On this day, May 25

1787 The Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.

1921 Madame Marie Curie, famed French scientist and co-discoverer of radium, arrived in Pittsburgh for a visit but was taken ill and confined to the home of Mrs. Henry R. Rea in Sewickley. Although weak from her illness, Curie appeared at Memorial Hall the following day to receive her 59th honorary degree, conferred by Chancellor John Bowman of the University of Pittsburgh.

1946 Transjordan (now Jordan) became a kingdom as it proclaimed its new monarch, Abdullah I.

1966 The creation of UHF television Channel 53 was announced.

1983 Cyrus C. “Cy” Hungerford, whose cartoons brightened newspaper pages for more than 70 years, dies in his 95th year, four days after the death of his wife, Dorothy. Until his retirement in 1977, Hungerford drew three cartoons a week for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

2020 George Floyd, a Black man, was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for about 9½ minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and pleading that he couldn’t breathe. Floyd’s death, captured on video by a bystander, would lead to worldwide protests, some of which turned violent, and a re-examination of racism and policing in the U.S.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays: Actor Ann Robinson, 93. Former White House news secretary Ron Nessen, 88. Actor Sir Ian McKellen, 83. Country singer Jessi Colter, 79. Actor-singer Leslie Uggams, 79. Movie director and Muppeteer Frank Oz, 78. Actor Karen Valentine, 75. Actor Jacki Weaver, 75. Rock singer Klaus Meine (The Scorpions), 74. Actor Patti D’Arbanville, 71. Playwright Eve Ensler, 69. Musician Cindy Cashdollar, 67. Actor Connie Sellecca, 67. Rock singer-musician Paul Weller, 64. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., 62. Actor-comedian Mike Myers, 59. Actor Matt Borlenghi, 55. Actor Joseph Reitman, 54. Rock musician Glen Drover, 53. Actor Anne Heche, 53. Actors Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush (TV: “Little House on the Prairie”), 52. Actor-comedian Jamie Kennedy, 52. Actor Octavia Spencer, 52. Actor Justin Henry, 51. Rapper Daz Dillinger, 49. Actor Molly Sims, 49. Actor Erinn Hayes, 46. Actor Cillian Murphy, 46. Actor Ethan Suplee, 46. Rock musician Todd Whitener, 44. Actor Corbin Allred, 43. Actor-singer Lauren Frost, 37. Actor Ebonee Noel, 32. Musician Guy Lawrence (Disclosure), 31. Olympic gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman, 28.

Thought for today: “A historian is a prophet in reverse.”

— Friedrich von Schlegel, German diplomat and writer (1772-1829)