TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT May 15, 1930

Registered nurse Ellen Church, the first airline stewardess, went on duty aboard an Oakland-to-Chicago flight operated by Boeing Air Transport, a forerunner of United Airlines.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1567

Mary, Queen of Scots, married her third husband, James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell, who had been implicated in the death of Mary’s second husband, Lord Darnley.

1940

DuPont began selling its nylon stockings nationally. The original McDonald’s restaurant was opened in San Bernardino, California, by Richard and Maurice McDonald.

1942

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, whose members came to be known as WACs. Wartime gasoline rationing went into effect in 17Eastern states, limiting sales to three gallons a week for non-essential vehicles.

1948

Hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

1968

Two days of tornado outbreaks began in 10Midwestern and Southern states; twisters were blamed for 72 deaths, including 45in Arkansas and 18in Iowa.

1972

Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot and left paralyzed while campaigning for president in Laurel, Maryland, by Arthur H. Bremer, who served 35years for attempted murder.

2014

President Barack Obama dedicated the National Sept. 11Memorial Museum deep beneath ground zero, calling it a symbol that says of America: “Nothing can ever break us.”

2018

Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano was suspended for 80games for violating baseball’s drug agreement, becoming one of the most prominent players disciplined.