May 9. 1960: FDA approves first oral contraceptive pill in US.

May 10. 1910: British government jailed Tom Mann for six months for urging soldiers not to shoot striking workers. 1967: Capt. Howard Levy jailed three years for refusing to train U.S. soldiers for Vietnam.

May 11. 1968: The three biggest French labor federations call a General Strike to support students. 1970: Augusta, GA police kill six blacks in a riot provoked by the beating death of Charles Oatman in the Richmond County jail.

May 12. 1898: Louisiana adopts new constitution with "grandfather clause" designed to eliminate black voters.

May 13. 1828: The absurdly high "Tariff of Abominations," to the surprise and horror of the Jackson supporters who framed it as a political ruse, is passed by Congress, and subsequently wreaks havoc with the nation's economy.

May 14. 1945: Plutonium is injected intravenously into a human subject in an experiment carried out by the Los Alamos scientific laboratory. In all, 18 people were similarly tested between 1945 and 1946. 1980: Some 600 Salvadoran refugees are killed attempting to cross the Sumpul River from El Salvador to Honduras by government troops from both countries.

May 15. 1966: Buddhist altars placed in streets to stop troops arresting dissidents, South Vietnam.

May 16. 1527: The Medici government in Florence is overthrown; the Republic is re-established. 1791: Denmark becomes first Western country to outlaw slave trade.

May 17. 1620: First merry-go-round introduced, Turkey. 1987: USS Stark hit by Iraqi missiles; 37 sailors die. U.S. only issues a mild protest over the "accident," as Iraq and its leader, Saddam Hussein, were considered a good ally and valuable arms customer by the Reagan administration.

May 18. 1781: Tupa Amaru II, leader of Inca Rebellion, executed in the same Peruvian square as his ancestor two centuries before. 1980: Widespread civilian uprising for democracy begins in Kwangju, South Korea.

May 19. 1950: Four barges carrying 467 tons of ammunition blow up at South Amboy, New Jersey, raining shrapnel down upon the town. 30 die & 350 injured. 1997: Two international human rights workers, Mario Calderon and Elsa Alvarado, plus Alvarado's parents, are shot dead in Bogota by Colombian paramilitaries.

May 20. 1795: Last major uprising of the French sans coulottes against the reactionary authority of the Thermadorian government. Lasted four days; bloodily put down by military force. Main slogan was "For bread & the Constitution of 1793," and against the big bourgeoisie.

May 21. 1971: Members of American Indian Movement occupy Naval Air Station near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 1993: Kyrgystan announces plans to dismantle its army.

May 22. 1895: Eugene V. Debs imprisoned for his role in the Pullman railway strike. 1935: Death of Jane Addams, founder of Settlement House Movement and an opponent of World War I.