The Oldest Confederate Widow – Today In Southern History

May 31, 2026

1861 - The New Orleans Mint closes
1862 – The Battle of Seven Pines, Virginia
1868 The supposed First Memorial Day parade held in Ironton, Ohio even though processions in the South had been held since the end of the War of Northern Aggression.
1893 - The body of Jefferson Davis was moved from New Orleans and re-buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, at Varina Davis’s request.
1919 – The first wedding held in an aircraft occurred over Houston, Texas.
1921 - A large-scale race riot breaks out in Tulsa, Oklahoma, later described as the worst incident of racial violence in American history.
1958 – Jerry Lee Lewis was forced to end a British tour and return to the U.S. when British fans learned of his marriage to his teenaged cousin.
1982 – “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theater in New York City and ran for 63 straight performances.
1985 - The New Orleans Saints football team sold for $70,204,000
1989 - US Speaker of US House of Representatives Jim Wright of Texas resigns after an ethics probe
2013 - Tim Samara and two others become the first tornado chasers to be killed by a tornado outside El Reno in Oklahoma
2019 - Twelve people are shot and killed by a disgruntled employee at a municipal building in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Today In Southern History