Artist, actor and filmmaker Orson Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin on this day in 1915.

Welles became an overnight celebrity in 1938 when he tapped into Americans' obsession with Mars in his now-infamous radio broadcast of 'The War of the Worlds'.
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On May 6, 1937, the German dirigible Hindenburg caught fire while attempting to dock in Lakehurst, New Jersey, resulting in 36 fatalities. A large press presence that day made it one of history's most well-documented disasters.

📸: Spaarnestad Photo/Nationaal Archief

The Chinese Exclusion Act, signed on May 6, 1882, made it illegal for Chinese workers to come to America—and for Chinese nationals already in the United States to ever become citizens.

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On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space. It was a major step forward in the race to the moon.

📸: Alan Shepard, attired in his Mercury pressure suit, prior to his launch in a Mercury-Redstone 3 spacecraft from Cape Canaveral (NASA)

Ng Poon Chew's newspaper, the Chung Sai Yat Po, was a vital resource for the Chinese community during the 1900 plague outbreak in San Francisco.

Learn more in PLAGUE AT THE GOLDEN GATE, now streaming online and in the PBS App. → to.pbs.org/3y3a8BU

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The pioneering investigative journalist best known by her pen name, Nellie Bly, was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania.
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High school teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in Dayton, Tennessee on May 5, 1925.
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On May 4, 1961, thirteen Freedom Riders left Washington, D.C. on two buses headed for New Orleans. Their goal: challenge segregated travel facilities throughout the South.
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In 1975, with the end of the war in Vietnam imminent, Mai Thi Kim sent her seven-year-old daughter to America as part of a controversial evacuation program known as Operation Babylift..

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On May 4, 1970, after three tense days of demonstrations, members of the National Guard opened fire on an anti-war protest at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine more.
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May the fourth be with you! 💫

In honor of #StarWarsDay , we're taking a look at the complex history of space law. From private lunar missions to floating space garbage to asteroid mining rights, who's in charge in outer space?

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“I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living.”

Keith Haring, the artist whose graffiti-adjacent pop art etched spread across the visual landscape of 1980s New York, was born on this day in 1958 in Reading, PA.
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“It was like watching an accident in slow motion.”

Experience the tragedy at Love Canal through the images and recollections of those who were there.

#PoisonedGroundPBS is now streaming on YouTube and the free PBS App.

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'If the government won’t stop the war, we’ll stop the government'

On May 3, 1971, thousands gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the Vietnam War by disrupting traffic in the nation's capitol. The day ended with the largest mass arrest in US history.

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On May 3rd, 1913, California enacted the Alien Land Law, barring Asian immigrants from owning or leasing land in the state. 15 other states followed suit.

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Born on this day in 1849, Danish-American photographer Jacob Riis used his craft to document the realities of life for America's urban immigrants and inspire social reform.
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Senator Joseph McCarthy, the man who spearheaded the anti-communist witch hunts of the Red Scare, died from complications of alcoholism on this day in 1957.

From tracking weather patterns to his own travels, meteorologist Dr. Tetsuya 'Ted' Fujita had the science of data down to an art.

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In the early years of his administration, Lyndon Johnson passed a sweeping domestic agenda targeting poverty and racial injustice. But the president and his policies faced growing backlash.

#RiotReportPBS premieres Tuesday, May 21 at 9/8c on PBS. → to.pbs.org/3xPckwN

Once called 'the most dangerous woman in America,' Mary Harris 'Mother' Jones was a workers' rights advocate in the late 19th and early 20th century. While her exact birthdate is unknown, Jones chose to celebrate on May 1st, the international day of labor.
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