EVENTS
- 1859 – The Great Clock housing Big Ben starts keeping time. The clock at the top of Elizabeth Tower at the north end of the British Houses of Parliament is one of the world’s best-known timekeepers.
- 1862 – During the American Civil War, the Battle of Seven Pines occurred as Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army attacked Union General George McClellan’s troops in front of Richmond, Virginia, and nearly defeated them. Johnston was badly wounded. Confederate General Robert E. Lee then assumed command, replacing the wounded Johnston. Lee renamed his force the Army of Northern Virginia.
- 1879 – Werner von Siemens presents the world’s first electric locomotive. Von Siemens’ landmark invention was soon used in trams. 1881 saw the introduction of the world’s first electric tram in Berlin, Germany.
- 1884 – John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes.
- 1889 – Over 2,300 persons were killed in the Johnstown flood in Pennsylvania. Heavy rains throughout May caused the Connemaugh River Dam to burst sending a wall of water 75 feet high pouring down upon the city.
- 1917 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System - 1927 – The last Ford Model T is manufactured after a run of over 15 million cars.
- 1961 – South Africa becomes an independent republic. Following international criticism of the country’s apartheid regime, it had to leave the Commonwealth of Nations. The system of racial segregation was gradually abolished in the early 1990s.
- 1990 – The first episode of Seinfeld airs on TV.
- 2005 – Deep Throat reveals himself. Former FBI agent Mark Felt admitted that he was the most important informant in the 1970’s Watergate scandal, which uncovered the dirty tricks of the Nixon administration, ultimately leading to Nixon’s resignation.
- 2013 – The widest tornado ever recorded hits El Reno, Oklahoma. The storm had a width of 4.2 km (2.6 mi). Nine people were killed as it swept over rural areas of Central Oklahoma.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1819 – Walt Whitman (Poet)
- 1894 – Fred Allen (American comedian, actor, radio host)
- 1930 – Clint Eastwood (Actor and director)
Clint Eastwood - 1943 – Joe Namath (Football quarterback)
- 1945 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder (German actor, director, screenwriter)
- 1949 – Tom Berenger (Actor)
- 1965 – Brooke Sheilds (Actress and Model)
- 1967 – Kenny Lofton (Baseball Player)
- 1976 – Colin Farrell (Actor)
DEATHS
- 1809 – Joseph Haydn (Austrian composer)
- 1837 – Joseph Grimaldi (English actor, dancer)
- 1983 – Jack Dempsey (American boxer)
Jack Dempsey - 1996 – Timothy Leary (American psychologist, author)
- 2010 – Louise Bourgeois (French/American sculptor)
