1. On May 21, 1796, the Massachusetts Turnpike was chartered as a toll road that connected Boston to the western part of the state. It was the first long-distance paved road in the United States and played a significant role in opening up trade and commerce in Massachusetts.

2. On May 21, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner was brutally beaten on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina. The incident occurred after Sumner delivered a speech denouncing slavery and the role of the South in preserving it. The attack fueled tensions between North and South and became a symbol of the political divisions that would eventually lead to the Civil War.

3. On May 21, 1927, aviator Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo, non-stop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. The flight took 33.5 hours and made Lindbergh a hero around the world. Lindbergh's plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, is now on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

4. On May 21, 1961, American astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into space aboard the spacecraft Freedom 7. The flight lasted just over 15 minutes and reached an altitude of 116 miles. Shepard's historic flight paved the way for America's later space exploration efforts, including the Apollo moon landing in 1969.

5. On May 21, 1980, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe was formally recognized by the federal government as a Native American tribe. The Mashpee Wampanoag have a long history in Massachusetts and played a crucial role in the early interactions between European settlers and Native Americans. The tribe today is headquartered in Mashpee, Massachusetts, and has approximately 3,000 enrolled members.