TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Tuesday, May 17.

Today’s highlight

On May 17, 1954, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision which held that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, and therefore unconstitutional.

On this date

In 1973, a special committee

convened by the U.S. Senate began its televised hearings into the Watergate scandal.

In 1980, rioting that claimed 18 lives erupted in Miami’s Liberty City after an all-White jury in Tampa acquitted four former Miami police officers of fatally beating Black insurance executive Arthur McDuffie.

In 1987, 37 American sailors were killed when an Iraqi warplane attacked the U.S. Navy frigate Stark in the Persian Gulf. (Iraq apologized for the attack, calling it a mistake, and paid more than $27 million in compensation.)

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. (“Megan’s Law,” as it’s known, was named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in 1994.)

In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriages.

In 2017, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee a federal investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the 2016

Donald Trump campaign.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Peter Gerety is 82. Singer Taj Mahal is 80. TV personality Kathleen Sullivan is 69. Boxing Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard is 66. Sports announcer Jim Nantz is 63. Producer Simon Fuller (“American Idol”) is 62. Singer Enya is 61. Actor-comedian Craig Ferguson is 60. Singermusician Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) is 57. Actor Paige Turco is 57. Actor Hill Harper is 56.