Today in history

On May1,1707, a union between England and Scotland was formed, and itwas named Britain.

In 1786 Mozart’s opera “The Marriage of Figaro” premiered in Vienna.

In 1881 priest, philosopher and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chard in was born in Sarcen at, France.

In 1898 Commodore George Dewey gave the command, “Youmay fire when you are ready, Gridley,” as an American naval force destroyed a Spanish fleet in Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.

In1918 former “Tonight Show” host Jack Paar was born in Canton, Ohio. In1923 novelist Joseph Heller (“Catch-22”) was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.

In 1924 novelist and screenwriter

Terry Southern was born in Alvarado, Texas.

In1 931 the Empire State Buildingwas dedicated in New York City. Also in 1931, the Baha’i House of Worship was opened in Wilmette.

In 1941 the Orson Welles motion picture “Citizen Kane” opened in New York. In1945 Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels killed himself as Russian troops stormed Berlin; he was 47.

In 1948 North Korea was proclaimed the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea. In1967 entertainer Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas. (They divorced inOctober1973.)

In 1971 Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, began operation.