May 21

American Red Cross is founded by Clara Barton (1881); FIFA, world governing body of association football, founded (1904); Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jane Addams dies (1935); Rapper Notorious BIG born (1972).

May 20

Christopher Columbus dies (1506); Amelia Earhart departs from Newfoundland, Canada, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (1932); Singer-songwriter Cher born (1946); First photograph sent from Hubble Space Telescope (1990).

May 19

Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, is beheaded (1536); TE Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, dies (1935); André the Giant born (1946); Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dies (1994); Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle (2018).

May 18

Supreme Court rules “separate but equal” in Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896); Pope John Paul II born in Poland (1920); Comedian Tina Fey born (1970); India detonates its first nuclear test bomb “Smiling Buddha” (1974); Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington state (1980); Musician Chris Cornell dies (2017).

May 17

Aristides is first winner of the Kentucky Derby (1875); Brown v. Board of Education decision outlaws racial segregation in public schools (1954); Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard born (1956); First legal same-sex marriages performed in the US (2004); Singer Donna Summer dies (2012).

May 15

National Woman Suffrage Association founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1869); Poet Emily Dickinson dies (1886); Mickey Mouse makes first cartoon appearance (1928); Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright born (1937); Soviet Union begins withdrawal of 115,000 troops from Afghanistan (1988).

May 16

First Academy Awards hosted (1929); Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends (1943); Singer Janet Jackson born (1966); Entertainer Andy Kaufman dies (1984); "Muppets" creator Jim Henson dies (1990); Performer Sammy Davis Jr. dies (1990).