DAY IN HISTORY

FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022

Today is the 140th day of 2022 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 al-maliki took office as prime minister of Iraq.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Honore de Balzac (17991850), author; John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), philosopher; William Fargo (1818-1881), Wells Fargo co-founder; Jimmy Stewart (1908-1997), actor; Joe Cocker (1944-2014), 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 party of order or stability, and a party of progress or reform, are both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life.” — 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 15) and last quarter moon (May 22).