The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise debuted
on May 25, 1992, three days after Johnny Carson‘s retirement
as host of the program. The program originated from NBC
Studios in Burbank, California, and was broadcast Monday
through Friday at 11:35 p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific time
zones (10:35 p.m. Central/Mountain time). Unlike Carson or
his predecessor Jack Paar, Leno only once used a guest
host, preferring to host the series in person.

Billy Crystal (left) was the first guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Leno’s first opening monologue featured a joke about Vice President Dan Quayle and the controversy over Murphy Brown
becoming a single mom.

On May 25, 1977, Memorial Day weekend opened with an
intergalactic bang as the first of George Lucas’ blockbuster
Star Wars movies hit theaters.

The incredible success of Star Wars–it received seven Oscars,
and earned $461 million in U.S. ticket sales and a gross of close
to $800 million worldwide–began with an extensive, coordinated marketing push by Lucas and his studio, 20th Century Fox,
months before the movie’s release date.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas

Bismarck firing at HMS Prince of Wales.

On May 24, 1941, Germany’s largest and most modern of Germany’s 
battleships battleship, the Bismarck, sank the pride of the British
fleet, HMS Hood.

Less than 10 minutes after the British opened fire, a shell from 
Bismarck struck Hood near her aft ammunition magazines.

Soon afterwards, Hood exploded and sank within three minutes,
with the loss of all but three of her crew. Prince of Wales
continued to exchange fire with Bismarck but suffered serious malfunctions in her main armament.

NY gov. calls Trump supporters ‘clowns’ as thousands flock
to massive rally in her own state.

William Harvey Carney (1840 – 1908)

Recognized for heroically protecting the American flag during
the Civil War, Army Sgt. William Harvey Carney received the
Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration, on
May 23, 1900.

The first Black American service member to earn the award,
Carney was born into slavery in Virginia in 1840. Although a
handful of other Black service members had already received
the medal, Carney’s award celebrated an earlier action. He
was one of many Civil War-era honorees to be granted the
medal decades later.