Aleutian Islands Campaign
On June 3, 1942, Japanese forces kicked of the 14-month Aleutian Islands Campaign. The campaign’s two Japanese invasions were the only ones on US soil during the war.
American History
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Only Presidential White House Wedding
On June 2, 1886, President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom in the White House, making him the only US president to be married in the executive mansion.
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Start of the Battle of Cold Harbor
On May 31, 1864, forces assembled in Virginia for the bloody Battle of Cold Harbor. The clash became one of the final major battles of Grant’s Overland Campaign against Robert E. Lee.
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Founding of the Sierra Club
On May 28, 1892, John Muir and a small group of California conservationists founded the Sierra Club in San Francisco. Their goal was practical as well as poetic: bring people into the mountains, then organize them to protect the wild places they had come to love.
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Birth of Al Jolson
Asa “Al” Jolson said he did not know his true birthday, but he later chose May 26, 1886, as the date he would use. From a poor immigrant childhood, he rose to become one of America’s biggest entertainers and the star of the film that helped bring sound to the movies.
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Performing Arts Series
On May 24, 1978, the USPS issued the first stamp in the Performing Arts Series, honoring Jimmie Rodgers. Issued from 1978 to 1991, the 12-stamp Performing Arts Series honored singers, composers, actors, comedians, dancers, and other entertainers whose careers spanned nearly a century of American stage, screen, and musical history.
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First Woman to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic
On May 20, 1932, Amelia Earhart completed the first solo flight across the Atlantic by a female, five years to day after Charles Lindbergh first made the same trip.
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Birth of the Laser – International Day of Light
On May 16, 1960, Theodore Maiman fired up a device that turned a flash of light into something sharper, brighter, and far more useful. His first working laser later gave May 16 its place as the International Day of Light, a yearly reminder of how light-based science changed medicine, communications, industry, and daily life.
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First Public Performance of “Stars and Stripes Forever”
On May 14, 1897, John Philip Sousa’s band officially debuted his march “Stars and Stripes Forever” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It quickly became a hit, with calls for it to replace the “Star Spangled Banner” as the national anthem. Instead, it was made the national march in 1987.
