1886 - The start of the
general strike which eventually wins the eight-hour workday in the United States. These events are today commemorated as
May Day or
Labour Day in most industrialized countries.
1915 -
RMS Lusitania departs New York City on her two hundred and second and final crossing of the
North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, rousing American sentiment against Germany.
1971 -
Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service.
1978 - The first unsolicited bulk commercial
e-mail (which would later become known as "
spam") is sent by a
DEC marketing representative to every
ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
1991 -
Rickey Henderson would steal his 939th base, making him the all-time leader in this category. However, his accomplishment would be overshadowed later that evening by
Nolan Ryan, who would pitch his seventh career
no-hitter (breaking his own record).
1992 - On the third day of the
1992 Los Angeles riots, African American activist and criminal
Rodney King appeared in public before television news cameras to appeal for calm and plead for peace, asking, "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?".