TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Sunday, May 8, the 128th day of 2022. There are 237 days left in the year. This is Mother’s Day.

Today’s highlight

On May 8, 1996, South Africa took another step from apartheid to democracy by adopting a constitution that guaranteed equal rights for Black and White people.

On this date

In 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River.

In 1846, the first major battle of the Mexican-american War was fought at Palo Alto, Texas; U.S. forces led by Gen. Zachary Taylor were able to beat back Mexican forces.

In 1915, Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced on radio that Nazi Germany’s forces had surrendered, and that “the flags of freedom fly all over Europe.”

In 1972, President Richard Nixon announced that he had ordered the mining of Haiphong Harbor during the Vietnam War.

In 1973, militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered.

In 1978, David R. Berkowitz pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn courtroom to murder, attempted murder and assault in connection with the “Son of Sam” shootings that claimed six lives and terrified New Yorkers. (Berkowitz was sentenced to six consecutive life prison terms.)

In 1984, the Soviet Union announced it would boycott the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

In 1993, the Muslim-led government of Bosnia-herzegovina and rebel Bosnian Serbs signed an agreement for a nationwide cease-fire.

In 2020, the unemployment level surged to 14.7 percent, a level last seen when the country was in the throes of the Great Depression; the government reported that 20 million Americans had lost their jobs in April amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Today’s birthdays

Naturalist Sir David Attenborough is 96. Singer Toni Tennille is 82. Actor James Mitchum is

81. Singer Jack Blanchard is

80. Actor Mark Blankfield is

74. Singer Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 71. Musician Chris Frantz (Talking Heads) is

71. Singer Billy Burnette is 69. Musician Alex Van Halen is 69. Actor David Keith is 68. Actor Raoul Max Trujillo is 67. Sports commentator and former NFL coach Bill Cowher is 65. Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is 61. Actor Melissa Gilbert is 58. Singer Enrique Iglesias is 47.