Today In History

Today is Tuesday, May 15, the 135th day of 2018. There are 230 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1918: U.S. airmail began service between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York.

ON THIS DATE

› 1776: Virginia authorized its delegation to the Continental Congress to support independence from Britain.

› 1862: President Abraham Lincoln signed an act establishing the Department of Agriculture.

› 1928: The Walt Disney cartoon character Mickey Mouse made his debut in the silent animated short “Plane Crazy.”

› 1930: Registered nurse Ellen Church, the first airline stewardess, went on duty aboard an Oakland-to-Chicago flight operated by Boeing Air Transport, a forerunner of United Airlines.

› 1948: Hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

› 1972: Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot and left paralyzed while campaigning for president in Laurel, Maryland, by Arthur H. Bremer, who served 35 years for attempted murder.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actress-singer Anna Maria Alberghetti is 82. Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is 82. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is 81. Singer Trini Lopez is 81. Singer Lenny Welch is 80. Actress-singer Lainie Kazan is 76. Actress Gunilla Hutton is 76. Country singer K.T. Oslin is 76. Actor Chazz Palminteri is 72.Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is 70. Singer-songwriter Brian Eno is 70. Actor Nicholas Hammond (Film: “The Sound of Music”) is 68. Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett is 65. Musician-composer Mike Oldfield is 65. TV personality Giselle Fernandez is 57. Actress Brenda Bakke is 55. Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith is 49. Actor Brad Rowe is 48. Actor David Charvet is 46. Actor Russell Hornsby is 44. Rock musician Ahmet Zappa is 44. Rock musician David Hartley (The War on Drugs) is 38. Actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler is 37. Actress Alexandra Breckenridge is 36. Rock musician Brad Shultz (Cage the Elephant) is 36. Rock musician Nick Perri is 34. Tennis player Andy Murray is 31.