TODAY IN HISTORY
Also 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 1977,
the first “Star Wars” film (later retitled “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”) opened in theaters.
In 2020,
a white woman, Amy Cooper, called 911 to claim she was being threatened by “an African American man,” Christian Cooper, who had confronted her for walking her dog without a leash in New York's Central Park. (After a video of the confrontation was widely circulated, Amy Cooper lost her job and was charged with filing a false police report; the charge was dismissed after she completed a counseling program.)
Ten years ago:
Making his first official trip to sub-Saharan Africa, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry demanded that Nigeria respect human rights as it cracked down on Islamist extremists and pledged to work hard in the coming months to ease tensions between Sudan and South Sudan.
Five years ago:
Harvey Weinstein was charged in New York with rape and another sex felony in the first prosecution to result from the wave of allegations against him; the once-powerful movie producer turned himself in to face the charges and was released on $1 million bail after a court appearance.
One year ago:
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, the gunman who massacred 19 children and two teachers at an Uvalde elementary school a day earlier, warned in online messages sent minutes before the attack that he had shot his grandmother and was going to shoot up a school. Ramos was killed by police.