On this date in history:

In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St. Helena.

In 1847, the American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.

In 1862, Mexican troops, outnumbered 3-1, defeated invading French forces of Napoleon III.

In 1925, biology teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in violation of Tennessee state laws.

In 1930, British and Indian troops were put on alert in the major cities throughout India following the arrest and incarceration of Mahatma Gandhi.

In 1932, Sen. George W. Norris, R-Neb., leader of the western insurgent Republicans, bolted the party and threw his support behind Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt for president.

In 1942, Japanese forces stormed the Philippine island of Corregidor in a bid to capture a strategic access point to Manila Bay. By 9:30 a.m. on May 6, the Japanese had taken control of the island fortress.

In 1945, Elsie Mitchell and five neighborhood children were killed in Lakeview, Ore., when a Japanese balloon they had found in the woods exploded. They were listed as the only known World War II civilian fatalities in the continental United States.

In 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the United States' first man in space in a brief sub-orbital flight from Cape Canaveral.

In 1981, imprisoned Irish-Catholic militant Bobby Sands died after refusing food for 66 days in protest of his imprisonment by British authorities as a criminal rather than a political prisoner.

In 1995, a surprise hail storm and flash flooding in Dallas left 17 people dead. It was the worst recorded hail storm in the United States in the 20th century.

In 1996, Jose Maria Aznar became prime minister of Spain.

In 2003, authorities said a two-day wave of tornadoes killed about 40 people in Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee. About 400 tornadoes would go on to strike several Southern states over a nine-day period, killing 42 people and causing nearly $1 billion in damage.

In 2005, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was elected to a third term.

In 2010, Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua died after a long illness and Goodluck Jonathan, the vice president, assumed the presidency.

In 2019, Thailand officially crowned a new king for the first time in nearly 70 decades -- Maha Vajiralongkorn. His reign began Oct. 13, 2016, upon the death of his father, Rama IX.

In 2022, President Joe Biden announced Karine Jean-Pierre would replace Jen Psaki, making her the first Black and first openly LGBTQI White House press secretary in U.S. history.

Copyright 2024 by United Press International