This Day in History: May 20, 2024

1506

Christopher Columbus died in Spain.
1861

North Carolina voted to secede from the Union.
1927

Charles Lindbergh began the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight, departing from Long Island aboard the Spirit of Saint Louis.
1932

Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
1961

A mob attacked a busload of "freedom riders" in Montgomery, Ala., setting the bus on fire.
1978

Mavis Hutchinson, 53, became the first woman to run across America. The 3,000-mile trek took her 69 days. She ran an average of 45 miles each day.
1996

In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court rejected a Colorado measure banning laws that protect homosexuals from discrimination.
2002

East Timor became the what was then the world's newest nation.

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May 20