1541 - South of present-day Memphis, Tennessee, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, one of the first European explorers to ever do so. He called it Rio de Espiritu Santo. After building flatboats, de Soto and his 400 ragged troops crossed the great river under the cover of night, in order to avoid the armed Native Americans who patrolled the river daily in war canoes. From there, the conquistadors headed into present-day Arkansas, continuing their fruitless two-year-old search for gold and silver in the American wilderness. In late May 1539, de Soto landed on the west coast of Florida with 600 troops, servants, and staff, 200 horses, and a pack of bloodhounds. From there, the army set about subduing the natives, seizing any valuables they stumbled upon, and preparing the region for eventual Spanish colonization. Traveling through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, across the Appalachians, and back to Alabama, de Soto failed to find the gold and silver he desired, but he did seize a valuable collection of pearls at Cofitachequi, in present-day Georgia.
For the most part, the Indian warriors they met were intimidated by the Spanish horsemen and kept their distance. In October 1540, however, the tables were turned when a confederation of Indians attacked the Spaniards at the fortified Indian town of Mabila, near present-day Mobile, Alabama. All the Indians were killed along with 20 of de Soto's men. Several hundred Spaniards were wounded. In addition, the Indian conscripts they had come to depend on to bear their supplies fled with the baggage. De Soto could have marched south to reconvene with his ships along the Gulf Coast, but instead he ordered his expedition northwest in search of America's elusive riches. In May 1541, the army reached and crossed the Mississippi River, probably the first Europeans ever to do so. From there, they traveled through present-day Arkansas and Louisiana, still with few material gains to show for their efforts. Turning back to the Mississippi, de Soto died of a fever on its banks on May 21, 1542. In order that Indians would not learn of his death, and thus disprove de Soto's claims of divinity, his men buried his body in the Mississippi River. The Spaniards, now under the command of Luis de Moscoso, traveled west again, crossing into north Texas before returning to the Mississippi. With nearly half of the original expedition dead, the Spaniards built rafts and traveled down the river to the sea, and then made their way down the Texas coast to New Spain, finally reaching Veracruz, Mexico, in late 1543.
    1783-the first salute fired by Great Britain in honor of an officer of the United States was fired when General George Washington and Governor George Clinton arrived at the British ship Ceres, commanded by Sir Guy Carleton, in New York Harbor to arrange for the British evacuation. When they departed, 178 guns were fired in honor of Washington's rank. New York was evacuated by the British on November 25, 1783.
    1784 -A fatal hailstorm hit Winnsborough, South Carolina. An account was found in the South Carolina Gazette: "hailstones or rather pieces of ice measured about 9 inches in circumference: it killed several people, plus a great number of sheep, lambs, geese, and the feathered inhabitants of the woods without number". Piles of hail were reported still in existence 46 days later.
    1792- British Captain George Vancouver sights and names Mount Rainier in what would become Washington state. He named it in honor of his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier.
http://www.oregonpioneers.com/vancver.htm
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Rainier/Locale/framework.html
    1794 – The United States Post Office was established.
    1816-- The American Bible Society was organized in the Dutch Reformed Church on Garden Street in NY City. The non-profit society was instituted to promote wider circulation of the Scriptures by publishing Bibles without notes or comments.
    1829-Birthday of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American pianist of international fame who toured the US during the Civil War. Gottschalk composed for the piano combining American and Creole folk themes and rhythms in his work. Born at New Orleans, LA, he died Dec. 18, 1869, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
http://www.louismoreaugottschalk.com/
http://www.viridianaproductions.com/ameori.htm
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=407
    1835-- Augusta Jane Evans Wilson birthday. She was an American novelist whose work is critically described today as sentimental and overblown, woman-stuff, but it sold very well in the mid-19th century. The unstated fact is that more than just women read her works. A Civil War report states that a Union general ordered all copies of her book, “Macaria”, in the possession of his troop to be burned and the soldiers forbidden to read it. Heady actions for a book that only women read! “Macaria” was written in support of the Confederate position.
http://search.eb.com/women/articles/Wilson_Augusta_Jane_Evans.html
http://www.lib.usm.edu/~archives/m152.htm
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/WW/fwi49.html
        1846-Zachary Taylor victory at Palo Alto protects the new state of Texas as five days later the U.S. declares war against Mexico. On May 8, near Palo Alto, and the next day at Resaca de la Palma, Taylor led his 200 soldiers to victories against much larger Mexican forces. Poor training and inferior armaments undermined the Mexican army's troop advantage. Mexican gunpowder, for example, was of such poor quality that artillery barrages often sent cannonballs bouncing lazily across the battlefield, and the American soldiers merely had to step out of the way to avoid them. Following his victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Taylor crossed the Rio Grande and took the war into Mexican territory. During the next 10 months, he won four battles and gained control over the three northeastern Mexican states. The following year, the focus of the war shifted elsewhere, and Taylor's role diminished. Other generals continued the fight, which finally ended with General Winfield Scott's occupation of Mexico City in September of 1847. Zachary Taylor emerged from the war a national hero. Americans admiringly referred to him as "Old Rough and Ready" and erroneously believed his military victories suggested he would be a good political leader. Elected president in 1848, he proved to be an unskilled politician who tended to see complex problems in overly simplistic ways. In July 1850, Taylor returned from a public ceremony and complained that he felt ill. Suffering from a recurring attack of cholera, he died several days later.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may08.html
    1847 – Robert W. Thompson patented the rubber tire.
    1862- In a major engagement in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of the Civil War, General Stonewall Jackson's rebel forces repulsed an attack by Union forces at McDowell, VA.
    1877 – At Gilmore’s Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.
    1879 – George Selden applied for the first automobile patent.
    1884-Harry S. Truman's birthday is a holiday in Missouri. He was the 33rd president of the United States, succeeded to that office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt April 12, 1945. He was the last of nine presidents who did not attend college. Affectionately he was nicknamed "Give 'em Hell Harry" by admirers.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.html
    1886 - Dr. John S. Pemberton first sold his secret elixir: Coca Cola. It was originally used for medicinal purposes. The patent had a very slight ingredient called Cocaine in it. The new makers decided to eliminate it, as it could not be tasted. Nevertheless, the drink was to become a ”staple” of world sodas.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may08.html
    1893-Birthday of Francis Desales Ouimet, American amateur golfer who is credited with establishing the popularity of golf in the US. Born at Brookline, MA, his golfing career began as a caddy. In 1912, at age 20, he generated national enthusiasm for the game when he became the first American and first amateur to win the US Open Golf Championship. He won the US Amateur Championships in 1914 and 1931, and was a member of the US Walker Cup team from its first tournament in 1922 until 1949, serving as the non-playing captain for six of those years. In 1951, he became the first American to be elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland. Quiment died at Newton, Sept. 2, 1967.
    1905-Birthday of trumpeter player Red Nichols. 
http://www.redhotjazz.com/redn.html
http://www-music.duke.edu/jazz_archive/artists/nichols.ernest.red/01/back.html 
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0052809
    1907 - Blood flowed on the streets of San Francisco as a result of the attempt of the United Rail Roads Company to operate its cars. Along Truck Street where the first six cars were sent, men and boys lined the sidewalks hurling bricks and clubs at the cars. 
    1910- Birthday of Mary Lou Williams, U.S. arranger, composer, and pianist birthday; known as the "Queen of Jazz." A child prodigy, she toured while still in elementary school. Her piano playing was outstanding. She wrote a number of well-known jazz tunes and is considered a main contributor to the development of bebop. She arranged and created music for most of the big bands from Duke Ellington to the Dorseys. She converted to Catholicism after an emotional crisis while she was touring in France and went into a retreat. She composed several masses and religious music but she returned to the jazz/swing stage. Mary Lou Williams was artist-in-residence at Duke University. 
http://www.duke.edu/~lmr/ 
http://www.eyeneer.com/Jazz/Williams/ 
http://kennedy-center.org/programs/jazz/womeninjazz/1stlady.html
http://www.duke.edu/~lmr/
http://www.eyeneer.com/Jazz/Williams/
    1911- The birthday of perhaps one of greatest blues guitarist Robert Johnson. Born at Hazelhurst, MS, and murdered at age 27, Aug. 16, 1938, at Greenwood, MS (poisoned by a jealous husband, they sing), in his short life, Johnson was a master blues guitarist, a singer and songwriter of great influence. He developed a unique guitar style of such skill that it was said he acquired his ability by selling his soul to the Devil—the film “Crossroads” is based very loosely on this myth. Johnson's only two recording sessions captured for us the classics, “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Cross Road Blues,” “Me and the Devil Blues”, and others. Johnson was inducted posthumously into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. 
http://www.blueflamecafe.com/index.html
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MUSIC/rjhome.html
    1914 – The US Congress passed a joint resolution that designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
    1915 – The first filly to win the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY, was “Regret”, Harry Payne Whitney's chestnut filly. She ran the mile and a quarter in 2 minutes, 5.4 seconds to win the 41st Kentucky Derby. There were 16 starters.
    1919 – The first transatlantic flight took off by Navy seaplane.
    1919 – Edward G. Honey first proposes the idea of a moment of slience to commemorate The Armistice of World War I. This later results in the creation of Remembrance Day. In the US, it was called Armistice Day and known now as Veterans’ Day.
    1924- Arthur Honegger's "Pacifica 231" premieres.
http://arthur-honegger.com/anglais/index.htm
    1926 -- Founding of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters by A. Philip Randolph & Milton P. Webster.
    1926- Birthday of Don Rickles, comedian, actor, one of my favorites, still performing today, New York, NY.
http://www.delafont.com/comedians/Don-Rickles.htm
    1931-Birthday of Stan Beckman, landscape artist.
www.stanbeckman.com
    1932 – Birthday of former heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, who lost his title to Cassius Clay and was beaten in the rematch.
    1939-Clay Puett installed a two-stall working model of his new electric starting gate for horse races at Hollywood Park, Inglewood, CA. The first full-size gate was used at Bay Meadows Race Track, San Mateo, CA, on October 7, 1939. The gates were equipped with a bomb-release type of lock operated by solenoids. The front doors when closed formed a V and opened outwards by means of springs.
    1940- Singer Rick Nelson was born in Teaneck, New Jersey. His parents, Ozzie and Harriet, had a popular radio show, and Ricky joined the cast at the age of eight. The show moved to TV in the 1950's, and as a result of its popularity, Ricky Nelson gained a recording contract. "A Teenager's Romance" and "I'm Walkin' " was a double-sided hit for him in 1957. Nelson had more than 35 records on the Billboard Hot 100 chart until 1963. Among them - "Stood Up," "Poor Little Fool" and "Travellin' Man." In the late '60s, he became Rick instead of Ricky, and turned to a more country-oriented style, forming The Stone Canyon Band. His autobiographical song "Garden Party" was a top- ten record in 1972. On New Year's Eve, 1985, Nelson, his fiancée and five members of his Stone Canyon Band were killed in a plane crash in northeastern Texas. ( There were two Rock ‘n’ Roll giants who never appeared on American Bandstand: Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson.)
http://www.ricknelson.com/
    1941 – Gene Krupa with Anita O'Day record "Let Me Off Uptown" (Okey)
“Say, Roy, Have You Ever Been Uptown?”
http://www.anitaoday.com/
http://www.drummerman.net/    
    1942- The Battle of the Coral Sea began, which greatly impeded Japanese expansion and introduced a new form of naval warfare. None of the surface vessels exchanged fire---the entire battle was waged by aircraft. The victory gave people at home much optimism and renewed faith as the US lost their first air craft carrier, destroyer and tanker. The aircraft carrier Lexington was commanded by Rear Admiral Frederick Carl Sherman, which took two bombs and two aircraft torpedoes. Some 150 men were killed. The Japanese lost seven warships, including a carrier, and the loss changed their war plans, as outlined in "Victory at Sea." 
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/coralsea/coralsea.htm 
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/coral.html
http://users.pandora.be/dave.depickere/Text/coral.html
    1942--HALL, WILLIAM E. Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, Junior Grade, U.S. Naval Reserve. Place and date: Coral Sea, 7 and 8 May 1942. Entered service at: Utah. Born: 31 October 1913, Storrs, Utah. Citation: For extreme courage and conspicuous heroism in combat above and beyond the call of duty as pilot of a scouting plane in action against enemy Japanese forces in the Coral Sea on 7 and 8 May 1942. In a resolute and determined attack on 7 May, Lt. (j.g.) Hall dived his plane at an enemy Japanese aircraft carrier, contributing materially to the destruction of that vessel. On 8 May, facing heavy and fierce fighter opposition, he again displayed extraordinary skill as an airman and the aggressive spirit of a fighter in repeated and effectively executed counterattacks against a superior number of enemy planes in which 3 enemy aircraft were destroyed. Though seriously wounded in this engagement, Lt. (j.g.) Hall, maintaining the fearless and indomitable tactics pursued throughout these actions, succeeded in landing his plane safe.
    1942- POWERS, JOHN JAMES Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy. Born: 13 July 1912, New York City, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. Other Navy award: Air Medal with 1 gold star. Citation: For distinguished and conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, while pilot of an airplane of Bombing Squadron 5, Lt. Powers participated, with his squadron, in 5 engagements with Japanese forces in the Coral Sea area and adjacent waters during the period 4 to 8 May 1942. Three attacks were made on enemy objectives at or near Tulagi on 4 May. In these attacks he scored a direct hit which instantly demolished a large enemy gunboat or destroyer and is credited with 2 close misses, 1 of which severely damaged a large aircraft tender, the other damaging a 20,000-ton transport. He fearlessly strafed a gunboat, firing all his ammunition into it amid intense antiaircraft fire. This gunboat was then observed to be leaving a heavy oil slick in its wake and later was seen beached on a nearby island. On 7 May, an attack was launched against an enemy airplane carrier and other units of the enemy’s invasion force. He fearlessly led his attack section of 3 Douglas Dauntless dive bombers, to attack the carrier. On this occasion he dived in the face of heavy antiaircraft fire, to an altitude well below the safety altitude, at the risk of his life and almost certain damage to his own plane, in order that he might positively obtain a hit in a vital part of the ship, which would insure her complete destruction. This bomb hit was noted by many pilots and observers to cause a tremendous explosion engulfing the ship in a mass of flame, smoke, and debris. The ship sank soon after. That evening, in his capacity as Squadron Gunnery Officer, Lt. Powers gave a lecture to the squadron on point-of-aim and diving technique. During this discourse he advocated low release point in order to insure greater accuracy; yet he stressed the danger not only from enemy fire and the resultant low pull-out, but from own bomb blast and bomb fragments. Thus his low-dive bombing attacks were deliberate and premeditated, since he well knew and realized the dangers of such tactics, but went far beyond the call of duty in order to further the cause which he knew to be right. The next morning, 8 May, as the pilots of the attack group left the ready room to man planes, his indomitable spirit and leadership were well expressed in his own words, “Remember the folks back home are counting on us. 1 am going to get a hit if 1 have to lay it on their flight deck.” He led his section of dive bombers down to the target from an altitude of 18,000 feet, through a wall of bursting antiaircraft shells and into the face of enemy fighter planes. Again, completely disregarding the safety altitude and without fear or concern for his safety, Lt. Powers courageously pressed home his attack, almost to the very deck of an enemy carrier and did not release his bomb until he was sure of a direct hit. He was last seen attempting recovery from his dive at the extremely low altitude of 200 feet, and amid a terrific barrage of shell and bomb fragments, smoke, flame and debris from the stricken vessel.
    1942-- RICKETTS, MILTON ERNEST Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy. Born: 5 August 1913, Baltimore, Md. Appointed from: Maryland. Citation: For extraordinary and distinguished gallantry above and beyond the call of duty as Officer-in-Charge of the Engineering Repair Party of the U.S.S. Yorktown in action against enemy Japanese forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942. During the severe bombarding of the Yorktown by enemy Japanese forces, an aerial bomb passed through and exploded directly beneath the compartment in which Lt. Ricketts’ battle station was located, killing, wounding or stunning all of his men and mortally wounding him. Despite his ebbing strength, Lt. Ricketts promptly opened the valve of a near-by fireplug, partially led out the fire hose and directed a heavy stream of water into the fire before dropping dead beside the hose. His courageous action, which undoubtedly prevented the rapid spread of fire to serious proportions, and his unflinching devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
    1943-Birthday of Toni Tennille, singer (with husband Daryl Dragon made up Captain and Tennille), born Montgomery, AL.
http://www.tonitennille.net/
    1945- Stalin refused to recognize the document of unconditional surrender signed at Reims the previous day, so a second signing was held at Berlin. The event was turned into an elaborate formal ceremony by the Soviets who had lost some 10 million lives during the war. The surrender documents set one minute past midnight, which was 9:01pm EST in the U.S: May 9, and although it was first officially declared V.E. Day (Victory in Europe); it later became to be observed on May 8 as it was actually celebrated in the United States as the day so declared by President Harry Truman.
    1945--KROTIAK, ANTHONY L. Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company I, 148th Infantry, 37th Infantry Division. Place and date: Balete Pass, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 8 May 1945. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 15 August 1915, Chicago, Ill. G.O. No.: 18, 13 February 1946. Citation: He was an acting squad leader, directing his men in consolidating a newly won position on Hill B when the enemy concentrated small arms fire and grenades upon him and 4 others, driving them to cover in an abandoned Japanese trench. A grenade thrown from above landed in the center of the group. Instantly pushing his comrades aside and jamming the grenade into the earth with his rifle butt, he threw himself over it, making a shield of his body to protect the other men. The grenade exploded under him, and he died a few minutes later. By his extraordinary heroism in deliberately giving his life to save those of his comrades, Pfc. Krotiak set an inspiring example of utter devotion and self-sacrifice which reflects the highest traditions of the military service.
    1946- Glenn Gould first appeared as a pianist with orchestra. He played the first movement of Beethoven's "Concerto Number Four" with the Toronto Conservatory of Music Orchestra. Gould was only 13 years old at the time.
    1949 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: "Riders in the Sky," Vaughn Monroe.
    1952---Top Hits
Blue Tango - The Leroy Anderson Orchestra
Blacksmith Blues - Ella Mae Morse
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Easy on the Eyes - Eddy Arnold
    1954-World-record holder William Parry O'Brien of the US became the first shot-putter to clear 60 feet with a throw of 60 feet, 65 ¼ inches, at a meet in Los Angeles. O'Brien won gold medals at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and a silver medal at the 1960 games.
    1954 - The BBC bans Johnnie Ray's latest single, "Such a Night," from airplay due to its somewhat suggestive lyrics. It would later become a hit for Elvis Presley.
    1956 – Alfred E. Neuman appeared on the cover of Mad Magazine for the first time.
    1957 – Birthday of Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl winning coach, Bill Cowher.
    1958-Ernest Green becomes the first Black person to graduate from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
    1959-birthday of Ronald Mandel “Ronnie” Lott, Hall of Fame football player, born Albuquerque, NM. Lott played for several teams but is best remembered as the long-time safety of the great Super Bowl winning 49er teams of the 1980s, still recognized as one of the game’s hardest hitters.
    1960---Top Hits
Stuck on You - Elvis Presley
Sink the Bismarck - Johnny Horton
Sixteen Reasons - Connie Stevens
He'll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
    1961 – Major League Baseball awarded a franchise to New York, named The Metropolitans, to begin play the following year, in the Polo Grounds. National League baseball had been absent since the departure in 1957 of the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles, and the Giants to San Francisco. The lovable losers soon became known as, and still are, the Mets.
    1962 - Beatles manager Brian Epstein, already somewhat discouraged by the Decca label rejecting them, runs into engineer Ted Huntly while at HMV Record Store in London. Huntly suggests sending the band demo to a producer at EMI named George Martin.
    1962 – “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” opens at the Alvin Theater in New York starring Zero Mostel. The hit lasts for 964 performances. 
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Lobby/4320/
    1966-Frank Robinson of the Orioles became the only player ever to hit a home run out of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. His long drive over the left-field wall, against Luis Tiant of the Cleveland Indians, traveled an estimated 451 feet.
http://www.primenet.com/~jpmill/bball/robf.htm
    1966-The St. Louis Cardinals played their last game in old Busch Stadium, formerly known as Sportsman's Park, losing to the San Francisco Giants, 10-5. They opened new Busch Memorial Stadium on May 12.
    1967 - During filming of what would become the documentary "Don't Look Back," Bob Dylan gets the idea to make a short film of his single "Subterranean Homesick Blues," featuring him standing in an alley next to London's Savoy Hotel. Featuring nothing but Dylan surrounded by friends Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth, flipping giant cue cards with the lyrics of the song on them, the clip -- one of the first "music videos" -- becomes an iconic rock moment.
    1968---Top Hits
Honey - Bobby Goldsboro
Tighten Up - Archie Bell & The Drells
Young Girl - The Union Gap
The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde - Merle Haggard
    1968-Jim “Catfish” Hunter of the Oakland Athletics pitched a perfect game, defeating the Minnesota Twins, 4-0. This was the first regular-season perfect game in the American League since Charlie Robertson turned the trick in 1922.
http://www.hertfordbaptist.org/hunter.html
    1969 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," The 5th Dimension.
    1970-The Beatles 13th album, “Let It Be”, was released in the United Kingdom on this date. The album zoomed to number one on the record charts. It was the last album the Beatles made together.
    1970-The New York Knicks won their first NBA title, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers, 113-99, in Game 7 of the finals. The Knicks were led by injured center Willis Reed, who limped onto the court to score the game's first two baskets, and guard Walt Frazier, who scored 36 points.
    1970--*KEITH, MIGUEL Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, Combined Action platoon 1-3-2, 111 Marine Amphibious Force. place and date: Quang Ngai province, Republic of Vietnam, 8 May 1970. Entered service at: Omaha, Nebr. Born: 2 June 1951, San Antonio, Tex. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with Combined Action platoon 1-3-2. During the early morning L/Cpl. Keith was seriously wounded when his platoon was subjected to a heavy ground attack by a greatly outnumbering enemy force. Despite his painful wounds, he ran across the fire-swept terrain to check the security of vital defensive positions and then, while completely exposed to view, proceeded to deliver a hail of devastating machine gun fire against the enemy. Determined to stop 5 of the enemy soldiers approaching the command post, he rushed forward, firing as he advanced. He succeeded in disposing of 3 of the attackers and in dispersing the remaining 2. At this point, a grenade detonated near L/Cpl. Keith, knocking him to the ground and inflicting further severe wounds. Fighting pain and weakness from loss of blood, he again braved the concentrated hostile fire to charge an estimated 25 enemy soldiers who were massing to attack. The vigor of his assault and his well-placed fire eliminated 4 of the enemy soldiers while the remainder fled for cover. During this valiant effort, he was mortally wounded by an enemy soldier. By his courageous and inspiring performance in the face of almost overwhelming odds, L/Cpl. Keith contributed in large measure to the success of his platoon in routing a numerically superior enemy force, and upheld the finest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the U.S. Naval Service.
    1971 -Willie Mays (634) and Hank Aaron (604) both hit round-trippers in the Braves' 5-2 victory over the Giants at Candlestick Park. It is the first time in baseball history two players with 600 career homers go deep in the same game.
    1972-Keyboards player and singer Billy Preston became the first rock performer to headline at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
    1976---Top Hits
Welcome Back - John Sebastian ---Hit’s Number One!
Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale
Boogie Fever - Sylvers
My Eyes Can Only See as Far as You - Charley Pride
   1976 - On stage during Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue in Houston, Willie Nelson joins Bob for a stirring rendition of the country standard "Will The Circle Be Unbroken," dedicated (as is the concert itself) to freeing wrongfully convicted ex-boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter from his murder sentence.
    1977 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: "When I Need You," Leo Sayer.
1979 Radio Shack releases TRSDOS 2.3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-DOS
    1981 -Thunderstorms moved through Tarrant and Dallas Counties in Texas. It would become what one insurance expert called "The Worst Hailstorm in American History". 100 plus mph straight line thunderstorm winds caused damage in Western Tarrant County. 2 homes were destroyed and many more were damaged. Baseball and softball size hail damaged roofs. Insurance estimates indicated the hail and wind damage in Tarrant and Dallas Counties would exceed $179 million dollars uninsured losses would exceed $200 million. These figures made it the worst severe thunderstorm in American weather history until 1990.
    1982 - An all-woman jury took a scant 5.5 hours to give Al Davis a green light to move the Raiders to Los Angeles against the wishes of the National Football League and unhappy Oakland.
    1982-A group of seasoned L.A. studio musicians calling themselves Toto, enter the Billboard Pop chart with "Roseanna". The record will climb from #81 all the way to the top and be named Record of the Year at the 1983 Grammy Awards.
    1984---Top Hits
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Hello - Lionel Richie
Hold Me Now - The Thompson Twins
I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes - The Oak Ridge Boys
    1983 – Birthday of Dodgers’ 1B Adrian Gonzalez.
    1985 - Larry Bird scored a career-high 43 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 130-123 win over the Detroit Pistons.
    1987 - Twenty-eight cities in the northwestern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. The record high of 95 degrees at Redding CA was their fifth in a row, and the record high of 102 degrees at Hanover WA was just one degree shy of their record for May.
    1987 - Meredith Willson's "The Music Man," the first American musical ever staged in China, opened at the Tianchao Theatre in Beijing. The production was translated into Chinese. The all-Chinese cast, many of them from the Beijing Opera, appeared to have little difficulty dealing with the trappings of American culture in the play.
    1988 - A major tornado outbreak occurred over the central U.S. 57 tornadoes touched down with the majority of them in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The 22 tornadoes in Iowa was the most in one day for the state. There were over 200 reports of damaging winds and large hail. One of the tornadoes in Iowa was on the ground for 67 miles from Bloomfield to Conesville.
    1988 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: "Anything for You," Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine. The song is the group's first No. 1 hit.
    1988------Top Hits
Anything For You- Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
Shattered Dreams- Johnny Hates Jazz
Wishing Well- Terence Trent D'Arby
One More Try- George Michael
Pink Cadillac- Natalie Cole
    1989-An early version of Prodigy's commercial online service, the company's "videotex" service began experiencing intermittent outages, as the company began rolling the service out nationally. Prodigy had introduced its services in limited markets in October 1988. About 55,000 subscribers had joined the service, a joint venture of Sears and IBM.
    1992 - A vigorous upper level low pressure system stalled out over the Carolinas for the past 3 days unloaded tremendous amounts of snow over the western North Carolina Mountains above 4000 feet. Mt. Pisgah (elevation 5721 feet) recorded an incredible 60 inches over the 3 day period, tying the all-time single storm snowfall record for the state. Mt. Mitchell (elevation 6684 feet) was buried under 30 inches of very wet snow. On the previous day, the Greenville-Spartanburg Weather Service Office in Greer, South Carolina had snow mixed with rain, making this the latest date and the first time in May that snow had fallen at this location.
    1993 - Aerosmith's "Get a Grip" enters The Billboard 200 top pop album chart at No. 1., becoming the group's highest-debuting album and highest-charting album ever. The group's previous highpoint was "Rocks," which peaked at No. 3 in 1976.
    1993------Top Hits
Freak Me- Silk
That' s The Way Love Goes, Janet Jackson
Informer- Snow
Love Is (From "Beverly Hills, 90210")- Vanessa Williams/Brian McKnight
    1995 - Thunderstorms with torrential rains struck the New Orleans, Louisiana area. Audubon Park Recorded 8.5 Inches Of Rain In Only 2 Hours. Several Locations Had Over 14 Inches Total Ending Early On The 9th. 5 People Were Killed In The Flooding And Damage Exceeded One Billion Dollars.
    1997-Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams formally presented Capt. Betty P. Kelepecz with a commander's badge, making her the highest-ranking female officer in LAPD history. Kelepecz earned a law degree and become an attorney while rising through the department's ranks, is noted as an effective leader and administrator. Just before Kelepecz's promotion, an internal report confirmed former Det. Mark Fuhrman's allegations that a group of male officers in the West Los Angeles police station repeatedly harassed female colleagues.
"We didn't see it as harassment back then, we saw it as playing along, doing what you needed to do to survive," Capt. Kelepecz said. "Some male officers would say to me, 'I don't think you belong on the job.' “She said that the attitudes of some of her male colleagues toward women during the early part of her career would not be tolerated in today's LAPD. She recalls enduring inappropriate and demeaning comments and even outright hostility as a young officer. At the time of Kelepecz's promotion, LAPD was 17.3% female.
http://www.lapdonline.org/c_o_s/kelepecz_b_bio.htm 
http://www.nawlee.com/bpkelepecz.html
    1998 --Cardinal Mark McGwire reaches the 400th career home run mark. Big Red's historic milestone comes in 4,727 at-bats (127 less at-bats than Babe Ruth) which is the fewest plate appearances ever needed to reach the mark.
    1998------Top Hits
Too Close- Next
My All, Mariah Carey
You’re Still The One- Shania Twain
Everybody [Backstreet s Back]- Backstreet Boys
Truly Madly Deeply- Savage Garden
    2009-Bob Dylan led the Billboard Hot 200 album chart for the fifth time when "Together Through Life" debuted in the number one spot. It gave the Rock 'n' Roll icon back-to-back chart toppers as 2006's "Modern Times" also started in the penthouse.
    2009 -At Camden Yards, Alex Rodriguez takes no time in making his return to the Yankees lineup felt, blasting a three-run home run on the very first pitch he has seen this season. The third baseman's Ruthian blast, which comes off a 98-mph fastball thrown by Baltimore's right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, helps to snap the Yankees' five-game losing streak when they beat the Orioles, 4-0.

NBA Finals Champions This Date

• 1970 New York Knicks