What Happened on May 16?

May 16 is National Love a Tree Day — and the night Hollywood handed out its first Oscars in 1929. The Supreme Court's Brown v. Board decision ended legal school segregation in 1954, while Theodore Maiman demonstrated the first working laser in 1960.

• 1868 — The Senate acquits President Andrew Johnson in his impeachment trial

  On May 16, 1868, the U.S. Senate fell one vote short of convicting President Andrew Johnson — keeping him in office after Reconstruction battles. Read the full story →

• 1920 — Joan of Arc is canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church

  Pope Benedict XV canonized Joan of Arc on May 16, 1920 — nearly five centuries after the teenage warrior was burned at the stake. Read the full story →

• 1929 — The first Academy Awards ceremony is held in Hollywood

  On May 16, 1929, about 270 guests dined at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for the first Oscar presentation — honoring films from 1927 and 1928. Read the full story →

• 1954 — Supreme Court completes Brown v. Board of Education decision

  In May 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court finished its unanimous Brown v. Board of Education ruling — announced May 17 — declaring segregated public schools unconstitutional. Read the full story →

• 1960 — Theodore Maiman demonstrates the first working laser

  Physicist Theodore Maiman fired the first working laser on May 16, 1960, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California. Read the full story →

Famous birthdays

Henry Fonda (1905–1982) · Liberace (1919–1987) · Pierce Brosnan (1953) · Megan Fox (1986)

Days & observances

National Love a Tree Day · National Biographers Day · National Piercing Day · National Wear Purple for Peace Day