On this day, May 18

1872 A report indicated that Pittsburgh oil refineries were using about 10,000 barrels of crude oil daily from the Oil Creek

and Allegheny River fields.

1896 The U.S. Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, endorsed “separate but equal” racial segregation, a concept renounced 58 years later by Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

1920 Pope John Paul II was born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland.

1950 Pittsburgh Mayor David L. Lawrence and Ben Moreell, president of Jones and Laughlin Steel Co., jointly broke ground for the start of J&L’s $60 million open-hearth plant at its South Side works.

1986 Two parachutists, Don Sulkowski and Alan Danko, jumped off the roof of the 64-story U.S. Steel building and landed safely on the parking lot of the Civic Arena. They were immediately arrested.

2014 AT&T Inc. agreed to buy satellite TV provider DirecTV for $48.5 billion, or $95 per share. The deal was completed in 2015. Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays:

Actor Bill Macy, 97. Actress Priscilla Pointer, 95. Hall of Fame sportscaster Jack Whitaker, 95. Actor Robert Morse, 88. Actor Dwayne Hickman,

85. Baseball Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, 82. Actress Candice Azzara, 78. Bluegrass singer-musician Rodney Dillard (The Dillards), 77. Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, 73. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M.,

71. Country singer Joe Bonsall (The Oak Ridge Boys), 71. Rock musician Rick Wakeman (Yes), 70. Rock singer Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), 69. Actor James Stephens, 68. Country singer George Strait, 67. Actor Chow Yun-Fat, 64. International Tennis Hall of Famer Yannick Noah,

59. Rock singer-musician Page Hamilton,

59. Contemporary Christian musician Barry Graul (MercyMe), 58. Contemporary Christian singer Michael Tait, 53. Singeractress Martika, 50. Comedian-writer Tina Fey, 49. Rock singer Jack Johnson, 44. Country singer David Nail, 40. Rhythm and blues singer Darryl Allen (Mista), 39. Actor Matt Long, 39. Actor Allen Leech, 38. Christian singer Francesca Battistelli, 34. Actor Spencer Breslin, 27. Actress Violett Beane, 23. Actress Hala Finley, 10.

Thought for today:

“A conference is a gathering of people who singly can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done.” — Fred Allen, comedian (1894-1956)