history at a glance

TODAY is Sunday May 16 the 136th day of the year. There are 229 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1929 – In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards are awarded.

1961 – Park Chung-hee leads a coup d’état to overthrow the Second Republic of South Korea.

1966 – The Communist Party of China issues the “May 16 Notice”, marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

1975 – Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

1983 – Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement rebels against the Sudanese government.

1988 – A report by the Surgeon General of the United States C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.

1991 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress.

She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.

1997 – Mobutu Sese Seko, the President of Zaire, flees the country.

2003 – In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.

2005 – Kuwait permits women’s suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote.

2007 – Nicolas Sarkozy takes office as President of France.

2011 – STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6), launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 25th and final

flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour.

2014 – Twelve people are killed in two explosions in the Gikomba market area of the Kenyan capital of

Nairobi.

2015 – A passenger train collides with a tractor and trailer on a level crossing at Ibbenbüren, Germany. Two people are killed and 40 are injured.