May 16
1770
Marie Antoinette married the future King Louis XVI of France.
1868
The first ballot on one of 11 articles of impeachment in the U.S. Senate failed to convict President Andrew Johnson.
1929
The first Academy Awards were given on this night. The term, Oscars, was not used to describe the statuettes given to actors and actresses until 1931.
1946
The Irving Berlin musical, Annie Get Your Gun, opened on Broadway.
1975
Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to summit Mount Everest.
1991
Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the United States Congress.
1997
President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire ended 32 years of autocratic rule when rebel forces led by Laurent Kabila expelled him from the country.
Today’s Birthdays
William Seward
American senator, Secretary of State (1801)
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody
educator, lecturer, and reformer (1804)
Henry Fonda
actor (1905)
Liberace
pianist (1919)
Betty Carter
jazz and blues singer (1930)
Olga Korbut
gymnast (1955)
Wendy Davis
political figure (1963)