AP Highlight in History: On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which declared that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal.
AP Photo
On this date in:
1792
The New York Stock Exchange was founded by brokers meeting under a tree on what is now Wall Street.
1829
John Jay, American statesman and the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, died at age 83.
1875
The first Kentucky Derby was run; the winner was Aristides.
1940
The Nazis occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War II.
1946
President Harry S. Truman seized control of the nation's railroads, delaying a threatened strike by engineers and trainmen.
1973
The Senate began hearings into the Watergate scandal.
Sen. Sam Ervin, D-N.C.
AP Photo
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 a black man.
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.
1992
Orchestra leader Lawrence Welk died at age 89.
1996
President Bill 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 the 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 in a 4-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
1999
Labor Party leader Ehud Barak unseated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israeli elections.
2000
Two former Ku Klux Klansmen were arrested on murder charges in the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Ala., that killed four black girls. (Thomas E. Blanton Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry were later convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Cherry died in 2004.)
2003
A top Vatican official confirmed that Pope John Paul II was suffering from Parkinson's disease.
2004
Massachusetts became the first state to allow legal same-sex marriages.
2005
Los Angeles Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa trounced Mayor James Hahn to be elected the city's first Hispanic mayor in more than a century.
2007
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz announced he would resign following controversy over his handling of a pay package for his girlfriend.
2007
Trains crossed the border dividing the two Koreas for the first time in more than half a century.
Rock singer, musician Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails)
43
Paige Turco
Actress ("The Agency")
43
Hill Harper
Actor ("CSI:NY")
42
Thom Filicia
TV personality ("Queer Eye for the Straight Guy")
39
Jordan Knight
Singer (New Kids on the Block)
38
Darnell Van Rensalier
R&B singer (Shai)
38
Josh Homme
Rock singer, musician (Queens of the Stone Age)
35
Andrea Corr
Rock singer (The Corrs)
34
Kandi Burruss
R&B singer
32
Kat Foster
Actress (" 'Til Death")
30
Tahj Mowry
Actor
22
Nikki Reed
Actress ("The O.C.")
20
Actor Sendhil Ramamurthy ("Heroes") turns 34 years old today.
AP Photo/Kin Cheung
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