German-born John A. Roebling and his son, Washington A. Roebling, designed and built the famous Brooklyn Bridge connecting the cities of New York and Brooklyn. The remarkable design used Roebling’s patented system of steel wire cable construction. When it opened on May 24, 1883, the 1,595-foot main span was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Its graceful limestone and granite towers took 5 years to build and were designed with two large openings for the roadway.

Dated May 23, 1958, the caption of this photo reads "Instructing nurses on the use of respirator for a polio patient."

The War Department issued General Order 143 on May 22, 1863, creating the United States Colored Troops. By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10 percent of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army, and another 19,000 served in the Navy.

Taken in May 1973 at Boston’s Haymarket, this photograph is from the EPA’s DOCUMERICA Program to document subjects of environmental concern in America during the 1970s. The caption reads: "Outdoor market at Haymarket Square. Public protest kept the square from becoming part of an expressway, 05/1973 "

Passed on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee and 5 years of continuous residence on that land.

Dated May 19, 1803, this "Return of Goods" lists much of the exported cargo aboard the Ship Mount Vernon on its maiden voyage from Salem, Massachusetts. The "Return of Goods" indicates where and when these goods were originally brought to Salem; much of it had been imported from the West Indies and the East Indies.

Issued on May 18, 1896, the ruling in this Supreme Court case upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races." It was not until the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas and congressional civil rights acts of the 1950s and 1960s that systematic segregation under state law was ended.