TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Thursday, May 25, the 146th day of 2024. There are 220 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a Black man, was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for about 9 1/2 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 reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S.

On this date:

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

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy told Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

In 1968, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis was dedicated by Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Interior Secretary Stewart Udall. In 1977, the first “Star Wars” film was released by 20th Century Fox.

In 1979, 273 people died when an American Airlines DC-10 crashed just after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

In 2008, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander arrived on the Red Planet to begin searching for evidence of water; the spacecraft confirmed the presence of water ice at its landing site.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Ann Robinson is 95. Actor Sir Ian McKellen is 85. Country singer Jessi Colter is 81. Actorsinger Leslie Uggams is 81. Movie director and Muppeteer Frank Oz is 80. Actor Karen Valentine is 77. Actor Patti D’Arbanville is 73. Playwright Eve Ensler is 71. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is 64. Actor-comedian Mike Myers is 61. Actor Octavia Spencer is 54. Actor Cillian Murphy is 48.