Today in History

Today is Tuesday, May 26, the 147th day of 2020. There are 219 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight:

On May 26, 1981, 14 people were killed when a Marine jet crashed onto the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz off Florida.

On this date:

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a measure creating the Montana Territory.

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

In 1971, Don McLean recorded his song “American Pie” at The Record Plant in New York City (it was released the following November by United Artists Records).

In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in Moscow. (The U.S. withdrew from the treaty in 2002.)

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

In 2004, nearly a decade after the Oklahoma City bombing, Terry Nichols was found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the attack. (Nichols later received 161 consecutive life sentences.)

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.

In 2009, President Barack Obama nominated federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to 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.

Ten years ago: BP launched its latest bid to plug the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico by force-feeding it heavy drilling mud, a maneuver known as a “top kill” which proved unsuccessful. TV personality Art Linkletter died in Los Angeles at age 97. Lee DeWyze was crowned the winner of “American Idol” over Crystal Bowersox.

Five years ago: Challenging Hillary Rodham Clinton from the left, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders formally kicked off his Democratic presidential bid in Burlington, Vermont, with a pitch to liberals to join him in a “political revolution” to transform the nation’s economy and politics.

One year ago: A tornado leveled a motel and tore through a mobile home park near Oklahoma City, killing two people and injuring more than two dozen others.

Today’s Birthdays: Sportscaster Brent Musberger is 81. Rock musician Garry Peterson (Guess Who) is 75. Singer Stevie Nicks is 72. Actress Pam Grier is 71. Actor Philip Michael Thomas is 71. Country singer Hank Williams Jr. is 71. Former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is 71. Actress Margaret Colin is 62. Country singer-songwriter Dave Robbins is 61. Actor Doug Hutchison is 60. Actress Genie Francis is 58. Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait is 58. Singer-actor Lenny Kravitz is 56. Actress Helena Bonham Carter is 54. Distance runner Zola Budd is 54. Rock musician Phillip Rhodes is 52. Actor Joseph Fiennes (FYNZ) is 50. Singer Joey Kibble (Take 6) is 49. Actor-producer-writer Matt Stone is 49. Singer Lauryn Hill is 45. Contemporary Christian musician Nathan Cochran is 42. Actress Elisabeth Harnois is 41. Actor Hrach Titizian is 41.

Thought for Today: “I am never afraid of what I know.” — Anna Sewell, English author (1820-1878).