TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, MAY 7, the 127th day of 2018. There are 238 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner RMS Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans, out of the nearly 2,000 on board.
In A.D. 558, the original main dome of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople collapsed during an earthquake; Emperor Justinian I ordered the structure rebuilt.
In 1763, Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa Indians, attempted to lead a sneak attack on British-held Fort Detroit, but was foiled because the British had been tipped off in advance.
In 1824, Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” had its premiere in Vienna. In 1939, Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.
In 1942, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright went on a Manila radio station to announce the Allies’ surrender of the Philippines to Japanese forces during World War II.
In 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, ending its role in World War II.
In 1954, the 55-day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.
In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford formally declared an end to the Vietnam era. In Ho Chi Minh City — formerly Saigon — the Viet Cong celebrated its takeover.
In 1984, a $180 million out-of-court settlement was announced in the Agent Orange class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans who said they’d been injured by exposure to the defoliant.
In 1998, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz agreed to buy Chrysler Corp. for more than $37 billion.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Rhythmand-blues singer Thelma Houston is 75. Actress Robin Strasser is 73. Singer-songwriter Bill Danoff and rock musician Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead) are 72. Rock musician Prairie Prince is 68. Movie writer-director Amy Heckerling is 66. Actor Michael E. Knight is 59. Rock musician Phil Campbell (Motorhead) is 57. Rock singer-musician Chris O’Connor (Primitive Radio Gods) is 53. Actress Traci Lords is 50. Actor Morocco Omari is 48. Singer Eagle-Eye Cherry is 47. Actor Breckin Meyer is 44. Rock musician Matt Helders (Arctic Monkeys) is 32. Actress-comedian Aidy Bryant is 31. Actress Dylan Gelula is 24.