1. On May 14, 1896, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the "separate but equal" doctrine in the landmark case Plessy v. Ferguson. This ruling would have a profound impact on the country's civil rights movement.

2. In 1970, students at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University) in Mississippi were involved in a deadly clash with law enforcement on May 14. Police officers fired into a dormitory, killing two students and injuring twelve others. The incident is now known as the Jackson State massacre.

3. On May 14, 1985, the Mississippi legislature voted to ratify the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which abolished slavery. The vote came more than a century after the amendment was originally passed by Congress.

4. In 1863, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant captured the city of Jackson, Mississippi on May 14 during the Civil War. The battle helped pave the way for the eventual fall of Vicksburg, a key Confederate stronghold.

5. Mississippian and Olympic gold medalist Ralph Boston was born on May 14, 1939. Boston competed in the long jump and won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.