TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS TUESDAY, MAY 17, the 137th day of 2022. There are 228 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date 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 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 1940, the Nazis occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War II. In 1973, a special committee convened by the U.S. Senate began its televised hearings into the Watergate scandal. 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. In 2017, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller a special counsel to oversee a federal investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the 2016 Donald Trump campaign. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Boxing Hallof-Famer Sugar Ray Leonard is 66. Producer Simon Fuller (TV: “American Idol”) is 62. Singer Enya is 61. Actor-comedian Craig Ferguson is 60. Singer-musician Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), actor Paige Turco and R&B musician O’Dell (Mint Condition) are 57. Actor Nikki Reed is 34. Singer Kree Harrison (TV: “American Idol”) and actor Leven Rambin are 32. Actor Samantha Browne-Walters is 31.