Today in History
Today is Saturday, May 15, the 135th day of 2021. There are 230 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 15, 1970, just after midnight, Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green, two Black students at Jackson State College in Mississippi, were killed as police opened fire during student protests.
On this date:
In 1602, English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold and his ship, the Concord, arrived at present-day Cape Cod, which he’s credited with naming.
In 1918, U.S. airmail began service between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York.
In 1948, hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
In 1954, the Fender Stratocaster guitar, created by Leo Fender, was officially released.
In 1963, Weight Watchers was incorporated in New York.
In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its unanimous In re Gault decision, ruled that juveniles accused of crimes were entitled to the same due process afforded adults. American realist painter Edward Hopper died in New York at age 84.
In 1968, two days of tornado outbreaks began in 10 Midwestern and Southern states; twisters were blamed for 72 deaths, including 45 in Arkansas and 18 in Iowa.
In 1972, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot and left paralyzed while campaigning for president in Laurel, Maryland, by Arthur H. Bremer, who served 35 years for attempted murder.
In 1975, U.S. forces invaded the Cambodian island of Koh Tang and captured the American merchant ship Mayaguez, which had been seized by the Khmer Rouge. (All 39 crew members had already been released safely by Cambodia; some 40 U.S. servicemen were killed in connection with the operation.)
In 1988, the Soviet Union began the process of withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, more than eight years after Soviet forces entered the country.
In 2000, by a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a key provision of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, saying that rape victims could not sue their attackers in federal court.
In 2015, a jury sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) to death for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three and left more than 250 wounded.
Ten years ago: Mobilized by calls on Facebook, thousands of Arab protesters marched on Israel’s borders with Syria, Lebanon and Gaza in an unprecedented wave of demonstrations, sparking clashes that left at least 15 dead.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama urged graduates at Rutgers University to shun those who wanted to confront a rapidly changing world by building walls around the United States or by embracing ignorance, as he delivered a sharp and barely concealed critique of Donald Trump. “60 Minutes” said goodbye to Morley Safer, honoring the newsman who had been a fixture at the CBS newsmagazine for all but two of its 48 years (Safer died four days later at age 84).
One year ago: President Donald Trump formally unveiled a coronavirus vaccine program he called “Operation Warp Speed,” to speed development of COVID-19 vaccines and quickly distribute them around the country. The House approved rules changes allowing Congress to keep functioning while it was partly closed; lawmakers would no longer be required to travel to Washington for floor votes and could assign their vote to another lawmaker who would be at the Capitol to cast it for them. J.C. Penney became the fourth major retailer to file for bankruptcy reorganization since the pandemic began. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo fired the State Department’s inspector general, whose office had been critical of alleged political bias in the agency’s management. Comedic actor Fred Willard, whose films included “Best In Show” and “Anchorman,” died at 86.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor-singer Anna Maria Alberghetti is 85. Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is 85. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is 84. Singer Lenny Welch is 83. Actor-singer Lainie Kazan is 79. Actor Gunilla Hutton is 79. Actor Chazz Palminteri is 75. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is 73. Singer-songwriter Brian Eno is 73. Actor Nicholas Hammond (Film: “The Sound of Music”) is 71. Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett is 68. Musician-composer Mike Oldfield is 68. Actor Lee Horsley is 66. TV personality Giselle Fernández is 60. Rapper Grandmaster Melle Mel is 60. Actor Brenda Bakke is 58. Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith is 52. Actor Brad Rowe is 51. Actor David Charvet (shahr-VAY’) is 49. Actor Russell Hornsby is 47. Rock musician Ahmet Zappa is 47. Olympic gold medal gymnast Amy Chow is 43. Actor David Krumholtz is 43. Rock musician David Hartley (The War on Drugs) is 41. Actor Jamie-Lynn Sigler is 40. Actor Alexandra Breckenridge is 39. Rock musician Brad Shultz (Cage the Elephant) is 39. Rock musician Nick Perri is 37. Tennis player Andy Murray is 34.
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