This week in American History: May 4 - May 10

1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Second Continental Congress takes place in Philadelphia.
1818 – Paul Revere, American engraver and soldier (b. 1735) dies.
1837 – Panic of 1837: New York City banks suspend the payment of specie, triggering a national banking crisis and an economic depression whose severity was not surpassed until the Great Depression.

1838 – John Wilkes Booth, American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1865) is born.
1849 – Astor Place Riot: A riot breaks out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing at least 22 and injuring over 120.
1863 – Stonewall Jackson, American general (b. 1824) dies.
1865 – American Civil War: In Kentucky, Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill, who lingers until his death on June 6.

1869 – The First transcontinental railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory with the golden spike.
1872 – Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
1899 – Fred Astaire, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1987) is born.
1908 – Mother's Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia.
1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed first Director of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and remains so until his death in 1972.
1946 – First successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.