TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, May 31, the 151st day of 2023. There are 214 days left in the year.
Highlight in History
On May 31, 1889, some 2,200 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, perished when the South Fork Dam collapsed, sending 20 million tons of water rushing through the town.
On this date
In 1790, President George Washington signed into law the first U.S. copyright act. In 1859, the Big Ben clock tower in London went into operation, chiming for the first time.
1921,
In a race riot erupted in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as white mobs began looting and leveling the affluent Black district of Greenwood over reports a Black man had assaulted a white woman in an elevator; hundreds are believed to have died.
1977,
In the Trans-alaska oil pipeline, three years in the making despite objections from environmentalists and Alaska Natives, was completed. (The first oil began flowing through the pipeline 20 days later.)
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actor-director Clint Eastwood is
93. Singer Peter Yarrow is 85. Humanitarian and author Terry Waite is 84. Singer-musician Augie Meyers is 83. Actor Sharon Gless is 80. Football Hall of Famer Joe Namath is
80. Broadcast journalist/ commentator Bernard Goldberg is 78. Actor Tom Berenger is
73. Actor Gregory Harrison is 73. Actor Kyle Secor is
66. Actor Roma Maffia is 65. Actor/comedian Chris Elliott is
63. Actor Lea Thompson is 62. Singer Corey Hart is 61. Actor Hugh Dillon is 60. Actor Brooke Shields is 58. TV host Phil Keoghan is 56. Actor Colin Farrell is 47. Rapper Waka Flocka Flame is 37.