History for May 16

History for May 16 - On-This-Day.com
William Seward (William Henry Seward, Sr.) 1801 - Governor of New York, U.S. Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln, Henry Fonda 1905 - Actor, father of Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda, Margret Rey 1906 - Co-author and illustrator of children's books (Curious George)


Studs Terkel (Louis "Studs" Terkel) 1912 - Author, historian, actor, broadcaster, Liberace (Wladziu Valentino Liberace) 1919 - Musician, Debra Winger 1955 - Actress


1770 - Marie Antoinette, at age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.


1960 - A Big Four summit in Paris collapsed due to the American U-2 spy plane incident.


1960 - Theodore Maiman, at Hughes Research Laboratory in California, demonstrated the first working laser.


1963 - After 22 Earth orbits Gordon Cooper returned to Earth, ending Project Mercury.


1965 - Spaghetti-O's were sold for the first time.


1977 - Five people were killed when a New York Airways helicopter, idling on top of the Pan Am Building in Manhattan, toppled over, sending a huge rotor blade flying.


1985 - Michael Jordan was named Rookie of the Year in the NBA.


1996 - Admiral Jeremy "Mike" Boorda, the nation's top Navy officer, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after some of his military awards were called into question.