TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY 122nd day IS WEDNESDAY, of 2018. There are MAY 243 2, days the left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1908, the original version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” with music by Albert Von Tilzer and lyrics by Jack Norworth, was published by Von Tilzer’s York Music Co.
In 1536, Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, was arrested and charged with adultery; she was beheaded 17 days later. In 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Co. was chartered by England’s King Charles II.
In 1863, during the Civil War, Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Va.; he died eight days later.
In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Buck v. Bell, upheld 8-1 a Virginia law allowing the forced sterilization of people to promote the “health of the patient and the welfare of society.”
In 1936, “Peter and the Wolf,” a symphonic tale for children by Sergei Prokofiev, had its world premiere in Moscow.
In 1946, violence erupted during a foiled escape attempt at the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay; the “Battle of Alcatraz” claimed the lives of three inmates and two correctional officers before it was put down two days later.
In 1957, crime boss Frank Costello narrowly survived an attempt on his life in New York; the alleged gunman, Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, was acquitted at trial after Costello refused to identify him as the shooter. Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., died at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.
In 1968, “The Odd Couple,” the movie version of the Neil Simon comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Walter
Matthau, opened in New York.
In 1970, jockey Diane Crump became the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby; she finished in 15th place aboard Fathom. (The winning horse was Dust Commander.) In 1982, the Weather Channel made its debut. In 1994, Nelson Mandela claimed victory in the wake of South Africa’s first democratic elections; President F.W. de Klerk acknowledged defeat. In 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed by elite American forces at his Pakistan compound, then quickly buried at sea after a decade on the run.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is 82. Former International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge is 76. Actress-activist Bianca Jagger and country singer R.C. Bannon are 73. Actor David Suchet is 72. Singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin is 70. Rock singer Lou Gramm (Foreigner) is 68. Actress Christine Baranski is 66. Singer Angela Bofill is 64. Fashion designer Donatella Versace is 63. Actor Brian Tochi is 59. Movie director Stephen Daldry is 58. Actress Elizabeth Berridge, country singer Ty Herndon and actress Mitzi Kapture are 56. Commentator Mika Brzezinski is 51. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is 50. Rock musician Todd Sucherman (Styx) is 49. Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson (AKA The Rock) is 46. Soccer player David Beckham is 43. Rock singer Jeff Gutt (Stone Temple Pilots) is 42. Actress Jenna Von Oy is 41. Actress Ellie Kemper is 38. Actor Robert Buckley is 37. Actor Gaius Charles is 35. Pop singer Lily Rose Cooper and Olympic gold medal figure skater Sarah Hughes is 33. Rock musician Jim Almgren (Carolina Liar) and actor Thomas McDonell are 32. Actress Kay Panabaker is 28. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge is three.