| 1770 |
|
Marie Antoinette marries future King Louis XVI of France. |
| 1863 |
|
At the Battle of Champion's Hill, Union General Ulysess S. Grant repulses the Confederates, driving them into Vicksburg. |
| 1868 |
|
President Andrew Johnson is acquitted during Senate impeachment, by one vote, cast by Edmund G. Ross. |
| 1879 |
|
The Treaty of Gandamak between Russia and England sets up the Afghan state. |
| 1920 |
|
Joan of Arc is canonized in Rome. |
| 1928 |
|
The first Academy Awards are held in Hollywood. |
| 1943 |
|
A specially trained and equipped Royal Air Force squadron destroys two river dams in Germany. |
| 1951 |
|
Chinese Communist Forces launch second step, fifth-phase offensive and gain up to 20 miles of territory. |
| 1960 |
|
A Big Four summit in Paris collapses because of the American U-2 spy plane affair. |
| 1963 |
|
After 22 Earth orbits, Gordon Cooper returns to Earth, ending the last mission of Project Mercury. |
|
Born on May 16 |
| 1801 |
|
William Henry Seward, U.S. Secretary of State (1861-1869). |
| 1804 |
|
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, founder of the first U.S. kindergarten. |
| 1824 |
|
Edmund Kirby-Smith, Confederate general during the American Civil War. |
| 1850 |
|
Johannes von Mikulica-Radecki, Polish surgical pioneer. |
| 1886 |
|
Douglas Southall Freeman, journalist, historian, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer. |
| 1905 |
|
Henry Fonda, American actor (Grapes of Wrath, On Golden Pond). |
| 1912 |
|
Studs Terkel, author and historian. |
| 1913 |
|
Woody Herman, jazz bandleader. |
| 1929 |
|
Betty Carter, jazz singer. |
| 1929 |
|
Adrienne Rich, poet (Diving into the Wreck). |
| 1955 |
|
Olga Korbut, Olympic gymnast. |
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