TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, May 21.
Today’s highlight: On May 21, 1881,
Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.
On this date:
In 1471, King Henry VI of England died in the Tower of London at age 49.
In 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto died while searching for gold along the Mississippi River.
In 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis monoplane near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33½ hours.
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 lifeboats.
In 1955, Chuck Berry recorded his first single, “Maybellene,” for Chess Records in Chicago.
In 1979, former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the slayings of Mayor George Moscone (mahs-KOH’-nee) and openly gay Supervisor Harvey Milk; outrage over the verdict sparked rioting. (White was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison; he ended up serving five years and took his own life in 1985.)
In 1991, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated during national elections by a suicide bomber.
In 2020, A Michigan judge sided with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a challenge by Republican lawmakers to her authority to order sweeping restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak.
Ten 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. Former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi (dah-ROON’ RAH’-vee), who used a webcam to spy on his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi, who then committed suicide, was sentenced to 30 days in jail (he served 20). A Yemeni man detonated a bomb during a rehearsal for a military parade, killing 96 fellow soldiers; al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen claimed responsibility.
Five years ago: President Donald Trump, visiting Riyadh, implored Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries to extinguish “Islamic extremism” emanating from the region. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus received its final standing ovation as it performed its last show at the Nassau County Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, ending a 146-year run.
One year ago: Authorities said the two Bureau of Prisons workers who were supposed to be guarding Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself in a New York jail had admitted that they falsified records, but that they would be spared prison time under a deal with federal prosecutors; the workers were accused of sleeping and browsing the internet instead of monitoring Epstein.