May 31
1790 - The first U.S. Copyright Law was enacted, protecting books, maps, and other original materials.
1859 - The Big Ben clock tower in London went into operation, chiming for the first time.
1889 - Heavy rains caused the South Fork Dam to collapse, sending 20 million tons of water into Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Over 2,200 people were killed and the town was nearly destroyed.
1911 - The hull of the Titanic was launched in Belfast. At a ceremony, a White Star Line employee claimed, "Not even God himself could sink this ship!"
1921 - A race riot erupted in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as white mobs began looting and leveling the affluent Black district of Greenwood over reports a Black man had assaulted a white woman in an elevator; hundreds are believed to have died.
1949 - Former State Department official and accused spy Alger Hiss went on trial in New York, charged with perjury (the jury deadlocked, but Hiss was convicted in a second trial).
1961 - South Africa became an independent republic.
1962 - Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel a few minutes before midnight for his role in the Holocaust.
1970 - A 7.9-magnitude earthquake in Peru left more than 50,000 dead.
1977 - The Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, three years in the making despite objections from environmentalists and Alaska Natives, was completed.
1989 - House Speaker Jim Wright, dogged by questions about his ethics, announced he would resign.
2004 - Alberta Martin, age 97, one of the last widows of a U.S. Civil War veteran, died. She had married Confederate veteran William Martin in 1927 when she was 21 and he was 81.
2009 - Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, died in Southampton, England at 97.
2010 - Nine people were killed after an Israeli navy commando attacks a flotilla of cargo ships and passenger boats on their way to Gaza to provide aid and supplies for the area.
2014 - Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan, was freed by the Taliban in exchange for five Afghan detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Bergdahl, who’d gone missing in June 2009, later pleaded guilty to endangering his comrades by walking away from his post in Afghanistan; his sentence included a dishonorable discharge, a reduction in rank and a fine, but no prison time.)
2018 - President Donald Trump pardoned conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza, who had pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud; Trump said D’Souza had been “treated very unfairly by our government.”
2019 - A longtime city employee opened fire in a municipal building in Virginia Beach, Virginia, killing 12 people on three floors before police shot and killed him; officials said DeWayne Craddock had resigned by email hours before the shooting.
2020 - Tens of thousands of people protesting in the wake of the killing of George Floyd again took to the streets across America, with peaceful demonstrations against police killings overshadowed by unrest; officials deployed thousands of National Guard soldiers and enacted strict curfews in major cities.
2021 - China’s ruling Communist Party announced that all couples would be allowed to have three children instead of two.
2023 - Jurors found "That 70's Show" star Danny Masterson guilty of two counts of rape in a Los Angeles court.
Birthdays
28 - Normani Hamilton (singer)
33 - Farrah Abraham (reality star)
34 - Phillipa Soo (actress)
40 - Yael Grobglas (actress)
41 - Michelle Chen (actress)
42 - Jonathan Tucker (actor)
42 - Casey James (singer)
47 - Eric Christian Olsen (actor)
48 - Colin Farrell (actor)
52 - Archie Panjabi (actor)
57 - Phil Keoghan (TV host)
59 - Brooke Shields (actress)
61 - Hugh Dillon (actor)
62 - Corey Hart (singer)
63 - Lea Thompson (actress)
64 - Chris Elliott (actor/comedian)
67 - Kyle Secor (actor)
74 - Gregory Harrison (actor)
74 - Tom Berenger (actor)
81 - Joe Namath (football player)
81 - Sharon Gless (actress)
86 - Peter Yarrow (singer)
94 - Clint Eastwood (actor/director)
=====================================
Today in Sports History - May 31
1879 - New York's Madison Square Garden opened.
1937 - The Brooklyn Dodgers ended Carl Hubbell's (New York Giants) 24-game winning streak.
1948 - Tommy Lasorda of the Schenectady Blue Jays strikes out 25 batters (Amsterdam Rugmakers) in a 15 inning game.
1964 - The San Francisco Giants defeat the New York Mets 8-6 in 23 innings.
1983 - The Philadelphia 76ers weep the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA championship.
1987 - The Edmonton Oilers defeat the Philadelphia Flyers to win the Stanley Cup.
2002 - The New Jersey Nets defeat the Boston Celtics in six games of the Eastern Conference Finals to advance to their first NBA Finals in franchise history.
2008 - Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets a new world record in the men's 100 meter dash with a time of 9.72 seconds.
2021 - Naomi Osaka withdraws from the French Open citing her mental health, after refusing to appear at a compulsory post-match press conference.
1790 - The first U.S. Copyright Law was enacted, protecting books, maps, and other original materials.
1859 - The Big Ben clock tower in London went into operation, chiming for the first time.
1889 - Heavy rains caused the South Fork Dam to collapse, sending 20 million tons of water into Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Over 2,200 people were killed and the town was nearly destroyed.
1911 - The hull of the Titanic was launched in Belfast. At a ceremony, a White Star Line employee claimed, "Not even God himself could sink this ship!"
1921 - A race riot erupted in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as white mobs began looting and leveling the affluent Black district of Greenwood over reports a Black man had assaulted a white woman in an elevator; hundreds are believed to have died.
1949 - Former State Department official and accused spy Alger Hiss went on trial in New York, charged with perjury (the jury deadlocked, but Hiss was convicted in a second trial).
1961 - South Africa became an independent republic.
1962 - Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel a few minutes before midnight for his role in the Holocaust.
1970 - A 7.9-magnitude earthquake in Peru left more than 50,000 dead.
1977 - The Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, three years in the making despite objections from environmentalists and Alaska Natives, was completed.
1989 - House Speaker Jim Wright, dogged by questions about his ethics, announced he would resign.
2004 - Alberta Martin, age 97, one of the last widows of a U.S. Civil War veteran, died. She had married Confederate veteran William Martin in 1927 when she was 21 and he was 81.
2009 - Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, died in Southampton, England at 97.
2010 - Nine people were killed after an Israeli navy commando attacks a flotilla of cargo ships and passenger boats on their way to Gaza to provide aid and supplies for the area.
2014 - Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan, was freed by the Taliban in exchange for five Afghan detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Bergdahl, who’d gone missing in June 2009, later pleaded guilty to endangering his comrades by walking away from his post in Afghanistan; his sentence included a dishonorable discharge, a reduction in rank and a fine, but no prison time.)
2018 - President Donald Trump pardoned conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza, who had pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud; Trump said D’Souza had been “treated very unfairly by our government.”
2019 - A longtime city employee opened fire in a municipal building in Virginia Beach, Virginia, killing 12 people on three floors before police shot and killed him; officials said DeWayne Craddock had resigned by email hours before the shooting.
2020 - Tens of thousands of people protesting in the wake of the killing of George Floyd again took to the streets across America, with peaceful demonstrations against police killings overshadowed by unrest; officials deployed thousands of National Guard soldiers and enacted strict curfews in major cities.
2021 - China’s ruling Communist Party announced that all couples would be allowed to have three children instead of two.
2023 - Jurors found "That 70's Show" star Danny Masterson guilty of two counts of rape in a Los Angeles court.
Birthdays
28 - Normani Hamilton (singer)
33 - Farrah Abraham (reality star)
34 - Phillipa Soo (actress)
40 - Yael Grobglas (actress)
41 - Michelle Chen (actress)
42 - Jonathan Tucker (actor)
42 - Casey James (singer)
47 - Eric Christian Olsen (actor)
48 - Colin Farrell (actor)
52 - Archie Panjabi (actor)
57 - Phil Keoghan (TV host)
59 - Brooke Shields (actress)
61 - Hugh Dillon (actor)
62 - Corey Hart (singer)
63 - Lea Thompson (actress)
64 - Chris Elliott (actor/comedian)
67 - Kyle Secor (actor)
74 - Gregory Harrison (actor)
74 - Tom Berenger (actor)
81 - Joe Namath (football player)
81 - Sharon Gless (actress)
86 - Peter Yarrow (singer)
94 - Clint Eastwood (actor/director)
=====================================
Today in Sports History - May 31
1879 - New York's Madison Square Garden opened.
1937 - The Brooklyn Dodgers ended Carl Hubbell's (New York Giants) 24-game winning streak.
1948 - Tommy Lasorda of the Schenectady Blue Jays strikes out 25 batters (Amsterdam Rugmakers) in a 15 inning game.
1964 - The San Francisco Giants defeat the New York Mets 8-6 in 23 innings.
1983 - The Philadelphia 76ers weep the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA championship.
1987 - The Edmonton Oilers defeat the Philadelphia Flyers to win the Stanley Cup.
2002 - The New Jersey Nets defeat the Boston Celtics in six games of the Eastern Conference Finals to advance to their first NBA Finals in franchise history.
2008 - Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets a new world record in the men's 100 meter dash with a time of 9.72 seconds.
2021 - Naomi Osaka withdraws from the French Open citing her mental health, after refusing to appear at a compulsory post-match press conference.