By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Monday, May 10, the 130th day of 2021. There are 235 days left in the year.

Todayís Highlight in History:

On May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven in Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.

On this date:

In 1774, Louis XVI acceded to the throne of France.

In 1775, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, along with Col. Benedict Arnold, captured the British-held fortress at Ticonderoga, New York.

In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union forces in Irwinville, Georgia.

In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was named acting director of the Bureau of Investigation (later known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI).

In 1933, the Nazis staged massive public book burnings in Germany.

In 1940, during World War II, German forces began invading the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. The same day, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned, and Winston Churchill formed a new government.

In 1941, Adolf Hitlerís deputy, Rudolf Hess, parachuted into Scotland on what he claimed was a peace mission. (Hess ended up serving a life sentence at Spandau Prison until 1987, when he apparently committed suicide at age 93.)

In 1977, Academy Award-winning film star Joan Crawford died in New York.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela took the oath of office in Pretoria to become South Africaís first Black president. The state of Illinois executed serial killer John Wayne Gacy, 52, for the murders of 33 young men and boys.

In 1995, former President George H.W. Bushís office released his letter of resignation from the National Rifle Association in which Bush expressed outrage over an NRA fund-raising letterís reference to federal agents as ìjack-booted thugs.î (NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre apologized a week later.)