From space travel to Star Wars, check out some memorable moments in history from the month of May:
- May 30, 1911. The inaugural Indianapolis 500 is held, with Ray Harroun speeding to victory in his single-seat Marmon Wasp.
- May 9, 1914. President Woodrow Wilson issues a presidential proclamation establishing the first national Mother’s Day.
- May 20, 1927. Charles Lindbergh departs New York for Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis on the world’s first solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic.
- May 16, 1929. The first Academy Awards ceremony is held in Hollywood, with Emil Jannings winning Best Actor and Janet Gaynor taking home Best Actress.
- May 1, 1931. President Hoover officially dedicates the Empire State Building—at the time, the world’s tallest skyscraper, at 102 stories and 1,250 feet.
- May 6, 1937. The Hindenburg, the largest dirigible ever built, bursts into flames upon touching its mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 people.
- May 27, 1937. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge opens to the public with some 200,000 pedestrians traversing the 4,200-foot-long suspension bridge.
- May 17, 1954. The U.S. Supreme Court delivers a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ruling racial segregation in public educational facilities unconstitutional.
- May 5, 1961. Navy Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. becomes the first American in space, making a 15-minute suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 space capsule.
- May 25, 1977. George Lucas’ Star Wars opens in theaters, becoming the highest grossing movie in history until it was surpassed by E.T. in 1982. iBi
Source: history.com