TODAY IN HISTORY

SUNDAY MAY 8, 2022

1996

South Africa took another step from apartheid to democracy by adopting a constitution that guaranteed equal rights for Blacks and whites.

1541

Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River.

1846

The first major battle of the Mexican-American War was fought at Palo Alto, Texas; U.S. forces led by Gen. Zachary Taylor were able to beat back Mexican forces.

1915

Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby.

1945

President Harry S. Truman announced on radio that Nazi Germany’s forces had surrendered, and that “the flags of freedom fly all over Europe.”

1972

President Richard Nixon announced that he had ordered the mining of Haiphong Harbor during the Vietnam War.

1973

Militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered.

1978

David R. Berkowitz pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn courtroom to murder, attempted murder and assault in connection with the “Son of Sam” shootings that claimed six lives and terrified New Yorkers.

1984

The Soviet Union announced it would boycott the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

1993

The Muslim-led government of

Bosnia-Herzegovina and rebel Bosnian Serbs signed an agreement for a nationwide cease-fire.

2003

The Senate unanimously endorsed adding to NATO seven former communist nations: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

2018

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear accord with Iran and restored harsh sanctions; Trump had been a severe critic of the deal negotiated by the Obama administration in which Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program.

2020

The unemployment level surged to 14.7%, a level last seen when the country was in the throes of the Great Depression; the government reported that 20million Americans had lost their jobs in April amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Naturalist Sir David Attenborough is 96. Singer Toni Tennille is 82. Actor James Mitchum is 81. Country singer Jack Blanchard is 80. Jazz musician Keith Jarrett is 77. Actor Mark Blankfield is 74. Singer Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 71. Rock musician Chris Frantz (Talking Heads) is 71. Rockabilly singer Billy Burnette is 69. Rock musician Alex Van Halen is 69. Actor David Keith is 68. Actor Raoul Max Trujillo is 67. Sports commentator/former NFL coach Bill Cowher is 65. Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is 61. Actor Melissa Gilbert is 58.