TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, MAY 25, the 146th day of 2020. There are 220 days left in the year. This is Memorial Day.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1961, President John F. Kennedy told Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”
In 1787, the Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.
In 1935, Babe Ruth hit his last three career home runs — Nos. 712, 713 and 714 — for the Boston Braves in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. (The Pirates won 11-7.)
In 1959, the U.S. Supreme Court, in State Athletic Commission v. Dorsey, struck down a Louisiana law prohibiting interracial boxing matches. (The case had been brought by Joseph Dorsey Jr., a black professional boxer.)
In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, ordered the Virginia county to reopen its public schools, which officials had closed in an attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka desegregation ruling. In 1992, Jay Leno made his debut as host of NBC’s “Tonight Show,” succeeding Johnny Carson.
In 2005, Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen won Senate confirmation as a federal appeals judge after a ferocious four-year battle.
In 2006, former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted in Houston of conspiracy and fraud for the company’s downfall. (Lay died in July 2006 of heart disease, and his convictions were vacated; Skilling was re-sentenced to 14 years in prison after his original 24-year sentence was overturned.)
In 2008, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander arrived on the Red Planet to begin searching for evidence of water; the spacecraft confirmed the presence of water ice at its landing site.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Ann Robinson is 91. Country singersongwriter Tom T. Hall is 84. Actor Sir Ian McKellen is 81. Country singer Jessi Colter and actress-singer Leslie Uggams are 77. Movie director and Muppeteer Frank Oz is 76. Actress Patti D’Arbanville is 69.Rock singer-musician Paul Weller is 62. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is 60. Actor-comedian Mike Myers is 57. Actor Justin Henry is 49. Rapper Daz Dillinger and actress Molly Sims are 47. Rock musician Todd Whitener is 42. Actor Corbin Allred is 41. Olympic gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman is 26.