TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Sunday, May 26, the 146th day of 2019. There are 219 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On May 26, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the AntiBallistic Missile Treaty in Moscow. (The U.S. withdrew from the treaty in 2002.) On this date: In 1647, Alse (Alice) Young was hanged in Hartford, Connecticut, in the first recorded execution of a “witch” in the American colonies.

In 1865, Confederate forces west of the Mississippi surrendered in New Orleans.

In 1868, the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ended with his acquittal on the remaining charges.

In 1897, the Gothic horror novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker was first published in London.

In 1938, the House UnAmerican Activities Committee was established by Congress.

In 1940, Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of some 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War II.

In 1954, explosions rocked the aircraft carrier USS Bennington off Rhode Island, killing 103 sailors. (The initial blast was blamed on leaking catapult fluid ignited by the flames of a jet.)

In 1969, the Apollo 10 astronauts returned to Earth after a successful eight-day dress rehearsal for the first manned moon landing.

In 1978, Resorts Casino Hotel, the first legal U.S. casino outside Nevada, opened in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In 1981, 14 people were killed when a Marine jet crashed onto the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz off Florida.

In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court made it far more difficult for police to be sued by people hurt during highspeed chases. The Supreme Court also ruled that Ellis Island, historic gateway for millions of immigrants, was mainly in New Jersey, not New York.

In 2005, President George W. Bush received Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the White House; Bush called Abbas a courageous democratic reformer and bolstered his standing at home with $50 million in assistance.