TODAY IN HISTORY

On May 24, 1775,

John Hancock was unanimously elected President of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, succeeding Peyton Randolph.

In 1844,

Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message “What hath God wrought” from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America’s first telegraph line.

In 1937,

in a set of rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Social Security Act of 1935.

In 1941,

the German battleship Bismarck sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood in the North Atlantic, killing all but three of the 1,418 men on board.

In 1962,

astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Aurora 7.

In 1968,

the Rolling Stones single “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” was released in the United Kingdom by Decca Records.

In 1974,

American jazz composer and bandleader Duke Ellington, 75, died in New York.

In 1976,

Britain and France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde supersonic transport service to Washington.

In 1991,

the feminist film drama “Thelma & Louise,” starring Susan Sarandon (as Louise) and Geena Davis

(as Thelma), was released by MGM.

In 1994,

four Islamic fundamentalists convicted of bombing New York’s World Trade Center in 1993 were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.

In 2000,

the state of Maryland dismissed its wiretapping case against Linda Tripp after a judge disallowed most of Monica Lewinsky’s testimony.

In 2001,

23 people were killed when the floor of a Jerusalem wedding hall collapsed beneath dancing guests, sending them plunging several stories into the basement.

In 2009,

Space shuttle Atlantis and its seven astronauts returned to Earth, ending a 13-day mission to repair and enhance the Hubble Space Telescope. Brazil’s Helio Castroneves became the ninth driver to win the Indianapolis 500 three times.

In 2017,

Ariana Grande suspended her Dangerous Woman world tour and canceled several European shows due to the deadly bombing at her concert in Manchester, England, two days earlier.