Today is Thursday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2019. There are 222 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight:
On May 23, 1934, bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death in a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
On this date:
In 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
In 1814, a third version of Beethoven’s only opera, “Fidelio,” had its world premiere in Vienna.
In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary during World War I.
In 1939, the Navy submarine USS Squalus sank during a test dive off the New England coast. Thirty-two crew members and one civilian were rescued, but 26 others died; the sub was salvaged and re-commissioned the USS Sailfish.
In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces bogged down in Anzio began a major breakout offensive.
In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler committed suicide by biting into a cyanide capsule while in British custody in Luneburg, Germany.
In 1967, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, an action which helped precipitate war between Israel and its Arab neighbors the following month.
In 1975, comedian Jackie “Moms” Mabley, 81, died in White Plains, New York.
In 1977, Moluccan extremists seized a train and a primary school in the Netherlands; the hostage drama ended June 11 as Dutch marines stormed the train, resulting in the deaths of six out of nine hijackers and two hostages, while the school siege ended peacefully.
In 1984, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued a report saying there was “very solid” evidence linking cigarette smoke to lung disease in non-smokers.
In 1993, a jury in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, acquitted Rodney Peairs of manslaughter in the shooting death of Yoshi Hattori, a Japanese exchange student he’d mistaken for an intruder. (Peairs was later found liable in a civil suit brought by Hattori’s parents.)
In 1994, funeral services were held at Arlington National Cemetery for former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Ten years ago: Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, 62, leapt to his death amid a widening corruption scandal. Charles Donald Albury, co-pilot of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, died in Orlando, Florida, at 88.
Five years ago: A 22-year-old armed with knives and a gun went on a rampage near the University of California, Santa Barbara; Elliot Rodger killed six students and wounded 13 other people before taking his own life. In a report potentially exposing the Catholic Church to new legal arguments by clerical sex abuse victims, a U.N. committee found that the Vatican did exercise worldwide control over its bishops and priests, and had to comply with the U.N.’s anti-torture treaty.
One year ago: NFL owners approved a new policy allowing players to protest during the national anthem by staying in the locker room, but forbidding players from sitting or taking a knee if they’re on the field. A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump violates the First Amendment when he blocks critics on Twitter because of their political views. For the first time in the 36 seasons of TV’s “Survivor,” the season finale ended in a deadlock, and a tiebreaker was needed to crown Wendell Holland as the champ.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress Barbara Barrie is 88. Actress Joan Collins is 86. Actor Charles Kimbrough is 83. International Tennis Hall of Famer John Newcombe is 75. Actress Lauren Chapin is 74. Country singer Misty Morgan is 74. Country singer Judy Rodman is 68. Chess grandmaster Anatoly Karpov is 68. Boxing Hall of Famer Marvelous Marvin Hagler is 65. Singer Luka Bloom is 64. Former baseball manager Buck Showalter is 63. Actor-comedian-game show host Drew Carey is 61. Actress Lea DeLaria is 61. Country singer Shelly West is 61. Author Mitch Albom is 61. Actor Linden Ashby is 59. Actress-model Karen Duffy is 58. Actress Melissa McBride is 54. Rock musician Phil Selway (Radiohead) is 52. Actress Laurel Holloman is 51. Rock musician Matt Flynn (Maroon 5) is 49. Singer Lorenzo is 47. Country singer Brian McComas is 47. Actor John Pollono is 47. Singer Maxwell is 46. Singer Jewel is 45. Game show contestant Ken Jennings is 45. Actor LaMonica Garrett is 44. Actor D.J. Cotrona is 39. Actor Lane Garrison is 39. Actor-comedian Tim Robinson is 38. Actor Adam Wylie is 35. Movie writer-director Ryan Coogler is 33. Golfer Morgan Pressel is 31. Actor Alberto Frezza (TV: “Station 19”) is 30. Folk/pop singer/songwriter Sarah Jarosz (juh-ROHZ’) is 28.
Thought for Today: “Life is like a game of poker: If you don’t put any in the pot, there won’t be any to take out.” — Jackie “Moms” Mabley (1894-1975).
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