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 more than 20 million tons of water into Johnstown, Pennsylvania, which resulted in the deaths of more than 2,200 people and the destruction of nearly the entire town.
1911 - The hull of the Titanic was launched in Belfast. At the 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 Gestapo official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel for his role in the Holocaust during World War II.
1970 - A magnitude 7.9 earthquake in Peru killed more than 67,000.
1977 - The Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, three years in the making despite objections from environmentalists and Alaska Natives, was completed. (The first oil began flowing through the line 20 days later.)
1989 - House Speaker Jim Wright, dogged by questions about his ethics, announced he would resign. (Tom Foley would succeed him.)
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 - Dr. George Tiller, a rare provider of late-term abortions, was shot and killed in a Wichita, Kansas church. (Gunman Scott Roeder was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years.)
2009 - Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, died in Southampton, England at age 97.
2013 - A tornado in the Oklahoma City metro area claimed eight lives, including those of storm chasers Tim Samaras, his son, Paul, and Carl Young; 13 people died in flash flooding.
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 - The Trump administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum from Europe, Mexico and Canada in a move that drew immediate vows of retaliation.
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 protesters 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.
2022 - The European Union agreed to ban the overwhelming majority of Russian oil imports after tense negotiations. The move was the most significant effort to that point to punish Russia for its war in Ukraine.
Birthdays
27 - Normani Hamilton (singer)
32 - Farrah Abraham (reality star)
33 - Phillipa Soo (actress)
39 - Yael Grobglas (actress)
41 - Jonathan Tucker (actor)
41 - Casey James (singer)
46 - Eric Christian Olsen (actor)
47 - Colin Farrell (actor)
48 - Merle Dandridge (actor)
51 - Archie Panjabi (actor)
56 - Phil Keoghan (TV host)
58 - Brooke Shields (actress)
60 - Hugh Dillon (actor)
61 - Corey Hart (singer)
62 - Lea Thompson (actress)
63 - Chris Elliott (actor/comedian)
66 - Kyle Secor (actor)
73 - Gregory Harrison (actor)
73 - Tom Berenger (actor)
80 - Joe Namath (football player)
80 - Sharon Gless (actress)
85 - Peter Yarrow (singer)
93 - Clint Eastwood (actor/director)
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Today in Sports History - May 31
1930 - Philadelphia Athletics's Max Bishop draws 8 walks in a doubleheader to set MLB record.
1983 - The Philadelphia 76ers sweep the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA championship.
1987 - The Edmonton Oilers defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games to win the Stanley Cup.
2002 - The New Jersey Mets advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
2008 - Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets a new world record in the 100 meter dash with a time of 9.72 seconds, breaking the old record of 9.74 set by fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell in 2007. (Bolt would later lower his world record to 9.58, which still stands today.)
2021 - Tennis star Naomi Osaka withdraws from the French Open citing her own mental health, after refusing to appear at compulsory post-match press conferences.
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 more than 20 million tons of water into Johnstown, Pennsylvania, which resulted in the deaths of more than 2,200 people and the destruction of nearly the entire town.
1911 - The hull of the Titanic was launched in Belfast. At the 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 Gestapo official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel for his role in the Holocaust during World War II.
1970 - A magnitude 7.9 earthquake in Peru killed more than 67,000.
1977 - The Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, three years in the making despite objections from environmentalists and Alaska Natives, was completed. (The first oil began flowing through the line 20 days later.)
1989 - House Speaker Jim Wright, dogged by questions about his ethics, announced he would resign. (Tom Foley would succeed him.)
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 - Dr. George Tiller, a rare provider of late-term abortions, was shot and killed in a Wichita, Kansas church. (Gunman Scott Roeder was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years.)
2009 - Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, died in Southampton, England at age 97.
2013 - A tornado in the Oklahoma City metro area claimed eight lives, including those of storm chasers Tim Samaras, his son, Paul, and Carl Young; 13 people died in flash flooding.
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 - The Trump administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum from Europe, Mexico and Canada in a move that drew immediate vows of retaliation.
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 protesters 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.
2022 - The European Union agreed to ban the overwhelming majority of Russian oil imports after tense negotiations. The move was the most significant effort to that point to punish Russia for its war in Ukraine.
Birthdays
27 - Normani Hamilton (singer)
32 - Farrah Abraham (reality star)
33 - Phillipa Soo (actress)
39 - Yael Grobglas (actress)
41 - Jonathan Tucker (actor)
41 - Casey James (singer)
46 - Eric Christian Olsen (actor)
47 - Colin Farrell (actor)
48 - Merle Dandridge (actor)
51 - Archie Panjabi (actor)
56 - Phil Keoghan (TV host)
58 - Brooke Shields (actress)
60 - Hugh Dillon (actor)
61 - Corey Hart (singer)
62 - Lea Thompson (actress)
63 - Chris Elliott (actor/comedian)
66 - Kyle Secor (actor)
73 - Gregory Harrison (actor)
73 - Tom Berenger (actor)
80 - Joe Namath (football player)
80 - Sharon Gless (actress)
85 - Peter Yarrow (singer)
93 - Clint Eastwood (actor/director)
=================================
Today in Sports History - May 31
1930 - Philadelphia Athletics's Max Bishop draws 8 walks in a doubleheader to set MLB record.
1983 - The Philadelphia 76ers sweep the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA championship.
1987 - The Edmonton Oilers defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games to win the Stanley Cup.
2002 - The New Jersey Mets advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
2008 - Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets a new world record in the 100 meter dash with a time of 9.72 seconds, breaking the old record of 9.74 set by fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell in 2007. (Bolt would later lower his world record to 9.58, which still stands today.)
2021 - Tennis star Naomi Osaka withdraws from the French Open citing her own mental health, after refusing to appear at compulsory post-match press conferences.
