1932. Aviator Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland, Canada for Ireland, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

1961. The Freedom Riders suffer more violence as they campaign against racial segregation in the South. This time, the civil rights activists are attacked by a white mob in Montgomery, Alabama. That prompts the federal government to sending US marshals to restore order and protect the activists. 1506. Christopher Columbus, the explorer whose trans-Atlantic voyages led to European colonization of the America’s dies in Spain. And 1989. “I think that the people are worrying too much about conserving this country’s natural resources.” In Los Angeles, comedienne Gilda Radner, an original cast member of TV’s Saturday Night Live dies of ovarian cancer. She was 42.

Today in History, May 20th. Camille Bohannon, the Associated Press.