TODAY IN HISTORY

Monday, May 20, 2019

Today is the 140th day of 2019 and the 62nd day of spring. TODAY’S HISTORY In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which provided Western settlers free land for farms.

In 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received the U.S. patent for blue jeans.

In 1902, Cuba declared independence from the United States.

In 1969, the Battle of Hamburger Hill ended in South Vietnam.

In 2006, Nouri almaliki took office as prime minister of Iraq. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS Honore de Balzac (1799-1850), author; John Stuart Mill (18061873), philosopher; William Fargo (18181881), Wells Fargo cofounder; Jimmy Stewart (1908-1997), actor; Joe Cocker (19442014), singer-songwriter; Cher (1946- ), singer-songwriter/actress; Ted Allen (1965), TV personality; Timothy Olyphant (1968), actor; Tony Stewart (1971- ), race car driver; Busta Rhymes (1972- ), rapper; Matt Czuchry (1977- ), actor; Rachel Platten (1981- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY’S FACT In 1916, the Saturday Evening Post published its first issue featuring a Norman Rockwell painting (“Boy with Baby Carriage”) on the cover. TODAY’S SPORTS In 1989, Sunday Silence beat Easy Goer by a nose in the 114th Preakness Stakes, the horse race's closest margin.

TODAY’S QUOTE

“A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.” -- John Stuart Mill

TODAY’S NUMBER

270 million -- acres of U.S. land given away through the Homestead Act.

TODAY’S MOON Between full moon (May 18) and last quarter moon (May 26).