On this date in history:
In 1844, the first U.S telegraph line was formally opened — between Baltimore and Washington. The first message sent was “What hath God wrought?”
In 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was opened to the public, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York City.
File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
In 1935, the first night game in Major League Baseball was played at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.
A worker with the United States Military Railway Service repairs a telegraph line during the American Civil War in 1862. On May 24, 1844, the first U.S. telegraph line was formally opened. File Photo courtesy of Library of Congress
In 1943, Josef Mengele, the so-called “Angel of Death” became the new doctor at the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. He fled Germany at the conclusion of World War II and died in 1979 in Brazil.
In 1958, United Press and the International News Service merger was announced, forming United Press International.
A young girl participating in the March Fourth rally to ban assault weapons holds a “Uvalde Strong” sign outside the Senate office buildings at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 13. On May 24, 2022, a mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school left 19 students and two adults dead. Law enforcement officers fatally shot the gunman. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI
In 1962, Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit Earth, circling it three times. John Glenn was the first, earlier in the year.
In 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled private religious schools that practice racial discrimination aren’t eligible for church-related tax benefits.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., speaks at a rally for increasing the federal minimum wage in Washington on November 16, 2006. On May 24, 2007, the U.S. Congress voted to increase the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years — from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over a three-year period. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
In 1987, 250,000 people jammed San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge on its 50th anniversary, temporarily flattening the arched span.
File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI
Astronaut Scott Carpenter climbs into Aurora 7 ahead of launching the second American-manned orbital flight on May 24, 1962. File Photo courtesy of NASA
In 1991, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia.
In 2007, the U.S. Congress voted to increase the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years — from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over a three-year period.
This undated file photo shows the interior of a United Press office at the Munsey Trust Building in Washington, D.C. On this day in 1958, United Press and the International News Service merged, forming United Press International. File Photo by Harris and Ewing/Library of Congress
In 2018, President Donald Trump posthumously pardoned Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, for his conviction under a Jim Crow-era law.
In 2022, a mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school left 19 students and two adults dead. Law enforcement officers fatally shot the gunman.
On May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was opened to the public, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York City. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
In 2025, Jafar Panahi’s Un Simple Accident won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
File Photo by Rocco Spaziani/UPI