Today in History

Today is Wednesday, May 14, the 134th day of 2014. There are 231 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 14, 1948, by the current-era calendar, the independent state of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv.

On this date:

In 1643, Louis XIV became King of France at age four upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.

In 1796, English physician Edward Jenner inoculated 8-year-old James Phipps against smallpox by using cowpox matter.

In 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory as well as the Pacific Northwest left camp near present-day Hartford, Illinois.

In 1863, Union forces defeated the Confederates in the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi.

In 1900, the Olympic games opened in Paris, held as part of the 1900 World's Fair.

In 1913, the Rockefeller Foundation was founded in New York.

In 1942, Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" was first performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

In 1961, Freedom Riders were attacked by violent mobs in Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama.

In 1964, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev joined United Arab Republic President Gamel Abdel Nasser in setting off charges, diverting the Nile River from the site of the Aswan High Dam project.

In 1973, the United States launched Skylab 1, its first manned space station. (Skylab 1 remained in orbit for six years before burning up during re-entry in 1979.) The National Right to Life Committee was incorporated.

In 1988, 27 people, mostly teens, were killed when their church bus collided with a pickup truck going the wrong direction on a highway near Carrollton, Kentucky. (Truck driver Larry Mahoney served 9 1/2 years in prison for manslaughter.)

In 1994, the West Bank town of Jericho saw its first full day of Palestinian self-rule following the withdrawal of Israeli troops, an event celebrated by Palestinians.

Ten years ago: Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper published a front-page apology after photographs supposedly showing British forces abusing Iraqi prisoners turned out to be fakes. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to step in and block gay marriages in Massachusetts. A South Korean court reinstated impeached President Roh Moo-hyun. Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik married Australian commoner Mary Donaldson. Actress Anna Lee died at age 91.

Five years ago: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the CIA of misleading her and other lawmakers about the waterboarding of detainees during the Bush administration, disputing Republican charges that she'd been complicit in its use. Chrysler announced plans to eliminate 789 dealerships as part of its restructuring. A pair of spacewalking astronauts installed a new piano-sized camera in the Hubble Space Telescope.

One year ago: In an op-ed appearing in The New York Times, Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie said she'd undergone a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer. Flamboyant Texas huckster Billie Sol Estes died in DeCordova Bend at age 88.

Today's Birthdays: Opera singer Patrice Munsel is 89. Photo-realist artist Richard Estes is 82. Former Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., is 72. Rock singer-musician Jack Bruce (Cream) is 71. Movie producer George Lucas is 70. Actress Meg Foster is 66. Movie director Robert Zemeckis is 63. Rock singer David Byrne is 62. Actor Tim Roth is 53. Rock singer Ian Astbury (The Cult) is 52. Rock musician C.C. (aka Cecil) DeVille is 52. Actor Danny Huston is 52. Rock musician Mike Inez (Alice In Chains) is 48. Fabrice Morvan (ex-Milli Vanilli) is 48. Rhythm-and-blues singer Raphael Saadiq is 48. Actress Cate Blanchett is 45. Singer Danny Wood (New Kids on the Block) is 45. Movie writer-director Sofia Coppola is 43. Actor Gabriel Mann is 42. Singer Natalie Appleton (All Saints) is 41. Singer Shanice is 41. Actress Carla Jimenez is 40. Rock musician Henry Garza (Los Lonely Boys) is 36. Rock singer-musician Dan Auerbach is 35. Rock musician Mike Retondo (Plain White T's) is 33. Actress Amber Tamblyn is 31. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is 30. Actress Miranda Cosgrove is 21.

Thought for Today: "The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." -- Dorothy Parker, American author, humorist, poet (1893-1967).

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.