TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, MAY 17, the 138th day of 2020. There are 228 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1792, the New York Stock Exchange had its beginnings as a group of brokers met under a tree on Wall Street and signed the Buttonwood Agreement.
In 1510, early Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli died in Florence, Italy; he was probably in his mid 60s.
In 1536, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared the marriage of England’s King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn invalid after she failed to produce a male heir; Boleyn, already condemned for high treason, was executed two days later.
In 1954, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, which held that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, and therefore unconstitutional.
In 1973, a special committee convened by the U.S. Senate began its televised hearings into the Watergate scandal.
In 1980, rioting that claimed 18 lives erupted in Miami’s Liberty City after an all-white jury in Tampa acquitted four former Miami police officers of fatally beating black insurance executive Arthur McDuffie.
In 1987, 37 American sailors were killed when an Iraqi warplane attacked the U.S. Navy frigate Stark in the Persian Gulf. (Iraq apologized for the attack, calling it a mistake, and paid more than $27 million in compensation.)
In 1995, Jacques Chirac was sworn in as president of France, ending the 14-year tenure of Socialist François Mitterrand.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. (“Megan’s Law,” as it’s known, was named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in 1994.)
In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriages.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Peter Gerety is 80. Singer Taj Mahal is 78. Rock musician Bill Bruford is 71. Boxing Hall-of-Famer Sugar Ray Leonard is 64. Sports announcer Jim Nantz is 61. Producer Simon Fuller (TV: “American Idol”) is 60. Singer Enya is 59. Actorcomedian Craig Ferguson is 58. Rock singer-musician Page McConnell is 57. Singer-musician Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), actress Paige Turco and rhythm-and-blues musician O’Dell (Mint Condition) are 55. Actor Hill Harper is 54. TV personality/interior designer Thom Filicia is 51. Actress Sasha Alexander and rock singermusician Josh Homme are 47. Rock singer Andrea Corr (The Corrs) and actor Sendhil Ramamurthy are 46. Actress Kat Foster is 42. Actress Ayda Field is 41. Folk-rock singer/songwriter Passenger is 36. Dancer-choreographer Derek Hough is 35. Actor Tahj Mowry is 34. Actress Nikki Reed is 32. Singer Kree Harrison (TV: “American Idol”) and actress Leven Rambin are 30. Actor Justin Martin is 26.