May 20
1506
Christopher Columbus died in Spain.
1861
North Carolina voted to secede from the Union.
1927
Charles Lindbergh began the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight, departing from Long Island aboard the Spirit of Saint Louis.
1932
Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
1961
A mob attacked a busload of “freedom riders” in Montgomery, Ala., setting the bus on fire.
1978
Mavis Hutchinson, 53, became the first woman to run across America. The 3,000-mile trek took her 69 days. She ran an average of 45 miles each day.
1996
In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court rejected a Colorado measure banning laws that protect homosexuals from discrimination.
2002
East Timor became the what was then the world’s newest nation.
Birthdays
James Stewart
1908–1997, American actor, born in Indiana, Pa.
William Thornton
architect (1759)
Honor
Americn First Lady (1768)
John Stuart Mill
philosopher (1806)
Moshe Dayan
military leader (1915)
Cher
actress, pop star (1946)