Today in history:
On May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven in a ceremony in Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.
Also on this date:
In 1775, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, along with Col. Benedict Arnold, captured the British-held fortress at Ticonderoga, New York.
In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union forces near Irwinville, Georgia.
In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was named acting director of the Bureau of Investigation (later known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI) by President Calvin Coolidge; Hoover would serve as FBI director until 1972.
In 1933, book burnings were held in 34 cities across Germany, targeting authors whose ideologies were in conflict with Nazism.
In 1940, during World War II, German forces began invading the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. On the same day, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned, and Winston Churchill formed a new government.
In 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated, becoming the first Black president of South Africa.
In 1994, the state of Illinois executed serial killer John Wayne Gacy, 52, for the murders of 33 young men and boys.
In 2014, Michael Sam was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the NFL draft, becoming the first openly gay player drafted by a National Football League team.
In 2023, Rep. George Santos, the New York Republican infamous for fabricating his life story, was indicted on charges that he duped donors, stole from his campaign and lied to Congress. (Santos pled guilty in August 2024, and was sentenced to 87 months in prison in April 2025.)
