TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS TUESDAY, MAY 15, the 135th day of 2018. There are 230 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date 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 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots, married her third husband, James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell, who had been implicated in (but acquitted of) the death of Mary’s second husband, Lord Darnley.
In 1776, Virginia authorized its delegation to the Continental Congress to support independence from Britain.
In 1918, U.S. airmail began service between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York.
In 1928, the Walt Disney cartoon character Mickey Mouse made his debut in the silent animated short “Plane Crazy.”
In 1948, hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
In 1958, the MGM movie musical “Gigi,” starring Leslie Caron as a young French courtesan-in-training, was released.
In 1972, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot and left paralyzed while campaigning for president in Laurel, Md., 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.
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 1998, hundreds of looters died inside a burning shopping mall in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:
Actresssinger Anna Maria Alberghetti and counterculture icon Wavy Gravy are 82. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and singer Trini Lopez are 81. Actress-singer Lainie Kazan, actress Gunilla Hutton and country singer K.T. Oslin are 76. Actor Chazz Palminteri is 72. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and singer-songwriter Brian Eno are 70. Baseball Hall-of-Famer George Brett and musician-composer Mike Oldfield are 65. Football Hall-of-Famer Emmitt Smith is 49. Olympic gold medal gymnast Amy Chow and actor David Krumholtz are 40. Actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler is 37. Tennis player Andy Murray is 31.