TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, May 21, the 141st day of 2019. There are 224 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 21, 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean as she landed in Northern Ireland, about 15 hours after leaving Newfoundland.
On this date:
■ In 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto died while searching for gold along the Mississippi River.
■ In 1863, the Seventh-day Adventist Church was officially organized.
■ In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant was nominated for president by the Republican national convention in Chicago.
■ In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.
■ In 1924, in a case that drew much notoriety, 14-year-old Bobby Franks was murdered in a “thrill killing” carried out by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb (Bobby’s cousin).
■ In 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis monoplane near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33 1/2 hours.
■ In 1941, a German U-boat sank the American merchant steamship SS Robin Moor in the South Atlantic after the ship’s passengers and crew were allowed to board lifeboats.
■ In 1945, actors Humphrey Bogart, 45, and Lauren Bacall, 20, were married at Malabar Farm in Lucas, Ohio (it was his fourth marriage, her first, and would last until Bogart’s death in 1957).
■ In 1972, Michelangelo’s Pieta, on display at the Vatican, was damaged by a hammer-wielding man who shouted he was Jesus Christ.
■ In 1979, former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the slayings of Mayor George Moscone and openly gay Supervisor Harvey Milk; outrage over the verdict sparked rioting. (White was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison; he ended up serving five years and committed suicide in 1985.)
■ In 1991, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated during national elections by a suicide bomber.
Ten years ago: A day after the Senate voted to keep the Guantanamo prison camp open, President Barack Obama made his case for closing the facility, denouncing what he called “fear-mongering” by political opponents; Obama made his case moments before former Vice President Dick Cheney delivered his own address defending the Bush administration’s creation of the camp. A 66-year-old woman with terminal cancer became the first person to die under Washington state’s new assisted suicide law.
Five years ago: With outrage mounting over veterans’ health care, President Barack Obama declared that misconduct alleged at VA hospitals would not be tolerated. Wendell Scott became the first African-American driver to be elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
One year ago: The U.S. Postal Service announced that it would soon issue its first scratch-and-sniff stamps, featuring illustrations of ice pops.
Today’s Birthdays: Rhythmand-blues singer Ron Isley (The Isley Brothers) is 78. Rock musician Hilton Valentine (The Animals) is 76. Musician Bill Champlin is 72. Singer Leo Sayer is 71. Actress Carol Potter is 71. Former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., is 68. Actor Mr. T is 67. Music producer Stan Lynch is 64. Actor Judge Reinhold is 62. Actor-director Nick Cassavetes is 60. Actor Brent Briscoe is 58. Actress Lisa Edelstein is 53. Actress Fairuza Balk is 45. Rock singer-musician Mikel Jollett (Airborne Toxic Event) is 45. Rock musician Tony LoGerfo (Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real) is 36. Actor Sunkrish Bala is 35. Actor David Ajala is 33. Country singer Cody Johnson is 32. Actor Scott Leavenworth is 29. Actress Sarah Ramos is 28.
Thought for Today:
“Originality does not consist in saying what no one has ever said before, but in saying exactly what you think yourself.”—James Stephens, Irish poet and novelist (1882-1950).