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Local

May 18, 2011: David Jensen was named District 241’s Citizen of the Year during a special ceremony at Riverland Community College.  Jensen, a rural Clarks Grove farmer, was the 35th recipient of the award.

May 21, 1981: Freeborn County Coordinator Truman Thrond, along with other local officials, spoke in favor of the dissolution of the regional planning commission. The consensus among city leaders was that the regional commission was not worth the expense to taxpayers.

National/
international

1471: King Henry VI of England died in the Tower of London at age 49.

1542: Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto died while searching for gold along the Mississippi River.

1868: Ulysses S. Grant was nominated for president by the Republican national convention in Chicago.

1881: Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.

1910: A year-old Jewish settlement near the port city of Jaffa adopted the name Tel Aviv (Hebrew for “Hill of Spring”).

1927: Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis monoplane near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33 1/2 hours.

1932: Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean as she landed in Northern Ireland, about 15 hours after leaving Newfoundland.

1941: A German U-boat sank the American merchant steamship SS Robin Moor in the South Atlantic after the ship’s passengers and crew were allowed to board lifeboats.

1955: Chuck Berry recorded his first single, “Maybellene,” for Chess Records in Chicago.

1972: Michelangelo’s Pieta, on display at the Vatican, was damaged by a hammer-wielding man who shouted he was Jesus Christ.

1979: Former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the slayings of Mayor George Moscone and openly gay Supervisor Harvey Milk; outrage over the verdict sparked rioting. (White was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison; he ended up serving five years and took his own life in 1985.)

1982: During the Falklands War, British amphibious forces landed on the beach at San Carlos Bay.

1991: Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated during national elections by a suicide bomber.