Early May marks anniversary of inaugural ball

•On May 7, 1789, President George Washington attends a ball in his honor. The event provided a model for the first official inaugural ball. Since 1809, formal inaugural balls have been held to celebrate new presidential terms.

•On May 10, 1749, the 10th and final volume of Henry Fielding’s “Tom Jones” is printed. The novel tells the humorous story of the attempts of the illegitimate but charming Tom Jones to win his neighbor’s daughter, despite her father’s objections to his uncertain parentage.

•On May 6, 1937, the airship Hindenburg, pride of Nazi Germany, bursts into flames while attempting to moor at Lakehurst, N.J., probably after a spark ignited its hydrogen core. Rapidly falling 200 feet to the ground, the hull of the airship incinerated within seconds.

•On May 5, 1945, in Lakeview, Ore., six people are killed while attempting to drag a Japanese balloon out the woods. The explosive balloon was one of a handful of Japanese attacks against the continental United States, which were initially conducted by Japanese submarines and later by high-altitude balloons.

•On May 9, 1950, Ron Hubbard publishes “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.” It introduced a branch of self-help psychology that morphed into a belief system called Scientology.