NEA DATEBOOK

Today is the 150th day of 2023 and the 72nd day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1431, 19-yearold Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, Normandy, for heresy.

In 1911, Ray Harroun, driving a Marmon Wasp equipped with the first rearview mirror, won the first Indianapolis 500.

In 1922, the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

In 1958, unidentified soldiers from both World Wars and the Korean War were interred in Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

In 2002, cleanup at the former World Trade Center site in New York City ended after eight months.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920), goldsmith/jeweler; Mel Blanc (1908-1989), voice actor; Benny Goodman (1909-1986), bandleader; Joseph Stein (1912-2010), playwright; Gale Sayers (1943-2020), football player; Wynonna Judd (1964- ), singer-songwriter; Tom Morello (1964- ), singer-songwriter/musician; Billy Donovan (1965- ), basketball coach; Idina Menzel (1971- ), singer/actress; Manny Ramirez (1972- ), baseball player; Clint Bowyer (1979- ), race car driver/sportscaster.

TODAY’S FACT: Abraham Lincoln’s only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, then 79 years old, was present at the Lincoln Memorial dedication ceremony in 1922.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 2021, Helio Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 with a record time of 2 hours, 37 minutes, 19 seconds.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Thought hard about this next line / Pretty sure it’s true. / If you take a step towards freedom / It’ll take two steps towards you.” — Tom Morello, “Maximum Firepower”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 36 — Doric columns in the Lincoln Memorial, one for each state that had been admitted to the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death, including those that had seceded.