Today in History
Today is Sunday, May 30, the 150th day of 2021. There are 215 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen (roo-AHN’), France.
On this date:
In 1883, 12 people were trampled to death in a stampede sparked by a rumor that the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge was in danger of collapsing.
In 1922, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in a ceremony attended by President Warren G. Harding, Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Robert Todd Lincoln.
In 1937, ten people were killed when police fired on steelworkers demonstrating near the Republic Steel plant in South Chicago.
In 1943, during World War II, American troops secured the Aleutian island of Attu from Japanese forces.
In 1971, the American space probe Mariner 9 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on a journey to Mars.
In 1972, three members of the Japanese Red Army opened fire at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 26 people. Two attackers died; the third was captured.
In 1989, student protesters in Beijing erected a “Goddess of Democracy” statue in Tiananmen Square (the statue was destroyed in the Chinese government’s crackdown).
In 1994, Mormon Church president Ezra Taft Benson died in Salt Lake City at age 94.
In 1996, Britain’s Prince Andrew and the former Sarah Ferguson were granted an uncontested decree ending their 10-year marriage.
In 2002, a solemn, wordless ceremony marked the end of the agonizing cleanup at ground zero in New York, 8 1/2 months after 9/11.
In 2006, the FBI said it had found no trace of Jimmy Hoffa after digging up a suburban Detroit horse farm.
In 2015, Vice President Joe Biden’s son, former Delaware attorney general Beau Biden, died at age 46 of brain cancer.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama selected Army Gen. Martin Dempsey to be the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. Germany announced plans to abandon nuclear power over the next 11 years, outlining an ambitious strategy in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster to replace atomic power with renewable energy sources.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama challenged Americans on Memorial Day to fill the silence from those who died serving their country with love and support for families of the fallen, “not just with words but with our actions.”
One year ago: Tense protests over the death of George Floyd and other police killings of Black people grew across the country; racially diverse crowds held mostly peaceful demonstrations in dozens of cities, though many later descended into violence, with police cars set ablaze. The National Guard was deployed outside the White House, where crowds taunted law enforcement officers, who fired pepper spray. A fourth day of violence in Los Angeles prompted the mayor to impose a citywide curfew and call in the National Guard. Street protests in New York City over police killings spiraled into the city’s worst day of unrest in decades, as fires burned, windows were smashed and confrontations between demonstrators and officers flared. A rocket ship built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX took off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral to carry two Americans to the International Space Station; it ushered in a new era of commercial space travel.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Ruta Lee is 86. Actor Keir Dullea is 85. Rock musician Lenny Davidson (The Dave Clark Five) is 77. Actor Stephen Tobolowsky is 70. Actor Colm Meaney is 68. Actor Ted McGinley is 63 Actor Ralph Carter is 60. Actor Tonya Pinkins is 59. Country singer Wynonna Judd is 57. Rock musician Tom Morello (Audioslave; Rage Against The Machine) is 57. Actor Mark Sheppard is 57. Movie director Antoine Fuqua is 56. Actor John Ross Bowie is 50. Rock musician Patrick Dahlheimer (Live) is 50. Actor Idina Menzel is 50. Rapper Cee Lo Green is 46. Rapper Remy Ma is 41. Actor Blake Bashoff is 40. Christian rock musician James Smith (Underoath) is 39. Actor Javicia Leslie is 34. Actor Jake Short is 24. Actor Sean Giambrone is 22. Actor Jared Gilmore is 21.
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