Today in History

Published 10:08 pm Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Today is Wednesday, May 26, the 146th day of 2010. There are 219 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

On May 26, 1940, the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War II.

ON THIS DATE

In 1521, Martin Luther was banned by the Edict of Worms because of his religious beliefs and writings.

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

In 1938, the House Un-American Activities Committee was established by Congress.

In 1960, U.N. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge accused the Soviets of hiding a microphone inside a wood carving of the Great Seal of the United States that had been presented to the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

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

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

In 1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married in the Dominican Republic. (The marriage ended in 1996.)

In 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. California’s Supreme Court upheld the Proposition 8 gay marriage ban but said the 18,000 same-sex weddings that had taken place before the prohibition passed were still valid.

Associated Press