May 14th

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund and potential candidate for president of France, was charged with sexually; the charges against him were dropped.) assaulting a Manhattan hotel maid. (He later resigned from the IMF.

The Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species because of the loss of Arctic sea ice.

The trial of suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla opened in Miami. (Padilla was later convicted of terrorism conspiracy and sentenced to 17 years in prison.).

The Supreme Court ruled that there is no exception in federal law for people to use marijuana to ease their pain from cancer, AIDS or other illnesses.

Last episode of Seinfeld on NBC (commercials are $2M for 30 seconds).

Skylab, the United States’ first space station, was launched into orbit.

The Red Army Faction (RAF) begins operations. The German left-wing activist group grew out of the peace and anti-imperialist movement of the 1960s. In reaction to the violent oppression by the German state, they later began operating as a terrorist cell and are responsible for several murders.

The Warsaw Pact was signed by the Soviet Union and seven other Communist bloc countries. It finally dissolved in 1991.

British rule in Palestine came to an end as The Jewish National Council proclaimed the State of Israel. Within hours, Israel was under attack from Arab forces.

Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" was first performed, by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

The Olympic Games were held in the United States for the first time, in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory left St. Louis.

English country doctor Edward Jenner administers the first inoculation against smallpox, using cowpox pus, in Berkeley, Gloucestershire.

Delegates began gathering in Philadelphia for a convention to draw up the U.S. Constitution.

Louis XIV became King of France at age 4 on the death of his father, Louis XIII.

1st permanent English settlement in New World, Jamestown, Va.