TMN STAFF
May 31, there are 214 days remaining in this year.
1790- The first U.S. Copyright Law was enacted, protecting books, maps, and other original materials.
1889- Heavy rains caused the South Fork Dam to collapse, sending 20 million tons of water into Johnstown, Pa. Over 2,200 people were killed and the town was nearly destroyed.
1911- The hull of the Titanic was launched in Belfast. At the ceremony, a White Star Line employee claimed, “Not even God himself could sink this ship.”
1961- South Africa became an independent republic.
1962- Former Gestapo official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel.
1970- An earthquake in Peru left more than 50,000 dead.
2004- Alberta Martin, 97, one of the last widows of a U.S. Civil War veteran, died. She had married Confederate veteran William Martin in 1927 when she was 21 and he was 81.
2010- Nine people are dead after an Israeli navy commando attacks a flotilla of cargo ships and passenger boats on their way to Gaza to provide aid and supplies for the area.
Birthdays
1819- Walt Whitman, poet
1898- Norman Vincent Peale, clergyman
1928- Prince Rainier III, prince of Monaco, married Grace Kelly
1927- Patricia Roberts Harris, former ambassador, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Health and Human Services
1930- Clint Eastwood, actor, director, producer
1943- Joe Namath, NFL Hall of Famer
1965- Brooke Shields, actress, model