1937
Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for Gone With the Wind.
1948
The Shelley v. Kraemer Supreme Court decision stated that it is unconstitutional for a court to enforce a restrictive covenant which prevents people of a certain race from owning or occupying a property.
1979
Margaret Thatcher became the first woman elected prime minister of England.
1986
At the age of 54, legendary horse jockey Bill Shoemaker became the oldest person to win the Kentucky Derby, riding Ferdinand to victory.
1999
Kansas and Oklahoma were hit by an outbreak of more than 55 tornadoes, including one measured at F5 on the Fujita scale.
2001
The United States, a member of the UN Human Rights Commission since its inception, lost its seat. It would be restored the following year.
2003
New Hampshire’s symbol, the granite Old Man of the Mountain, collapsed in the state’s Franconia Mountains.
Birthdays
Niccolo Machiavelli
Italian author and statesman (1469)
Richard D’Oyly Carte
theatrical impresario (1844)
Jacob Riis
social reformer (1849)
Golda Meir
political leader (1898)
Pete Seeger
folksinger and composer (1919)
Sugar Ray Robinson
boxer (1920)