1865 – President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation declaring armed resistance in the South is virtually at an end, this is the commonly accepted end date of the American Civil War.
1899 – John Burr patents an improved rotary blade lawn mower in the US.
1914 – US President Woodrow Wilson proclaims Mother’s Day.
1926 – 1st flight over the North Pole claimed by Richard E. Byrd and co-pilot Floyd Bennett. Later discovery of Byrd’s diary suggests they may have turned back 150 miles short of the pole due to an oil leak.
1932 – 57th Preakness: Eugene James aboard Burgoo King wins in 1:59.8.
1944 – Country singer Jimmie Davis becomes governor of Louisiana.
1946 – 1st hour long entertainment TV show, “NBC’s Hour Glass” premieres.
1960 – US becomes the first country to legalize the birth control pill.
1961 – FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow criticizes TV as a “vast wasteland”
1964 – Peter & Gordon release “World Without Love”
1973 – For 2nd time, Johnny Bench hits 3 HRs in a game.
1974 – US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins formal hearings on Nixon impeachment.
1982 – 18th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, Ronnie Milsap, and Sylvia win.
1987 – Oriole Eddie Murray is 1st to switch hit HRs in 2 consecutive games.
1991 – Michael Landon appears on The Tonight Show to talk about his cancer.
1997 – San Diego Padres retire #35 worn by pitcher Randy Jones.
2012 – Mark Rothko’s “Orange, Red, Yellow” becomes the most expensive contemporary art piece to be sold at auction for $86.9 million dollars.
2012 – US President Barack Obama officially states his support for same-sex marriage.
2017 – US President Donald Trump dismisses FBI Director James Comey.