In 1792, 24 brokers met in New York City and formed the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1875, Aristides was the winner of the first Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

In 1954, in a major civil rights victory, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

In 1973, the U.S. Senate Watergate Committee started hearings on the break-in at Democratic National headquarters in Washington.

In 1987, two Iraqi Exocet missiles hit the frigate USS Stark in the Persian Gulf, killing 37 seamen. Iraq apologized for mistaking the ship’s identity and the Stark’s top officers were reprimanded and retired.

In 1989, 1 million people in Beijing demonstrated for democratic reforms. The number of students fasting to support the drive reached 3,000.

In 1999, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost his bid for re-election when Ehud Barak, head of the center-left Israel One coalition, was voted in to succeed him.

In 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

In 2005, Los Angeles citizens voted in Antonio Villaraigosa as the city’s first Hispanic mayor since 1872.

In 2007, the United States’ “minority” citizenship topped 100 million, about one-third of the total U.S. population, the U.S. Census Bureau said. Hispanics made up the largest group, ahead of Black Americans, 44.3 million to 40.2 million.

In 2018, the Senate confirmed Gina Haspel to be the first female director of the CIA, ending weeks of speculation over whether her past role in using torture as an interrogation technique would derail her nomination.

In 2019, Taiwan became the first Asian nation to make same sex-marraiges legal.