May 31st in History

Photo: The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line, May 31, 1927

Today in History

  • Ramesses II the Great becomes Pharaoh (1279 BCE)
  • Because of his failing eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last entry in his diary (1669 CE)
  • The US enacts its first federal copyright law, giving 14 years (with one 14 year renewal) of protection to copyrighted works (1790 CE)
  • The Johnstown Flood kills 2,200 people following a dam failure that releases a 60-foot wall of water (1889 CE)
  • World War II: The naval Battle of Jutland takes place (1916 CE)
  • Whites in Tulsa, Oklahoma, attack the black “Greenwood District,” the wealthiest black community in the United States, and burn it to the ground (1921 CE)
  • The last Ford Model T of 15,007,003 rolls off the assembly line (1927 CE)
  • Watergate Scandal: Mark Felt is reveal to have been “Deep Throat” (2005 CE)

Birthdays

  • Walt Whitman, poet (1819)
  • Julius Petri, microbiologist and inventor of the Petri dish (1852)
  • Pius XI, pontiff (1857)
  • Fred Allen, radio comedian (1894)
  • Norman Vincent Peale, self-help guru (1898)
  • Denholm Elliott, actor (1922)
  • Rainier III, prince of Monaco (1923)
  • Clint Eastwood, actor and filmmaker (1930)
  • Johnny Paycheck, country musician (1938)
  • Peter Yarrow, singer-songwriter in Peter, Paul, and Mary (1938)
  • Terry Waite, humanitarian and hostage (1939)
  • Gilbert Shelton, underground cartoonist (1940)
  • Sharon Gless, actress (1943)
  • Joe Namath, football player (1943)
  • Rainer Werner Fassbinder, filmmaker (1945)
  • John Bonham, Led Zeppelin drummer (1948)
  • Tom Berenger, actor (1949)
  • Gregory Harrison, actor (950)
  • Chris Elliott, comedian (1960)
  • Lea Thompson, actress (1961)
  • Kenny Lofton, baseball player (1967)
  • Waka Flocka Flame, rapper (1986)

Deaths

  • Adolf Eichmann, Holocaust organizer (1962)
  • Edith Hamilton, mythologist (1963)
  • Billy Strayhorn, pianist and composer (1967)
  • William Castle, filmmaker (1977)
  • Jack Dempsey, boxer (1983)
  • Timothy Leary, LSD advocate (1996)
  • Arlene Frances, game show panelist (2001)
  • Millvina Dean, last survivor of RMS Titanic (2009)
  • George Tiller, assassinated abortion provider (2009)
  • Jean Stapleton, actress (2013)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Anniversary of Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (Brunei)
  • Dia de Castile-LaMancha (Castile-LaMancha)
  • Syaday (Discordianism)
  • Union Day (South Africa)
  • Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)
  • World No Tobacco Day (international)
Informal and made-up holidays include “Make My Day” Day (in honor of Clint Eastwood’s birthday), National Macaroon Day, Save Your Hearing Day, Speak in Complete Sentences Day, Survivor Day (debut of the TV reality show Survivor), Take This Job and Shove It Day (birthday of Johnny Paycheck)