Today's Highlight in History:
On May 31, 1889, more than 2,000 people perished when a dam break sent water rushing through Johnstown, Pa.
On this date:
In 1809, composer Franz Joseph Haydn died in Vienna, Austria.
In 1819, poet Walt Whitman was born in West Hill, N.Y.
In 1908, actor Don Ameche was born in Kenosha, Wis.
In 1910, the Union of South Africa was founded.
In 1916, during World War I, British and German fleets fought the naval Battle of Jutland off Denmark; there was no clear-cut victor, although the British suffered heavier losses.
In 1961, South Africa became an independent republic.
In 1970, tens of thousands of people died in an earthquake in Peru.
In 1976, Martha Mitchell, the estranged wife of former Attorney General John N. Mitchell, died in New York.
In 1977, the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, three years in the making, was completed.
In 1994, the United States announced it was no longer aiming long-range nuclear missiles at targets in the former Soviet Union.
Ten years ago: Storms tore from Pennsylvania through New England, killing several people and knocking out power for nearly one million customers. Singer Geri Halliwell, also known as "Ginger Spice" of the Spice Girls, confirmed she was leaving the group.
