May 31 Birthday
On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam collapsed after days of heavy rain, releasing 20 million tons of water into the valley below. The wall of water, 60 feet high, struck Johnstown, Pennsylvania, at 4:07 PM. It traveled 14 miles in forty minutes, destroying everything in its path. 2,209 people died. The dam had been purchased by a private hunting and fishing club whose members included Carnegie, Frick, and Mellon. They had lowered the dam to build a road, removed the discharge pipes, and ignored warnings from engineers. No club member was held liable. The Red Cross, led by Clara Barton, responded — its first major peacetime disaster relief operation. Big Ben's clock mechanism began operating on May 31, 1859. The Great Bell — Big Ben properly refers to the bell, not the tower — cracked during testing in September 1859. The crack was not repaired; instead, the bell was rotated and a lighter hammer was installed, giving Big Ben its distinctive tone. The bell weighs 13.7 tons. It was named either after Sir Benjamin Hall, the Commissioner of Works, or after Benjamin Caunt, a heavyweight boxer — the origin is disputed. The clock is accurate to within one second, regulated by a stack of pre-decimal pennies on the pendulum. The tower was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012. Clint Eastwood, born this day in 1930, was a swimming instructor and a pool digger before he became an actor. He was fired by Universal Studios in 1959 because his Adam's apple was too prominent. He went to Italy to make Westerns with Sergio Leone — the "Dollars" trilogy made him a star. He became the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1986 and served two years. He has directed over forty films and is the oldest person to win a Best Director Oscar, at seventy-four for Million Dollar Baby. People born on May 31 fall under the zodiac sign of Gemini. The birthstone is Emerald and the birth flower is Lily of the Valley. Historical events on May 31 include 1859: Big Ben's clock mechanism first starts operating in Westminster, 1889: Johnstown Flood kills 2,209 in Pennsylvania, 1910: Union of South Africa established as dominion of British Empire. Famous people born on May 31 include Walt Whitman (1819), Clint Eastwood (1930), Brooke Shields (1965).