DAILY ALMANAC
Today is Saturday, May 18, the 139th day of 2024. There are 227 days left in the year. On this date in:
1860: Abraham Lincoln was chosen on the third ballot at the Republican National Convention in Chicago to be the party’s nominee for president. Lincoln trailed William Seward on the first two ballots before shoring up enough support before the third.
1863: Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant began the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi. On July 4, the Confederate forces surrendered their last major fortified position on the Mississippi River.
1896: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-1 in Plessy v. Ferguson that segregation laws with accommodations that were “separate but equal” were constitutional. It would be overturned by the court 58 years later.
1917: Needing to raise a force larger than the army of volunteers the United States had, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Selective Service Act to build the American armed forces through conscription to aid the Allies during World War I.
1927: In the Bath School disaster, Andrew Kehoe set off explosions at a schoolhouse in Bath Township,
Michigan, killing 38 children and six adults, including Kehoe, who set off an explosion in his truck and had earlier killed his wife.
1933: As part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority as a utility and regional economic development agency.
1953: Piloting a borrowed Canadair F-86 jet, trailblazing aviator Jacqueline Cochran added to her list of records and firsts by becoming the first woman to break the sound barrier.
– William Cain, USA TODAY Network
Today’s birthdays: Actor Priscilla Pointer turns 100. Actor Miriam Margolyes, 83. Actor Gail Strickland, 79. Actor Candice Azzara, 79. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman (Yes), 75. Singerkeyboardist Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), 74. Singer-guitarist George Strait, 72. Actor Chow Yun-fat, 69. Actorproducer Tina Fey, 54. Singer-guitarist Jack Johnson, 49. Actor Allen Leech, 43. Actor Violett Beane, 28. Actor Hala Finley, 15.
– USA TODAY Network