On May 1, 1958, May 1 was designated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958 to be celebrated as Law Day to commemorate the importance of law in the development of the United States.
On May 2, 1879, the Spanish workers’ leader, Pablo Iglesias, established the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party (Spanish: Partido Socialista Obrero Español, PSOE), in Madrid, Spain.
On May 3, 1802, Washington, D.C. was officially incorporated as a city. Though it had been founded several years prior, it did not officially become a city until the Organic Act of 1801 placed the entire area under the control of Congress.
On May 4, 1987, the United States Supreme Court Building was made a National Historic Landmark by the United States Government. The Supreme Court has convened in the current Court Building since 1935.
On May 5, 1992, the state of Alabama ratified the 27th Amendment, bringing it into effect 202 years after it was first brought before Congress.
On May 6, 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was created by Executive Order 7034 as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal.
On May 7, 1718, the French Mississippi Company founded New Orleans under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. The French founded New Orleans as a port to international trade and quick access to the Mississippi Delta region.
On May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint Resolution passed by Congress to establish Mother’s Day as a national holiday.
On May 9, 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman declared what is now known as the Schuman Declaration to integrate Europe after the devastation of WWII.
On May 10, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge appointed J. Edgar Hoover to the position of director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
On May 11, 1910, an act of Congress established Glacier National Park in Montana. The park is 1,000,000 square miles, and is called the Crown of the Continent.
On May 12, 1958, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was signed between the United States and Canada. It was founded as an effect of the Cold War.
On May 12, 1958, Velcro was first trademarked. The fastening, which holds together everything from shoes to life vests, is, of course, still in wide use today.
On May 14, 1607, over 100 settlers from England established the first permanent settlement of North America in Jamestown, Virginia.
On May 15, 1776, the Virginia Convention unanimously directed the Second Continental Congress to declare independence from Great Britain.
On May 16, 1868, President Andrew Johnson avoided impeachment from office by 1 vote in one of the most dramatic political events in U.S. history (and the first impeachment proceeding of a President in U.S. history).
On May 17, 1792, twenty-four stock brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement, creating the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
On May 18, 1917, the United States Congress passed the Selective Service Act, creating a draft to supplement the U.S. troops during World War I.
On May 19, 1828, the United States Congress passed the Tariff Act of 1828 in an attempt to protect industry in the United States against lower priced European goods.
On May 20, 1873, Levi Strauss and his partner Jacob Davis received a patent for blue jeans with copper rivets on the pockets.
On May 21, 1832, the first Democratic National Convention (DNC) of the Democratic Party was held in Baltimore, Maryland.
On May 22, 1906, the Wright brothers were granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine" invention.
On May 23, 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany formed when it created its new constitution called the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany.
On May 24, 2002, the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT), better known as the Moscow Treaty, was signed in Moscow by Russia and the United States.
On May 25, 1787, the Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the intention of revising the Articles of Confederation.
On May 26, 1830, the United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. It was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later.
On May 27, 1938, the United States Supreme Court declared the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States.
On May 28, 1892, John Muir and his supporters established the Sierra Club in San Francisco, California, as an environmental club to advocate the conservation and preservation of our parks, wilderness, and wildlife.
On May 29, 1900, Charles Seeberger, a member of Otis Elevator Company, registered the trademark “ESCALATOR,” which greatly helped the company expand its business and profits.
On May 30, 1868, John Logan, Commander in Chief of the Union Army veterans’ organization, observed the first national Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
On May 31, 1790, the Copyright Act of 1790 was signed into law by President George Washington.