Today in History

Today is Tuesday, May 22, the 143rd day of 2012. There are 223 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 22, 1972, President Richard Nixon began a visit to the Soviet Union, during which he and Kremlin leaders signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

On this date:

In 1761, the first American life insurance policy was issued in Philadelphia to a Rev. Francis Allison, whose premium was six pounds per year.

In 1860, the United States and Japan exchanged ratifications of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce during a ceremony in Washington.

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared before Congress to explain his decision to veto a bill that would have allowed World War I veterans to cash in bonus certificates before their 1945 due date.

In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a "Pact of Steel" committing the two countries to a military alliance.

In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was enacted as Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey.

In 1960, an earthquake of magnitude 9.5, the strongest on record, struck southern Chile, claiming some 1,655 lives.

In 1962, Continental Airlines Flight 11, en route from Chicago to Kansas City, Mo., crashed after a bomb apparently brought on board by a passenger exploded, killing all 45 occupants of the Boeing 707.

In 1968, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, sank in the Atlantic Ocean. (The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores.)

In 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10, with Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard, flew to within nine miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.

In 1972, the island nation of Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka.

In 1981 "Yorkshire Ripper" Peter Sutcliffe was convicted in London of murdering 13 women and was sentenced to life in prison.

In 1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for the last time.

Ten years ago: A jury in Birmingham, Ala., convicted former Ku Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry of murder in a 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. (Cherry, sentenced to life, died in a prison hospital in 2004.) The remains of Chandra Levy, the federal intern who'd disappeared more than a year earlier, were found in Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Park.

Five years ago: British prosecutors accused former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi of murder in the radioactive poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko. (Russia, however, has refused to extradite Lugovoi.) Olympic gold medalist speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno and his professional dance partner, Julianne Hough, won ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."

One year ago: A tornado devastated Joplin, Mo., with winds up to 250 mph, claiming at least 159 lives and destroying about 8,000 homes and businesses. President Barack Obama defended his endorsement of Israel's 1967 boundaries as the basis for a future Palestine, telling the American Israel Public Affairs Committee his views reflected longstanding U.S. policy. Joseph Brooks, 73, the Academy Award-winning songwriter of "You Light Up My Life" who was awaiting trial for rape, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment, a suicide.

Today's Birthdays: Movie reviewer Judith Crist is 90. Singer Charles Aznavour is 88. Actor Michael Constantine is 85. Conductor Peter Nero is 78. Actor-director Richard Benjamin is 74. Actor Frank Converse is 74. Former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw is 72. Actress Barbara Parkins is 70. Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 62. Actor-producer Al Corley is 56. Singer Morrissey is 53. Actress Ann Cusack is 51. Country musician Dana Williams (Diamond Rio) is 51. Rock musician Jesse Valenzuela is 50. Actor Mark Christopher Lawrence is 48. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is 47. Rhythm-and-blues singer Johnny Gill (New Edition) is 46. Rock musician Dan Roberts (Crash Test Dummies) is 45. Actress Brooke Smith is 45. Model Naomi Campbell is 42. Actress Anna Belknap is 40. Actress Alison Eastwood is 40. Singer Donell Jones is 39. Actor Sean Gunn is 38. Actress A.J. Langer is 38. Actress Ginnifer Goodwin is 34. Actress Maggie Q is 33. Olympic gold-medal speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno is 30.

Thought for Today: "Pride is an admission of weakness; it secretly fears all competition and dreads all rivals." -- Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, American religious leader (1895-1979).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.