On this day in history

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Many interesting things have happened on this day in history:

In America:
 
1987 - The U.S. congressional Iran-Contra hearings opened. 
 
1961 - The first American in space. Navy Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. is launched into space aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to travel into space. 
 
1955 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada test site.
 
1942 - US begins rationing sugar during WW II.

1925 - John T. Scopes, a biology teacher in Dayton, TN, was arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. 
 
1892 - The U.S. Congress extended the Geary Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 more years.
 
1877 - American Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
 
1866 - Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York.

1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, abolishing slavery in the U.S. 
 
1864 - Atlanta Campaign: 5 days fighting begins at Rocky Face Ridge.

1864 - Battle of Wilderness, VA (Germanna Ford, Wilderness Tavern).

1864 - Campaign in Northern Georgia - Chattanooga TN to Atlanta GA.
 
In the United States, May 5 is sometimes mistaken to be Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually celebrated September 16.

In the Western Hemisphere:

1834 - Charles Darwin's expedition begins at Rio Santa Cruz.

1494 - On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica.

In the Solar System:
 
1979 - Voyager 1 passes Jupiter

In other foreign countries:
 
1862. - The Mexican army achieved an unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla.
 
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