TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Saturday, May 21, the 141st day of 2022. There are 224 days left in the year. On this date in:

1471: King Henry VI of England died in the

Tower of London at age 49.

1542: Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto died while searching for gold along the Mississippi River.

1881: Clara Barton founded the American

Red Cross.

1924: In a case that drew much notoriety, 14-year-old Bobby Franks was murdered in a “thrill killing” carried out by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb (Bobby’s cousin).

1927: Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis monoplane near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 331⁄2 hours.

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.

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.

1955: Chuck Berry recorded his first single,

“Maybellene,” for Chess Records in Chicago.

1972: Michelangelo’s Pieta, on display at the Vatican, was damaged by a hammer-wielding man who shouted that he was Jesus Christ.

1979: Former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the slayings of Mayor George Moscone and 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.)

1991: Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated during national elections by a suicide bomber.

2020: President Donald Trump visited a

Ford Motor Co. plant outside Detroit that had been repurposed to manufacture ventilators; he did not publicly wear a face mask but said he had worn one while out of public view. 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.