Today is Wednesday, May 20, the 140th day of 2026. There are 225 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which was intended to encourage settlement west of the Mississippi River by making federal land available for private ownership and farming. About 10% of the land area of the United States (270 million acres, or 1.1 million square km) would be privatized by 1934.
Also on this date:
In 1861, North Carolina seceded from the Union, becoming the 10th state to join the Confederacy early in the American Civil War.
In 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis obtained a U.S. patent for putting rivets in men's work pants to prevent wear and tear, leading to the large-scale production of denim blue jeans.
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Long Island, New York, aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to Paris, France. He completed the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight of more than 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) in just over 33 hours.
In 1932, Amelia Earhart departed from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Because of weather and equipment problems, Earhart landed the following day in Northern Ireland instead of her intended destination, France.)
In 1948, Chiang Kai-shek was elected as the first president of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
In 1956, the United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
In 1961, a white mob attacked a bus carrying Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, prompting the federal government to send in U.S. Marshals to restore order.
In 1969, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Ap Bia Mountain, referred to as "Hamburger Hill" by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.
In 1985, Radio Marti, operated by the U.S. government, began broadcasting Spanish-language news into Cuba. Cuba responded by attempting to jam its signal.
In 2013, a fierce EF5 tornado plowed through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing 24 people.
In 2015, four of the world's biggest banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup's banking unit Citicorp, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland — agreed to plead guilty to rigging the currency markets and pay more than $5 billion in penalties.
Today's Birthdays: Japanese baseball star Sadaharu Oh is 86. Singer-actor Cher is 80. Actor-comedian Dave Thomas is 77. Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho is 75. Political commentator Ron Reagan is 68. Musician Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go's) is 68. Actor Bronson Pinchot is 67. TV personality Ted Allen is 61. Actor Mindy Cohn is 60. Actor Timothy Olyphant is 58. Former racing driver Tony Stewart is 55. Rapper Busta Rhymes is 54. Actor Matt Czuchry (zoo-KREE') is 49. Actor-singer Naturi Naughton is 42. Cyclist Chris Froome is 41. Country musician Jon Pardi is 41. Singer Omar Apollo is 29. Soccer player Trinity Rodman is 24. Rapper Luh Kel is 24.