Today in history
On May 24, 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message “What hath God wrought” from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America’s first telegraph line.
In 1775, John Hancock was unanimously elected President of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, succeeding Peyton Randolph.
In 1935, the first major league baseball game to be played at night took place at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field as the Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1.
In 1941, the German battleship Bismarck sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood in the North Atlantic, killing all but three of the 1,418 men on board.
In 1961, a group of Freedom Riders was arrested after arriving at a bus terminal in Jackson, Miss., charged with breaching the peace for entering white-designated areas. (They ended up serving 60 days in jail.)
In 1962, astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Aurora 7.
In 1976, Britain and France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde supersonic transport service to Washington.
In 1991, the feminist film drama “Thelma & Louise,” starring Susan Sarandon (as Louise) and Geena Davis (as Thelma), was released by MGM.
In 1994, four Islamic fundamentalists convicted of bombing New York’s World Trade Center in 1993 were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.
In 2001, 23 people were killed when the floor of a Jerusalem wedding hall collapsed beneath dancing guests, sending them plunging several stories into the basement.
Ten years ago: Coast Guard Commandant
Thad Allen, the Obama administration’s point man on the BP oil spill, rejected the idea of taking over the crisis, saying the government had neither BP’s expertise nor its deep-sea equipment. The Supreme Court rejected the NFL’s request for broad antitrust law protection, saying that it had to be considered 32 separate teams — not one big business — when selling branded items like jerseys and caps. Lukas Lacko of Slovakia beat American Michael Yani in a 71-game match that tied for the most games in a French Open singles match since tiebreakers were instituted in 1973. (Lacko won 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 12-10 in a first-round match that began on a Sunday and finished after midnight.)
Five years ago: Juan Pablo Montoya sliced his way from the back to the front twice to win his second Indianapolis 500.
One year ago: A Wisconsin man, Jake Patterson, was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents; the sentencing came after the girl told the judge that she wanted him “locked up forever.” (Patterson, who had held the girl under a bed in his remote cabin for 88 days before she made a daring escape, had pleaded guilty to intentional homicide and kidnapping.) Theresa May ended her failed three-year quest to lead Britain out of the European Union, announcing that she would step down as Conservative Party leader. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed a bill banning abortions on or beyond the eighth week of pregnancy without exceptions for cases of rape or incest, making it among the most restrictive abortion policies in the nation. (The law was blocked from taking effect after a court challenge.) Amanda Eller, a Hawaii woman, was found injured but alive in a forest on Maui after being missing for more than two weeks.