TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Thursday, May 7, the 128th day of 2020.
Today’s highlight in history
On May 7, 1789, the first inaugural ball was held in New York in honor of President George Washington, who had taken the oath of office a week earlier.
On this date
In 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner RMS Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans, out of the nearly 2,000 onboard.
In 1939, Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-berlin Axis.
In 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, ending its role in World War II.
In 1946, Sony Corp., which had its beginnings as the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corp., was founded by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka.
In 1963, the U.S. launched the Telstar 2 communications satellite.
In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford formally declared an end to the “Vietnam era.” In Ho
Chi Minh City — formerly Saigon — the Viet Cong celebrated its takeover.
In 1992, the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour went on its first flight.
In 2004, Army Pfc. Lynndie England, shown in photographs smiling and pointing at naked Iraqi prisoners, was charged by the military with assaulting the detainees and conspiring to mistreat them. (England was later convicted of conspiracy, mistreating detainees and committing an indecent act, and sentenced to 36 months; she served half that term.)
Ten years ago: A Bp-chartered vessel lowered a 100-ton concrete-and-steel vault onto the ruptured Deepwater Horizon well in an unprecedented, and ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to stop most of the gushing crude fouling the sea.
Today’s birthdays
Singer Thelma Houston is 77. Actress Robin Strasser is 75. Singer-songwriter Bill Danoff is 74. Musician Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead) is 74. Musician Prairie Prince is 70. Writer-director Amy Heckerling is 68. Actress Traci Lords is 52. Singer Eagle-eye Cherry is 49. Actor Breckin Meyer is 46. Actress Aidy Bryant is 33.