TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, MAY 7, the 128th day of 2020. There are 238 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1789, America’s first inaugural ball was held in New York in honor of President George Washington, who had taken the oath of office a week earlier.
In 1889, the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore opened its doors.
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 1928, the minimum voting age for British women was lowered from 30 to 21 — the same age as men.
In 1939, Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.
In 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, ending its role in World War II.
In 1946, Sony Corp., which had its beginnings as the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corp., was founded in the Japanese capital by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka.
In 1954, the 55-day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.
In 1963, the United States launched the Telstar 2 communications satellite.
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 1992, the latest addition to America’s space shuttle fleet, Endeavour, went on its first flight.
In 1998, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz agreed to buy Chrysler Corp. for more than $37 billion. Londoners voted overwhelmingly to elect their own mayor for the first time in history. (In May 2000, Ken Livingstone was elected.)
In 2004, Army Pfc. Lynndie England, shown in photographs smiling and pointing at naked Iraqi prisoners, was charged by the military with assaulting the detainees and conspiring to mistreat them. (England was later convicted of conspiracy, mistreating detainees and committing an indecent act, and sentenced to 36 months; she served half that term.)
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Rhythmand-blues singer Thelma Houston is 77. Actress Robin Strasser is 75. Singer-songwriter Bill Danoff and rock musician Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead) are 74. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is 73. Rock musician Prairie Prince is 70. Movie writer-director Amy Heckerling is 68. Actor Michael E. Knight is 61. Rock musician Phil Campbell (Motorhead) is 59. Country musician Rick Schell is 57. Rock singer-musician Chris O’Connor (Primitive Radio Gods) is 55. Actress Traci Lords is 52. Actor Morocco Omari is 50. Singer Eagle-Eye Cherry is 49. Actor Breckin Meyer is 46. Rock musician Matt Helders (Arctic Monkeys) is 34. Actress-comedian Aidy Bryant is 33. Actor Taylor Abrahamse is 29. Actor Alexander Ludwig is 28. Actress Dylan Gelula is 26.