TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS SATURDAY, MAY 28, the 148th day of 2022. There are 217 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, made up of freed Blacks, left Boston to fight for the Union in the Civil War. In 1892, the Sierra Club was organized in San Francisco. In 1918, American troops fought their first major battle during World War I as they launched an offensive against the German-held French village of Cantigny; the Americans succeeded in capturing the village. In 1934, the Dionne quintuplets — Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne — were born to Elzire Dionne at the family farm in Ontario, Canada. In 1937, Neville Chamberlain became prime minister of Britain. In 1940, during World War II, the Belgian army surrendered to invading German forces. In 1964, the charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization was issued at the start of a meeting of the Palestine National Congress in Jerusalem. In 1987, to the embarrassment of Soviet officials, Mathias Rust, a young West German pilot, landed a private plane in Moscow’s Red Square without authorization. (Rust was freed by the Soviets the following year.) In 1998, comic actor Phil Hartman of “Saturday Night Live” and “NewsRadio” fame was shot to death at his home in Encino, California, by his wife, Brynn, who then killed herself. In 2020, people torched a Minneapolis police station that the department was forced to abandon amid spreading protests over the death of George Floyd. Protesters in New York defied a coronavirus prohibition on public gatherings, clashing with police; and demonstrators blocked traffic and smashed vehicles in downtown Denver before police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Carroll Baker and producer-director Irwin Winkler are 91. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Jerry West is 84. Singers Gladys Knight and Billy Vera are 78. Singer John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 77. Country musician Jerry Douglas is 66. Singer-musician Chris Ballew (Presidents of the USA) is 57. Rapper Chubb Rock and singer Kylie Minogue are 54. Actor Justin Kirk is 53. Actor Jake Johnson is 44. Actors Jesse Bradford and Monica Keena are 43. Actors Alexa Davalos and Megalyn Echikunwoke are 40. Pop singer Colbie Caillat and actor Carey Mulligan are 37. Actor Joseph Cross is 36. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Craig Kimbrel is 34.