SUNDAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Sunday, May 21, the 141st day of 2017. There are 224 days left in the year.

Highlight in History:

On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis monoplane near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Oceani n 33 1/2 hours.

On this date:

In 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto died while searching for gold along the Mississippi River.

In1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.

In 1917, the Great Atlanta Fire broke out, burning 300 acres, destroying nearly 2,000 buildings and displacing some 10,000 residents.

In 1924, in a case that drew much notoriety, 14-year-old Bobby Franks was murdered in a “thrill killing” carried out by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb (Bobby’s cousin).

In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean as she landed in Northern Ireland, about 15 hours after leaving Newfoundland.

In 1941, a German U-boat sank the American merchant steamship SS Robin Moor in the South Atlantic after the ship’s passengers and crew were allowed to board life boats.

In 1972, Michelangelo’s Pieta, on display at the Vatican, was damaged by a hammer-wielding man who shouted he was Jesus Christ.

In 1982, during the Falklands War, British amphibious forces landed on the beach at San Carlos Bay.

Tenyearsago: The Supreme Court ruled that parents didn’t need to hire a lawyer in order to sue public school districts over their children’s special education needs.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama and other world leaders meeting in Chicago locked in place an Afghanistan exit path that would keep their troops fighting there for two more years.

One year ago: The U.S. conducted a drone strike in Afghanistan that killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Leo Sayer is 69. Actress Carol Potter is 69. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., is 66. Actor Mr. T is 65. Actor Judge Reinhold is 60. Actor-director Nick Cassavetes is 58. Actress Fairuza Balk is 43. Actor David Ajala is 31. Actress Ashlie Brillault is 30. Country singer Cody Johnson is 30.

Thought for Today: “Our present addiction to pollsters and forecasters is a symptom of our chronic uncertainty about the future.... We watch our experts read the entrails of statistical tables and graphs the way the ancients watched their soothsayers read the entrails of a chicken.” — Eric Hoffer, American philosopher (1902-1983).