TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, MAY 23, the 144th day of 2020. There are 222 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1984, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued a report saying there was “very solid” evidence linking cigarette smoke to lung disease in non-smokers.
In 1814, a third version of Beethoven’s only opera, “Fidelio,” had its world premiere in Vienna. In 1911, the newly completed New York Public Library was dedicated by President William Howard Taft, Gov. John Alden Dix and Mayor William Jay Gaynor.
In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary during World War I.
In 1934, bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death in a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
In 1939, the Navy submarine USS Squalus sank during a test dive off the New England coast. Thirty-two crew members and one civilian were rescued, but 26 others died; the sub was salvaged and re-commissioned the USS Sailfish.
In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces bogged down in Anzio began a major breakout offensive.
In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler committed suicide by biting into a cyanide capsule while in British custody in Luneburg, Germany.
In 1967, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, an action that helped precipitate war between Israel and its Arab neighbors the following month.
In 1977, Moluccan extremists seized a train and a primary school in the Netherlands; the hostage drama ended June 11 as Dutch marines stormed the train, resulting in the deaths of six out of nine hijackers and two hostages, while the school siege ended peacefully.
In 1984, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” starring Harrison Ford, was released by Paramount Pictures.
In 2001, the Senate passed an 11-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut bill.
In 2007, President George W. Bush, speaking at the U.S. Coast Guard commencement, portrayed the Iraq war as a battle between the U.S. and al-Qaida, and said Osama bin Laden was setting up a terrorist cell in Iraq to strike targets in America.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Barbara Barrie is 89. Actress Joan Collins is 87. Actor Charles Kimbrough is 84. International Tennis Hall-of-Famer John Newcombe is 76. Actress Lauren Chapin and country singer Misty Morgan are 75. Country singer Judy Rodman and chess grandmaster Anatoly Karpov are 69. Boxing Hall-of-Famer Marvelous Marvin Hagler is 66. Singer Luka Bloom is 65. Former baseball manager Buck Showalter is 64. Actor-comedian-game show host Drew Carey, actress Lea DeLaria, country singer Shelly West and author Mitch Albom are 62. Actor Linden Ashby is 60. Actress-model Karen Duffy is 59. Actress Melissa McBride is 55. Rock musician Phil Selway (Radiohead) is 53. Actress Laurel Holloman is 52. Rock musician Matt Flynn (Maroon 5) is 50. Singer Lorenzo, country singer Brian McComas and actor John Pollono are 48. Singer Maxwell is 47. Singer Jewel and game show contestant Ken Jennings are 46. Actor LaMonica Garrett is 45. Actors D.J. Cotrona and Lane Garrison are 40. Actor-comedian Tim Robinson is 39. Actor Adam Wylie is 36. Golfer Morgan Pressel is 32.