DAY IN HISTORY

SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2023

Today is the 140th day of 2023 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 by Andrews Mcmeel Almanac closest margin.

TODAY’S QUOTE:

“Every man who says frankly and fully what he thinks is so far doing a public service. We should be grateful to him for attacking most unsparingly our most cherished opinions.” -- John Stuart Mill, “On Liberty”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 270 million -- acres of U.S. land given away through the Homestead Act.

TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (May 19) and first quarter moon (May 27).