May 19th

Katie Couric, the first regular solo anchorwoman of a network evening newscast, signed off the 'CBS Evening News' for the last time after five years.

'Revenge of the Sith', the final chapter of the 'Star Wars' saga, opened in movie theaters.

Specialist Jeremy C. Sivits received a year in prison and a bad conduct discharge in the first court-martial stemming from abuse of Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Apple, Inc. opened its first retail stores, in Tysons Corner, Va., and Glendale, Calif.

Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in New York at age 64.

The 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited Congress from giving itself midterm pay raises, went into effect.

The Soviet Union ratified a treaty with the United States and Britain banning nuclear weapons from outer space.

Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail is published. King used the open letter to defend his nonviolent resistance against racism and segregation. It became one of the central texts for the civil rights movement in the United States.

Actress Marilyn Monroe performed a sultry rendition of "Happy Birthday" for President John F. Kennedy during a fundraiser at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The North Vietnamese Army begins organizing the Ho Chi Minh trail. According to the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), the system of supply routes used by the “Vietcong” was “one of the greatest achievements of military engineering of the 20th century.”

British author and soldier, T. E. Lawrence, also known as "Lawrence of Arabia," died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash.

The first annual Calaveras County "Frog Jumping Jubilee" was held in Angel's Camp, California.

Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, establishing national quotas for immigrants.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Black Sea coast, beginning the Turkish War of Independence.

US Congress passes the Private Mailing Card Act, allowing private publishers and printers to produce postcards though they had to be labelled "Private Mailing Cards" until 1901 and become known as "souvenir cards".

German chancellor Bismarck takes possession of Cameroon and Togoland.

Jean-Pierre Christin invents the Celsius thermometer. The centigrade temperature scale, which is based on the freezing and boiling point of water, is used by most countries around the world. Exceptions include the United State, Belize, and Palau.

England is declared a Commonwealth by an act of the Long Parliament making England a republic for the next 11 years.

The colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Harbor met to form the New England Confederation.

The 130-ship-strong Spanish Armada set sail for England. It was defeated in August.

Ann Boleyn, second wife of English King Henry VIII is beheaded at the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest and treason.