On this day, May 26

1858 The United Presbyterian Church of North America was created by the merger of the Associate Reformed and the Associate Presbyterian churches. The merger took place in the old City Hall in Market Square.

1954 Explosions rocked the aircraft carrier USS Bennington off Rhode Island, killing 103 sailors.

1995 Teresa Heinz, the widow of Sen. John Heinz, married U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. in Nantucket, Mass. She intended to remain active in the Pittsburgh area.

2011 Ratko Mladic, the brutal Bosnian Serb general suspected of leading the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys, was arrested after a 16-year manhunt. (Mladic was extradited to face trial in The Hague, Netherlands; he was convicted in 2017 on genocide and war crimes charges and is serving a life sentence.)

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: Sportscaster Brent Musburger, 83. Rock musician Garry Peterson (Guess Who), 77. Singer Stevie Nicks, 74. Actor Pam Grier, 73. Actor Philip Michael Thomas, 73. Country singer Hank Williams Jr., 73. Former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, 73. Actor Margaret Colin, 64. Actor Doug Hutchison, 62. Actor Genie Francis, 60. Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, 60. Singer-actor Lenny Kravitz, 58. Actor Helena Bonham Carter, 56. Distance runner Zola Budd, 56. Rock musician Phillip Rhodes, 54. Actor Joseph Fiennes, 52. Singer Joey Kibble (Take 6), 51. Actor-producer-writer Matt Stone, 51. Singer Lauryn Hill, 47. Contemporary Christian musician Nathan Cochran, 44. Actor Elisabeth Harnois, 43. Actor Hrach Titizian, 43.

Thought for today: “Courage is being scared to death — and saddling up anyway.”

— John Wayne, American actor (born this date in 1907, died 1979)