1861 – Arkansas secedes from the Union.
1863 – Civil War: Confederate forces commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee routed Union troops under Gen. Joseph Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia.
1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public.
1915 – Babe Ruth hits his first major league home run.
1935 – New Deal: Executive Order 7034 creates the Works Progress Administration to provide work for the unemployed.
1937 – The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
1941 – Josef Stalin became the official leader of the Soviet government.
