On May 16, 2014, broadcast journalist and TV personality Barbara Walters retires from ABC News and as co-host of the daytime program “The View.

In a tragic turn of events in 1990, the entertainment world mourned the loss of two iconic figures: Sammy Davis Jr.

In the scientific journal Nature on May 16, 1985, three scientists from the British Antarctic Survey announce their detection of abnormally low levels of ozone over the South Pole.

On May 16, 1980, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson steps in for injured center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and scores 42 points, leading the Lakers to a four games-to-two series win over the Philadelphia 76ers for their first championship since 1972.

In 1975, history was made when Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to successfully reach the summit of Mount Everest, a feat that not only showcased her remarkable skill and perseverance but also broke significant gender barriers in the world of mountaineering.

In the wake of the Soviet downing of an American U-2 spy plane on May 1, 1960, Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev lashes out at the United States and President Dwight D.

In a groundbreaking moment for science and technology, physicist Theodore Maiman successfully demonstrated the first working laser on May 16, 1960, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.

On May 16, 1957, the nation mourned the loss of Eliot Ness, the legendary federal agent whose fight against organized crime in the 1930s made him a symbol of integrity and bravery.

In Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising comes to an end as Nazi soldiers gain control of Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto, blowing up the last remaining synagogue and beginning the mass deportation of the ghetto’s remaining dwellers to the Treblinka extermination camp.

In 1939, a significant social initiative began in Rochester, New York, marking the inception of the federal food stamp program, a pioneering response to the economic challenges posed by the Great Depression.