Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1792

The New York Stock Exchange was founded by brokers meeting under a tree located on what is now Wall Street.

1814

Norway's constitution was signed, providing for a limited monarchy.

1875

The first Kentucky Derby was run; the winner was Aristides.

1940

The Nazis occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War II.

1946

President Truman seized control of the nation's railroads, delaying a threatned strike by engineers and trainmen.

1954

The Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka ruling, which declared that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal.

1973

Sen. Sam Ervin, D-N.C., opened the Senate hearings into the Watergate scandal.

1980

Rioting that claimed 18 lives erupted in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood after an all-white jury in Tampa acquitted four former Miami police officers of fatally beating black insurance executive Arthur McDuffie.

1987

An Iraqi warplane attacked the U.S. Navy frigate Stark in the Persian Gulf, killing 37 American sailors. Iraq and the United States called the attack a mistake.

1996

President Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. Megan's Law was named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, who was raped and killed in 1994.

1997

Rebel leader Kabila declared himself president of Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire.

1998

New York Yankees pitcher David Wells became the 13th player in modern major league baseball history to throw a perfect game as he retired all 27 batters he faced in a 4-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

1999

Labor Party leader Ehud Barak unseated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israeli elections.

1999

Makah Indians in Washington state harpooned a gray whale for the first time in 70 years.

2000

Two former Ku Klux Klansmen were arrested on murder charges in the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Ala., that killed four black girls.

1992

Orchestra leader Lawrence Welk died in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 89.