_{Photo: The British evacuation of Dunkirk begins, May 26, 1940.
Image from the film Divide and Conquer (Why We Fight #3), directed by Frank Capra.}

Today in History

• The first convicted witch is hanged in the British North American colonies (1647)
• Kaspar Hauser, a mysterious feral child, is discovered wandering the streets of Nürnberg (1828)
• The US Congress passes the Indian Removal Act, leading to the “Trail of Tears” (1830)
• Dred Scott is freed by his original owners (1857)
• Montana becomes a US territory (1864)
• Nicholas II becomes the last Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias (1896 — O.S.* 14 May)
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is first calculated (1896)
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula is published (1897)
• The first 24 Heures du Mans (Le Mans) race takes place (1923)
• The US House Un-American Activities Committee has its first session (1938)
• The evacuation of Dunkirk begins (1940)
• Apollo 10 returns to Earth (1969)
• The Supreme Court awards Ellis Island to New Jersey (1998)

Birthdays

•  Al Jolson, entertainer (1886)
• Norma Talmadge, actress (1893)
• John Wayne, actor (1907)
• Robert Morley, actor (1908)
• Jay Silverheels, played Tonto (1912)
• Peter Cushing, actor (1913)
• Peggy Lee, singer (1920)
• James Arness, Gunsmoke marshal (1923)
• Miles Davis, musician (1926)
• Jack Kevorkian, right-to-die facilitator (1928)
• Brent Musburger, sportscasater (1939)
• Levon Helm, Band leader (1940)
• Aldrich Ames, CIA officer and Soviet spy (1941)
• Stevie Nicks, singer-songwriter (1948)
• Pam Grier, actress (1949)
• Philip Michael Thomas, actor (1949)
• Hank Williams, Jr., singer-songwriter (1949)
• Sally Ride, astronaut (1951)
• Kay Hagen, North Carolina senator (1953)
• Bobcat Goldthwait, comedian (1962)
• Lenny Kravitz, singer-songwriter (1964)
• Helena Bonham Carter, actress (1966)
• Matt Stone, co-creator of South Park (1971)
• Lauryn Hill, singer-songwriter (1975)

Deaths

• Venerable Bede, monk and historian (735)
• Samuel Pepys, diarist (1703)
• مرزا غلام احمد (Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad), founder of the احمدِیہ‎ (Ahmadiyya) movement (1906)
• Victor Herbert, operetta composer (1924)
• Jimmie Rodgers, singer-songwriter (1933)
• Charles Mayo, clinic founder (1939)
• Edsel Ford, car executive and namesake (1943)
• Lincoln Ellsworth, explorer (1951)
• Al Simmons, baseball player (1956)
• Martin Heidegger, philosopher (1976)
• Eddie Albert, actor (2005)
• Sydney Pollack, actor and director (2008)
• Art Linkletter, radio and TV host (2010)
• Leo Dillon, science fiction artist (2012)
• Jack Vance, science fiction writer (2013)

Holidays and Celebrations