Today in history

On May 20, 1899, taxi driver Jacob German was pulled over and arrested by a police officer riding a bicycle for speeding down Manhattan’s Lexington Avenue in his electric car at 12 miles an hour at a time when the speed limit

was 8 mph; it was the first recorded speeding arrest in U.S. history.

In 1873, Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for men’s work pants made with copper rivets.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh

took off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Because of weather and equipment problems, Earhart set down in Northern Ireland instead of her intended destination, France.)

In 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order.

In 1993, an estimated 93 million people tuned in for the final first-run episode of the sitcom “Cheers” on NBC.

In 1998, the government unveiled the design for the new $20 bill, featuring a larger and slightly off-center portrait of Andrew Jackson.

Five years ago: Ray Manzarek, 74, a founding member of the 1960s rock group the Doors, died in Rosenheim, Germany.

One year ago: Cloud Computing ran down Classic Empire in the final strides to win the Preakness by a head.