Today in history

On May 14, 1796, English physician Edward Jenner administered the first vaccination against smallpox to an 8-year-old boy.

In 1804 the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory left St. Louis.

In 1904 the first Olympic games to be held in the United States opened in St. Louis, as part of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. In 1942 the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps was established. In 1948 (according to the current-era calendar), the independent state of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv.

In 1955 representatives from eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, formed the Warsaw Pact in Poland. (The Pact was dissolved in July 1991.)

In 1964 Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev joined United Arab Republic President Gamal Abdel Nasser in setting off charges, diverting the Nile River from the site of the Aswan High Dam project. In 1973 the United States launched Skylab 1, its first manned space station.

In 1975 U.S. forces raided the Cambodian island of Koh Tang and recaptured the American merchant ship Mayaguez; all 40 crew members were released safely by Cambodia, but about 40 U.S. servicemen were killed in the military operation.

In 1980 President Jimmy Carter inaugurated the Health and Human Services Department.

In 1998 singer-actor Frank Sinatra died in Los Angeles; he was 82. Also in 1998 the hit sitcom “Seinfeld” aired its final episode after nine years on NBC.