On May 15, 1942, gasoline rationing began in 17 Eastern states
as an attempt to help the American war effort during World War
II. By the end of the year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had ensured     
that mandatory gasoline rationing was in effect in all 48 states.      

May 14, 1804: One year after the United States doubled its territory
with the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition left
St. Louis, Missouri, on a mission to explore the Northwest from
the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.

Freddie Joe Ward (December 30, 1942 – May 8, 2022)

NEW YORK (AP) — Fred Ward, a veteran actor who brought a
gruff tenderness to tough-guy roles in such films as "The Right
Stuff," "The Player" and "Tremors," has died.

Ward died Sunday, his publicist Ron Hofmann said Friday. No
cause or place of death was disclosed per the family’s wishes.

     1983

    1990

Blind since shortly after his birth, Stevie Wonder was a child
prodigy who signed with Motown‘s Tamla label at the age of
11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie
Wonder. In 1963, the single "Fingertips" was a number-one
hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when Wonder was 13, making
him the youngest artist ever to top the chart.

Stevie Wonder (Stevland Hardaway Morris) 

On May 13, 1846, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor
of President James K. Polk’s request to declare war on Mexico in a dispute over Texas.

Under the threat of war, the United States had refrained from
annexing Texas after the latter won independence from Mexico in
1836. But in 1844, President John Tyler restarted negotiations with
the Republic of Texas, culminating with a Treaty of Annexation.

The treaty was defeated by a wide margin in the Senate because it
would upset the slave state/free state balance between North and
South and risked war with Mexico, which had broken off relations
with the United States. But shortly before leaving office and with
the support of President-elect Polk, Tyler managed to get the joint resolution passed on March 1, 1845. Texas was admitted to the
Union on December 29. 

James Knox Polk
(November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849)