This Week In History
May 17 - In 1954, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka ruling, which declared that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal.
May 18 - In 1980, the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state exploded, leaving 57 people dead or missing.
May 19 - In 1780, New England's Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada.
May 20 - In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law, opening 84 million acres of public land to settlers.
May 21 - In 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed his “Spirit of St. Louis” near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
May 22 - In 1856, Preston Brooks, a congressman from South Carolina, viciously attacked Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate in response to an anti-slavery speech Sumner had delivered.
