Post by MacBeth on May 20, 2009 5:59:49 GMT -5
In 1861, North Carolina voted to secede from the Union. The capital of the Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, Ala., to Richmond, Virginia.
In 1902, the United States ended a three-year military presence in Cuba as the Republic of Cuba was established under its first elected president, Tomas Estrada Palma.
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from New York's Roosevelt Field in Long Island aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France.
In 1932, Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Because of weather and equipment problems, Earhart set down in Northern Ireland instead of her intended destination, France.)
In 1939, regular trans-Atlantic mail service began as a Pan American Airways plane, the Yankee Clipper, took off from Port Washington, N.Y., bound for Marseille, France.
In 1959, nearly 5,000 Japanese-Americans had their citizenship restored after renouncing it during World War II.
In 1960, music DJ Alan Freed, originator of the term "Rock and Roll," is indicted in New York in the Payola scandal. Freed had accepted $30,650 from five record companies to play their records, although to be fair "pay for play" was the accepted practice up to that point.
In 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Ala., prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order.
In 1969, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Ap Bia Mountain, referred to as "Hamburger Hill" by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.
In 1970, some 100,000 people demonstrated in New York's Wall Street district in support of U.S. policy in Vietnam and Cambodia.
In 1989, attempting to clear Tiananmen Square of student activists and quell 100 million others protesting throughout the country, China declares martial law in Beijing. Two weeks later, after they continue to loiter in the Square, thousands of students are massacred by government troops.
In 1996, The Supreme Court struck down a Colorado measure banning laws that protect homosexuals from discrimination.
In 1999, an armed 15-year-old boy opened fire at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga., wounding six students. (T.J. Solomon was later sentenced to 40 years in prison, but a judge subsequently cut that sentence in half.) NATO warplanes hammered Belgrade and its suburbs, leaving a hospital in smoldering ruins, several patients dead and the nearby homes of three European ambassadors damaged.
In 2002, East Timor became an independent nation.
In 2004, President George W. Bush made a rare visit to Capitol Hill, where he sought to ease Republican lawmakers' concerns over the Iraq campaign. Iraqi police backed by American soldiers raided the home and offices of Ahmad Chalabi, a prominent Iraqi politician once groomed as a possible replacement for Saddam Hussein.
In 2008, Sen. Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor; some experts gave the Massachusetts Democrat less than a year to live. Hillary Rodham Clinton defeated Barack Obama in the Kentucky Democratic primary, while Obama won in Oregon.
In 1902, the United States ended a three-year military presence in Cuba as the Republic of Cuba was established under its first elected president, Tomas Estrada Palma.
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from New York's Roosevelt Field in Long Island aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France.
In 1932, Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Because of weather and equipment problems, Earhart set down in Northern Ireland instead of her intended destination, France.)
In 1939, regular trans-Atlantic mail service began as a Pan American Airways plane, the Yankee Clipper, took off from Port Washington, N.Y., bound for Marseille, France.
In 1959, nearly 5,000 Japanese-Americans had their citizenship restored after renouncing it during World War II.
In 1960, music DJ Alan Freed, originator of the term "Rock and Roll," is indicted in New York in the Payola scandal. Freed had accepted $30,650 from five record companies to play their records, although to be fair "pay for play" was the accepted practice up to that point.
In 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Ala., prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order.
In 1969, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Ap Bia Mountain, referred to as "Hamburger Hill" by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.
In 1970, some 100,000 people demonstrated in New York's Wall Street district in support of U.S. policy in Vietnam and Cambodia.
In 1989, attempting to clear Tiananmen Square of student activists and quell 100 million others protesting throughout the country, China declares martial law in Beijing. Two weeks later, after they continue to loiter in the Square, thousands of students are massacred by government troops.
In 1996, The Supreme Court struck down a Colorado measure banning laws that protect homosexuals from discrimination.
In 1999, an armed 15-year-old boy opened fire at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga., wounding six students. (T.J. Solomon was later sentenced to 40 years in prison, but a judge subsequently cut that sentence in half.) NATO warplanes hammered Belgrade and its suburbs, leaving a hospital in smoldering ruins, several patients dead and the nearby homes of three European ambassadors damaged.
In 2002, East Timor became an independent nation.
In 2004, President George W. Bush made a rare visit to Capitol Hill, where he sought to ease Republican lawmakers' concerns over the Iraq campaign. Iraqi police backed by American soldiers raided the home and offices of Ahmad Chalabi, a prominent Iraqi politician once groomed as a possible replacement for Saddam Hussein.
In 2008, Sen. Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor; some experts gave the Massachusetts Democrat less than a year to live. Hillary Rodham Clinton defeated Barack Obama in the Kentucky Democratic primary, while Obama won in Oregon.
