By The Associated Press
                - Today is Monday, May 31, the 151st day of 1999. There are 214 days
                  left in the year.

                - On May 31, 1889 more than 2,000 people perished when a dam break
                  sent water rushing through Johnstown, Pa.
                - In 1809 composer Franz Joseph Haydn died in Vienna, Austria.
                - In 1819 poet Walt Whitman was born in West Hill, N.Y.
                - In 1910 the Union of South Africa was founded.'
                - In 1916 during World War I, British and German fleets fought the
                  Battle of Jutland off Denmark.
                - In 1961 South Africa became an independent republic.
                - In 1962 World War II Gestapo official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in
                  Israel for his role in the Nazi Holocaust.
                - In 1970 tens of thousands of people died in an earthquake in Peru.
                - In 1976 Martha Mitchell, the estranged wife of former Attorney
                  General John N. Mitchell, died in New York.
                - In 1977 the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, three years in the making,
                  was completed.
                - Ten years ago House Speaker Jim Wright, dogged by questions about
                  his ethics, announced he would resign. Thomas Foley succeeded him.
                - Five years ago U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., maintaining his
                  innocence, was indicted on 17 felony counts alleging he had
                  plundered nearly $700,000 from the government. (He later pleaded
                  guilty to two counts of misusing federal funds and spent 451 days
                  in federal custody.) The U.S. announced it was no longer aiming
                  long-range nuclear missiles at targets in the former Soviet Union.
                - One year ago storms tore from Pennsylvania through New England,
                  killing several people and knocking out power for nearly 1 million
                  customers. Singer Geri Halliwell, also known as "Ginger Spice" of
                  the Spice Girls, confirmed she was leaving the group.

                *Happy Birthday*
                - Prince Rainier of Monaco is 76.
                - Actress Elaine Stewart is 70.
                - Actor-director Clint Eastwood is 69.
                - Opera singer Shirley Verrett is 66.
                - Actor Keir Dullea is 63.
                - Singer Peter Yarrow is 61.
                - Singer Johnny Paycheck is 61.
                - Former Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite is 60.
                - Singer-musician Augie Myers is 59.
                - Actress Sharon Gless is 56.
                - Football Hall-of-Famer Joe Namath is 56.
                - Actor Tom Berenger is 49.
                - Actor Gregory Harrison is 49.
                - Actor Colm Meaney is 46.
                - Comedian Chris Elliott is 39.
                - Actor Kyle Secor is 39.
                - Actress Lea Thompson is 38.
                - Singer Corey Hart is 37.
                - Actress Tonya Pinkins is 37.
                - Rapper DMC is 35.
                - Rapper Kid Frost is 35.
                - Actress Brooke Shields is 34.