1652 – John Johnson, a free African American, is granted 550 acres in Northampton, Virginia.
1752 – Benjamin Franklin tests the lightning conductor with his kite-flying experiment.
1837 – Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
1872 – Victoria Woodhull becomes 1st woman nominated for US presidency by Equal Rights Party at Apollo Hall, NYC.
1883 – First appendectomy performed in North America by Abraham Groves in Canada.
1917 – Atlantic ships get destroyer escorts to stop German attacks.
1924 – J. Edgar Hoover appointed head of FBI.
1960 – John F. Kennedy wins primary in West Virginia.
1960 – US atomic submarine USS Triton completes 1st submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
1966 – 25 degrees F, lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in May.
1968 – Vietnam peace talks began in Paris between the US and North Vietnam.
1969 – US troops begin attack on Hill 937 (“Hamburger Hill”), Vietnam.
1971 – US special delivery rates go from 45 cents to 60 cents.
1993 – Paul Cezanne still life painting sells for US$28,600,000.
1996 – Excel Communications, Inc. becomes the youngest company to join the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), trading under the symbol (ECI)
2005 – A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutyunian lands about 65 feet from U.S. President George W. Bush while giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, it malfunctions and does not detonate.
2017 – USGS releases a report saying that some glaciers in Montana have receded by 85% in the last 50 years.
2017 – US President Donald Trump shares classified information about ISIS plot with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office.
2018 – Apple becomes the first company to be worth more than $800 billion.