TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, MAY 14, the 135th day of 2020. There are 231 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1940, the Netherlands surrendered to invading German forces during World War II.
In 1796, English physician Edward Jenner inoculated 8-year-old James Phipps against smallpox by using cowpox matter.
In 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory, as well as the Pacific Northwest, left camp near present-day Hartford, Illinois.
In 1863, Union forces defeated the Confederates in the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi.
In 1948, according to the current-era calendar, the independent state of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv by David Ben-Gurion, who became its first prime minister; U.S. President Harry S. Truman immediately recognized the new nation.
In 1955, representatives from eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland. (The Pact was dissolved in 1991.)
In 1961, Freedom Riders were attacked by violent mobs in Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama.
In 1968, John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a news conference in New York to announce the creation of the Beatles’ latest business venture, Apple Corps.
In 1998, singer-actor Frank Sinatra died at a Los Angeles hospital at age 82. The hit sitcom “Seinfeld” aired its final episode after nine years on NBC.
In 2003, more than 100 immigrants were abandoned in a locked trailer at a Texas truck stop; 19 of them died. (Truck driver Tyrone Williams was later sentenced to nearly 34 years in prison for his role in the deaths; of the 13 others indicted in the case, two had charges against them dismissed, one who cooperated with prosecutors was sentenced to the three days in jail and the others were given sentences ranging from 14 months to 23 years.)
In 2008, the Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species because of the loss of Arctic sea ice.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Photo-realist artist Richard Estes is 88. Movie producer George Lucas and guitarist Gene Cornish are 76. Actress Meg Foster is 72. Movie director Robert Zemeckis is 69. Rock singer David Byrne is 68. Actor Tim Roth is 59. Rock singer Ian Astbury (The Cult), rock musician C.C. DeVille and actor Danny Huston are 58. Rock musician Mike Inez (Alice In Chains), Actress Cate Blanchett and singer Danny Wood (New Kids on the Block) are 51. Movie writer-director Sofia Coppola is 49. Singers Natalie Appleton (All Saints) and Shanice are 47. Rock musician Henry Garza (Los Lonely Boys) and alt-country musician-singer Ketch Secor are 42. Rock singer-musician Dan Auerbach is 41. Actress Amber Tamblyn is 37. Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is 36. Actress Lina Esco is 35. Retired NFL player Rob Gronkowski is 31. Actress Miranda Cosgrove is 27.