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Restoration of Statehood Day: Armenia. On this day, Armenians celebrate the establishment in 1918 of the first republic following the genocide of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire and the collapse of the Russian Empire under the Czars.

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Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997): Chinese American. Physicist. Dr. Wu was one of the giants and the first woman to gain equal stature for her accomplishments in experimental physics with men in the field. Born near Shanghai, China she came to the United States in the 1930s and received a doctorate in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1940. She joined the physics faculty at Columbia University after World War II and was named a full professor in 1958 and the first Pupin professor of physics in 1973. In 1957, she and her colleagues conducted an experiment that overthrew a law of symmetry in physics called the principle of conservation of parity that had been considered incontrovertible In 1975, Dr Wu became the first woman to be elected president of the American Physical Society. She also received the National Medal of Science, the nationis highest award for achievement in science, as well as the Wolf Physics.

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Ascension of Bahaiuillah: Bahaii. This observance commemorates the anniversary of the death of the founder of the Bahaii faith in 1892.

30
Memorial Day observed: United States. Originally a day of remembrance for those who died for the Union in the Civil War, this national holiday, observed on the last Monday in May, now honors those who gave their lives in all wars. (A number of southern states also have designated days for honoring the Confederate dead.) Many American families observe Memorial Day as a time for paying respect to deceased family members.

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Founding of the NAACP (1910): African American. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was formally established on this date. The NAACP is the largest membership organization supporting African American interest in the United States.

01
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. On June 11, 1999, President Clinton issued a presidential proclamation designating June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. In that proclamation the president said ... Since our earliest days as a nation, Americans have strived to make real the ideals of equality and freedom so eloquently expressed in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. We now have a rare opportunity to enter a new century and a new millennium as one country, living those principles, recognizing our common values, and building on our shared strengths. I encourage all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities that celebrate our diversity, and to remember throughout the year the gay and lesbian Americans whose many and varied contributions have enriched our national life.

01
Brigham Young (1801-1877): Mormon. Religious leader. Religious leader Brigham Young was converted to Mormonism after reading the Book of Mormon. He became the second president to the Mormon Church and, fleeing persecution, led Its followers to establish Salt Lake City as the center of the Mormon Church.

01
Madaraka (Self-Rule) Day: Kenya. This marks the day in 1994 that Kenya attained self-rule as a republic with Jomo Kenyatta as its first president.

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Republic Day: Ghana. On this day in 1960, Ghana gained independence within the Commonwealth of Great Britain.

02
Dorothy West (1907-1998): African American Writer. Nicknamed ithe Kidi by Langston Hughes, Dorothy West was, when she died, the last remaining member of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Born into a Black upper class Boston family, West first published at 14 and later attended Boston University and the Columbia School of Journalism. In 1934, she founded the literary journal, Challenge to give young Black writers a place to publish. West later joined the Federal Writers Project. In 1947, she left New York for Marthais Vineyard, where she lived the rest of her life. Westis novel, iThe Weddingi, begun in the 1960s and published in 1995, focuses as much on class as on race; in 1998 it aired as a television miniseries produced by Oprah Winfrey.

03
Charles Richard Drew (1904-1950): African American. Physician. A Pioneer in blood research, Dr. Drew introduced the use of plasma on the battlefield; organized the worldis first mass blood bank project, Blood for Britain; and established the American Red Cross Blood Bank, of which he was the first director.

03
Roland Hayes (1887-1976) : African American. Concert singer Roland Hayes was one of the first African Americans to have an international concert career. His magnificent tenor voice brought him wide acclaim from 1917 until his retirement from the concert stage in the 1950s.