Privately‐owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,235,000. This is 5.7% above the revised March estimate of 1,168,000, but is 2.5% below the April 2018 rate of 1,267,000, the Census Bureau reported. Single‐family housing starts in April were at a rate of 854,000; this is 6.2% above the revised March figure of 804,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 359,000.

In the week ending May 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance was 212,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 228,000, the Labor Department reported. The four-week moving average was 225,000, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 220,250.

Thursday, the Dow gained 214.66 points (0.84%) to finish at 25,862.68, the NASDAQ closed 75.90 points (0.97%) higher at 7,898.05, and the S&P 500 increased 25.36 points (0.89%) to 2,876.32. The Russell 2000 was up 8.97 points (0.58%) at 1,557.24, and the Wilshire 5000 climbed 258.49 points (0.88%) to 29,729.83.

ON THIS DATE: In 1792, the New York Stock Exchange was founded at 70 Wall Street by 24 brokers. In 1875, the first Kentucky Derby was run at Louisville, Kentucky. In 1932, Congress changed the name “Porto Rico” to “Puerto Rico.” In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled for school integration in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. In 1999, Alex Trebek received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2000, Thomas E. Blanton Jr. and David Luker surrendered to police in Birmingham, Alabama. The two former Ku Klux Klan members were arrested on charges from the bombing of a church in 1963 that killed four young black girls. In 2006, the U.S. aircraft carrier Oriskany was sunk about 24 miles off Pensacola Beach. It was the first vessel sunk under a Navy program to dispose of old warships by turning them into diving attractions. It was the largest man-made reef at the time of the sinking.

In Jiangsu, China, a person who said he had an “intense itch” in his ear went to the hospital. Using an endoscope, the doctor discovered a small spider in the ear, building a web. According to news reports, the spider was too fast to be caught and removed with tweezers, so the doctor had to flush it out.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government airplane was waiting to take her back to Berlin when an excited fan jumped out of her van to take a picture. Unfortunately, the woman forgot to put her parking brake on and the van rolled slowly into the nose of the jet, according to the Associated Press. The German air force confirmed in a tweet that Merkel had been safely transported back to Berlin by helicopter.

In Lihue, Hawaii, in December, a man broke into his former boss’ home and threatened to kill and chop up the former boss and his wife with a machete. When police were at the scene, the man told them his former boss owed him fish that they caught together. “He owes me choke ahi,” he told police, according to the Associated Press. Recently in court, the man pleaded no contest, saying he was under the influence of a hallucinogenic at the time.

In San Diego, California, the Humane Society has five new kittens that will soon be ready for adoption. Construction workers building new Kaiser Permanente medical offices heard meows coming from a steel column. They tilted the column and the week-old kittens slid out. According to the Associate Press, they apparently were stowaways in a truck from Hayward, California.