeats Governor Henry Vane in the Massachusetts Bay Colony election.
1930 Cellophane transparent tape is patented by Richard Drew.
1943 Edwin James Barclay of the Republic of Liberia is the first president of a black African country to visit the U.S.@
May 28
1868 Henry Bacon is awarded the gold medal and highest honor of the American Institute of Architects for his Lincoln Memorial.
1958 A nose-cone containing two monkeys is launched atop a U.S. and is later recovered, but one monkey dies.
1991 The Supreme Court rules that the conviction on perjury charges given to former National Security Council aide Oliver North should be reviewed.@
May 29
1790 Rhode Island, the last of the original colonies to adopt the U.S. Constitution, becomes the 13th state.
1892 The American fleet blockades the Spanish fleet in Santiago Harbor.
1935 The French liner "Normandie" leaves Le Harve on her maiden voyage to New York.@
May 30
1778 Cobleskill, New York is burned by Iroquois Indians.
1806 A dual between former Tennessee Supreme Court Judge Andrew Jackson and lawyer Charles Dickinson results in Dickinson's death.
1991 The Supreme Court rules that police officers with a warrant to search a car may search bags and packages within the car whether or not they have a cause to do so.@
May 31
1851 The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution goes into effect and states the number of senators and rules governing vacancies.
1913 Several American women give speeches in London on a new costume known as the Bloomer and recommend the outfit be adopted by the English.
1919 The first wedding held in an aircraft takes place over Ellington Field, Houston, Texas between Marjorie Dumont and R. W. Meade.@
