Highlights in history
■ In 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner RMS Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 (including 129 Americans) of the nearly 2,000 people aboard.
■ In 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, ending its role in World War II. ■ In President Gerald R. Ford (above) formally declared an end to the “Vietnam era.” In Ho Chi Minh City — formerly Saigon — the Viet Cong celebrated its takeover. ■ In 1977, Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby, the first of his Triple Crown victories. ■ Ten years ago: President George W. Bush welcomed Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II to the White House, drawing laughter when he mistakenly started to say that the queen had previously helped the United States celebrate its bicentennial in “17...,” then quickly corrected himself to say “1976.”
■ One year ago: Convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who had twice pulled off brazen jailbreaks, was transferred to a prison in northern Mexico near the Texas border.
Birthdays
■ 72: Robin Strasser, actress ■ 58: Michael E. Knight, actor ■ 46: Eagle-Eye Cherry, singer ■ 47: Morocco Omari, actor
■ 23: Dylan Gelula, actress
Thought for today
“There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience, and that is not learning from experience.” — Archibald MacLeish, American poet and writer (1892-1982)