Today in History
Today is Thursday, May 25, the 145th day of 2023. There are 220 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a Black man, was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for about 9 1/2 minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and pleading that he couldn’t breathe; Floyd’s death, captured on video by a bystander, would lead to worldwide protests, some of which turned violent, and a reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S.
On this date:
• In 1787, the Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.
• In 1946, Transjordan (now Jordan) became a kingdom as it proclaimed its new monarch, Abdullah I.
• In 1961, President John F. Kennedy told Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”
• In 1968, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis was dedicated by Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Interior Secretary Stewart Udall.
• In 1977, the first “Star Wars” film (later retitled “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope”) was released by 20th Century Fox.
• In 1979, 273 people died when an American Airlines DC-10 crashed just after takeoff from Chicago’s O’hare Airport.
• In 2008, NASA’S Phoenix Mars Lander arrived on the Red Planet to begin searching for evidence of water; the spacecraft confirmed the presence of water ice at its landing site.
• In 2011, a judge in Salt Lake City sentenced street preacher Brian David Mitchell to life in prison for kidnapping and raping Elizabeth Smart, who was 14 at the time of her abduction in 2002.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Sir Ian Mckellen is 84. Country singer Jessi Colter is 80. Movie director and Muppeteer Frank Oz is 79. Actor Octavia Spencer is 53. Actor Justin Henry is 52. Actor Cillian Murphy is 47. Actor Ebonee Noel is 33.