Sandro Botticelli(artist; works include the painting Birth of Venusββ)β
John Jay(first Chief Justice of the U.S.)β
John Deere(American manufacturer)β
Lawrence Welk(musician)β
Joe Black(baseball player)β
Tony Randall(actor; well known for his role as Felix Unger on the sitcom The Odd Couple)β
Frank Gorshin(actor best known for role as the Riddler on the Batman television series)β
Donna Summer(singer; Queen of Discoββ)β
Born
Edward Jenner(physician)β
Maureen O'Sullivan(actress)β
Dennis Hopper(actor)β
Bill Paxton(actor)β
Sugar Ray Leonard(boxer)β
Bob Saget(actor & comedian)β
Enya(New Age singer)β
Craig Ferguson(actor & television host)β
Tony Parker(basketball player)β
Events
Joliet-Marquette Mississippi River expedition beganβ
The New York Stock Exchange established at Merchants Coffee House, New York Cityβ
Fire began that destroyed part of St. Louis, Missouriβ
First Kentucky Derby heldβ
District of Alaska createdβ
Clifton Fadiman hosted the NBC Blue network quiz show Information Pleaseβ
First coin-operated mailbox, the Mailomat, installedβ
First U.S. cross-country helicopter flight endedβ
U.S. Supreme Court issued Brown v. Board of Education decision, ruling that segregated schools are unconstitutionalβ
Senate Watergate Committee began public hearingsβ
Massachusetts became the first state to process marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couplesβ
A team of rocketeers led by a Bloomington, MN, man claimed success in their goal of launching the first amateur rocket into space, sending a 21-foot rocket named GoFast an estimated 70 miles above the Nevada desertβ
Peter Phillips, son of British Princess Anne, wed Canadian Autumn Kellyβ
Allan Ganz honored for 67-year career (and counting) as ice-cream manβ
Weather
A hard frost covered southern New Englandβ
Portland, Maine, had 4.12 inches of rain in 12 hoursβ
The worst May blizzard in seven years hit Denver, Coloradoβ
Temperatures dipped to a mere 12 degrees F at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaiiβ