TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Sunday, May 16, the 136th day of 2021.

Today’s highlight in history

On May 16, 1939, the federal government began its first food stamp program in Rochester, N.Y.

On this date

In 1770, Marie Antoinette, 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.

In 1868, at the U.S. Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, 35 out of 54 senators voted to find Johnson guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors” over his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, falling one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict; the trial ended 10 days later after two other articles of impeachment went down to defeat as well.

In 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising came to an end as German forces crushed the Jewish resistance and blew up the Great Synagogue.

In 1960, the first working laser was demonstrated in Malibu by physicist Theodore Maiman.

In 1966, China launched the Cultural Revolution, a radical as well as deadly reform movement aimed at purging the country of “counter-revolutionaries.”

In 1975, Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

In 1984, comedian Andy Kaufman died at age 35.

In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court, in California v. Greenwood, ruled that police could search discarded garbage without a search warrant. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop released a report declaring nicotine was addictive in ways similar to heroin and cocaine.

In 1990, entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. died at age 64 and “Muppets” creator Jim Henson died at age 53.

In 1991, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the United States Congress as she lauded U.s.-british cooperation in the Persian Gulf War.

In 2006, the Pentagon released the first video images of American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the military headquarters and killing 189 people on 9/11.

Five years ago: The International Space Station reached the orbital milestone of 100,000 laps around Earth, akin to traveling more than 2.6 billion miles in 17 1⁄2 years.

Today’s birthdays

Former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats is 78. Actor Danny Trejo is 77. Actor Bill Smitrovich is 74. Actor Pierce Brosnan is 68. Actor Debra Winger is 66. Former gymnast Olga Korbut is 65. Actor Mare Winningham is 62. Musician Krist Novoselic is 56. Singer Janet Jackson is 55. Singer Ralph Tresvant (New Edition) is 53. Actor David Boreanaz is 52. Political commentator Tucker Carlson is 52. Actor Tracey Gold is 52. Actor Tori Spelling is 48. Actor Melanie Lynskey is 44. Actor Megan Fox is 35. Actor Jermaine Fowler is 33. Actor Thomas Brodie-sangster is 31. Figure skater Ashley Wagner is 30.