TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, May 30, the 151st day of 2020. There are 215 days left in the year.
ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY
On May 30, 1989, student protesters in Beijing erected a “Goddess of Democracy” statue in Tiananmen Square. (The statue was destroyed in the Chinese government’s crackdown.)
1431 — Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.
1883 — Twelve people were trampled to death in a stampede sparked by a rumor that the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge was in danger of collapsing.
1911 — The first Indy 500 took place at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway; the winner was Ray Harroun, who drove a Marmon Wasp for more than six-and-a-half hours at an average speed of 74.6 mph and collected a prize of $10,000.
1912 — Aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright, 45, died in Dayton, Ohio, of typhoid fever more than eight years after he and his brother, Orville, launched their first airplane.
1922 — The Lincoln Memorial in Washington was dedicated in a ceremony attended by President Warren G. Harding, Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Robert Todd Lincoln.
1935 — Babe Ruth played in his last major league baseball game for the Boston Braves, leaving after the first inning of the first game of a double-header against the Philadelphia Phillies, who won both games (Ruth announced his retirement three days later).
1972 — Three members of the Japanese Red Army opened fire at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 26 people. Two attackers died; the third was captured.
1996 — Britain’s Prince Andrew and the former Sarah Ferguson were granted an uncontested decree ending their 10-year marriage.
Ten years ago — Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, was seen leaving a hotel room in Lima, Peru, where the body of 21-year-old Stephany Flores was found three days later. (Van der
Sloot later confessed to murdering Flores, and is serving a 28-year prison sentence.)
Five years ago — Vice President Joe Biden’s son, former Delaware attorney general Beau Biden, died at age 46 of brain cancer.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actress Ruta Lee is 85. Actor Keir Dullea is 84. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers is 77. Rock musician Lenny Davidson (The Dave Clark Five) is 76. Actor Stephen Tobolowsky is 69. Actor Colm Meaney is 67. Actor Ted McGinley is 62. Actor Ralph Carter is 59. Actress Tonya Pinkins is 58. Country singer Wynonna Judd is 56. Rock musician Tom Morello (Audioslave; Rage Against The Machine) is 56. Actor Mark Sheppard is 56. Movie director Antoine Fuqua is 55. Actor John Ross Bowie is 49. Rock musician Patrick Dahlheimer (Live) is 49. Actress Idina Menzel is 49. Actor Trey Parker is 48. Rapper Cee Lo Green is 45. Rapper Remy Ma is 40. Actor Blake Bashoff is 39. Christian rock musician James Smith (Underoath) is 38. Actress Javicia Leslie is 33. Actor Jake Short is 23.
Actor Sean Giambrone is 21. Actor Jared Gilmore is 20.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
“There are two statements about human beings that are true: that all human beings are alike, and that all are different. On those two facts all human wisdom is founded.” — Mark Van Doren, American poet (1894-1972).