Today in history

Today is Monday, May 28, the 148th day of 2018. There are 217 days left in the year. This is the Memorial Day observance.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On May 28, 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 (kahn-tee-NYEE’); the Americans succeeded in capturing the village. On this date:

In 1533, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declared the marriage of England’s King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn valid.

In 1892, the Sierra Club was organized in San Francisco.

In 1912, the Senate Commerce Committee issued its report on the Titanic disaster that cited a “state of absolute unpreparedness,” improperly tested safety equipment and an “indifference to danger” as some of the causes of an “unnecessary tragedy.”

In 1929, the first allcolor talking picture, “On with the Show!” produced by Warner Bros., opened in New York.

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, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed a button in Washington signaling that vehicular traffic could begin crossing the just-opened Golden Gate Bridge in California. Neville Chamberlain became prime minister of Britain. In Nazi Germany, Volkswagen was founded by the German Labour Front.

In 1940, during World War II, the Belgian army surrendered to invading German forces.

In 1957, National League owners gave permission for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to move to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

In 1968, “Creedence Clearwater Revival,” the band’s debut album, was released by Fantasy Records.

In 1977, 165 people were killed when fire raced through the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky.

In 1987, to the embarrassment of Soviet officials, Mathias Rust (mah-TEE’uhs 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, 49, 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.

Ten years ago: The White House reacted angrily to a highly critical memoir by President George W. Bush’s former press secretary, Scott McClellan, who wrote that Bush had relied on an aggressive “political propaganda campaign” instead of the truth to sell the Iraq war. Nepal’s lawmakers abolished the monarchy and declared the country a republic, ending 239 years of royal rule.

Five years ago: Calling it perhaps the biggest moneylaundering scheme in U.S. history, federal prosecutors charged seven people with running what amounted to an online, underworld bank, saying that Liberty Reserve handled $6 billion for drug dealers, child pornographers, identity thieves and other criminals around the globe.

One year ago: A series of shootings in rural Mississippi claimed the lives of eight people at three separate homes; a suspect faces one count of capital murder in the death of Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy William Durr and seven counts of first-degree murder. The Cannes Film Festival awarded its coveted Palme d’Or award to Ruben Ostlund’s Swedish comedy “The Square.” Takuma Sato won the Indianapolis 500 to give owner Michael Andretti a second consecutive victory.