Today's Highlight in History:
On May seventh, 1975, President Ford¹ formally declared an end to the "Vietnam era." In Ho Chi Minh City -- formerly² Saigon -- the Viet Cong celebrated³ its takeover.
On this date:
In 1789, the first inaugural⁴ ball was held in New York in honor of President and Mrs. George Washington.

In 1847, the American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.

In 1915, nearly 1200 people died when a German torpedo⁵ sank the British liner "Lusitania" off the Irish coast.

In 1939, Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis⁶.

In 1945, Germany signed an unconditional⁷ surrender at Allied⁸ headquarters in Rheims, France.

In 1954, the 55-day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended with Vietnamese insurgents⁹ overrunning French forces.

In 1960, Leonid Brezhnev replaced Marshal Kliment Voroshilov as president of the Supreme¹⁰ Soviet¹¹.

In 1963, the United States launched the Telstar Two communications satellite.

In 1984, a $180 million out-of-court settlement was announced in the "Agent Orange" class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans who charged they'd suffered injury from exposure to the defoliant.

In 1994, Norway's most famous painting, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch¹², was recovered almost three months after it was stolen from an Oslo museum.

Ten years ago: The White House put aside President Bush's pledge of no new taxes, saying talks to strike a budget deal with Congress would have "no preconditions."

Five years ago: Jacques Chirac, the conservative mayor of Paris, won France's presidency¹³ in his third attempt, defeating Lionel Jospin in a runoff to end 14 years of Socialist¹⁴ rule. Leaders of 54 nations that fought on both sides in World War Two signed olive leaves in London in a ceremony of reconciliation¹⁵.

One year ago: NATO jets struck the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing¹⁶ three people and injuring 20; President Clinton called the attack a "tragic¹⁷ mistake." A jury in Pontiac, Michigan, ordered "The Jenny Jones Show" to pay $25 million to the family of Scott Amedure, a gay man who was shot to death after revealing a crush on Jonathan Schmitz, a fellow guest on the talk show.