1896 – Tornado hit St. Louis, killing 255, leaving thousands homeless.
1904 – New York Giants first baseman Dan McGann collects Major League Baseball record 5 stolen bases in 3-1 win over the Brooklyn Superbas at the Polo Grounds in New York City; record broken in 1991 by Otis Nixon.
1916 – President Woodrow Wilson addresses the League to Enforce Peace, founded in 1915, and gives public support to the idea of a league of nations.
1930 – The 1,046 foot Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man made structure at the time, opens to the public
1933 – Walt Disney’s short film “3 Little Pigs” released (Academy Award Best Animated film 1934)
1941 – President Franklin Roosevelt declares state of emergency after a German U-boat sinks the American flagged SS Robin Moor.
1949 – The Cleveland Indians start season 12-17, owner Bill Veeck arranges a “Second Opening Day”
1955 – “The Red Buttons Show” last airs on NBC-TV.
1958 – Ernest Green becomes the 1st African American to graduate from Little Rock’s Central High School.
1961 – Ralph Boston sets then long jump record at 27-feet, 1/2-inch.
1968 – George Halas retires from coaching, finishing with 318 regular season wins and 6 NFL titles.
1969 – Walt Disney World construction begins at Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
1972 – Indianapolis 500: Mark Donohue wins after leading only the final 13 laps; owner Roger Penske’s first of eighteen Indy 500 victories.
1981 – John Hinckley attempts suicide by overdosing on Tylenol.
1987 – Christian evangelists Jim and Tammy Bakker appear on “Nightline” after PTL scandal.
1995 – Actor Christopher Reeves is paralyzed from the neck down after falling from his horse in a riding competition in Culpepper, Virginia.
2001 – Senior PGA Championship, Ridgewood Country Club, New Jersey; 5-time British Open champion Tom Watson wins first of 6 Champions Tour major titles with a 1-stroke win over Jim Thorpe.
2009 – NHL Western Conference Final: Detroit Red Wings beat Chicago Black Hawks, 4 games to 1.
2020 – America’s COVID-19 death toll passes 100,000 (John Hopkins figures) equal to number of US servicemen and women killed in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
2022 – “Top Gun Maverick,” the sequel starring Tom Cruise, Miles Teller and Jennifer Connelly, is released 36 years after the original film.
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