Today in History

Today in History

Today is Monday, May 30, the 151st day of 2016. There are 215 days left in the year. This is the Memorial Day observance.

Today's Highlights in History:

On May 30, 1966, NASA launched Surveyor 1, a probe that made a soft landing on the moon three days later. The Beatles single "Paperback Writer" was released in the United States by Capitol Records.

On this date:

In 1431, Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.

In 1536, England's King Henry VIII married his third wife, Jane Seymour, 11 days after the king's second wife, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded for treason and adultery.

In 1866, the opera "The Bartered Bride" by Czech composer Bedrich Smetana premiered in Prague in a two-act version (it was later reworked into three acts).

In 1883, 12 people were trampled to death in a stampede sparked by a rumor that the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge was in danger of collapsing.

In 1911, the first Indy 500 took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the winner was Ray Harroun, who drove a Marmon Wasp for more than 6 1/2 hours at an average speed of 74.6 mph and collected a prize of $10,000.

In 1922, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. was dedicated in a ceremony attended by President Warren G. Harding, Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Robert Todd Lincoln.

In 1937, ten people were killed when police fired on steelworkers demonstrating near the Republic Steel plant in South Chicago.

In 1943, during World War II, American troops secured the Aleutian island of Attu from Japanese forces.

In 1958, unidentified American service members killed in World War II and the Korean War were interred in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1971, the American space probe Mariner 9 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on a journey to Mars.

In 1980, Pope John Paul II arrived in France on the first visit there by the head of the Roman Catholic Church since the early 19th century.

In 1996, Britain's Prince Andrew and the former Sarah Ferguson were granted an uncontested decree ending their 10-year marriage.

Ten years ago: Gen. Michael Hayden was sworn in as CIA director. President George W. Bush tapped Goldman Sachs chief Henry Paulson to be Treasury secretary. A jury in Rockville, Maryland, convicted John Allen Muhammad of six of the 10 Washington-area sniper killings. (Although sentenced to life in prison for the Maryland killings, Muhammad was executed in Nov. 2009 for a slaying in Virginia.) The FBI said it had found no trace of Jimmy Hoffa after digging up a suburban Detroit horse farm. Actor Robert Sterling, 88, who'd appeared in the ghostly 1950s comedy series "Topper," died in Los Angeles.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama selected Army Gen. Martin Dempsey to be the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. Germany announced plans to abandon nuclear power over the next 11 years, outlining an ambitious strategy in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster to replace atomic power with renewable energy sources. Jim Tressel, who had guided Ohio State to its first national football title in 34 years, resigned amid NCAA violations from a scandal involving five players and the owner of a tattoo parlor that sullied the image of one of the country's top football programs.

One year ago: Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley entered the Democratic presidential race. Vice President Joe Biden's son, former Delaware attorney general Beau Biden, died at age 46 of brain cancer.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Clint Walker is 89. Actress Ruta Lee is 81. Actor Keir Dullea is 80. Actor Michael J. Pollard is 77. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers is 73. Rock musician Lenny Davidson (The Dave Clark Five) is 72. Actor Stephen Tobolowsky is 65. Actor Colm Meaney is 63. Actor Ted McGinley is 58. Actor Ralph Carter is 55. Actress Tonya Pinkins is 54. Country singer Wynonna Judd is 52. Rock musician Tom Morello (Audioslave; Rage Against The Machine) is 52. Actor Mark Sheppard is 52. Movie director Antoine Fuqua is 51. Rock musician Patrick Dahlheimer (Live) is 45. Actress Idina Menzel is 45. Actor Trey Parker is 44. Rapper Cee Lo Green is 41. Rapper Remy Ma is 36. Actor Blake Bashoff is 35. Christian rock musician James Smith (Underoath) is 34. Actor Jake Short is 19. Actor Sean Giambrone is 17. Actor Jared Gilmore is 16.

Thought for Today: "There are two statements about human beings that are true: that all human beings are alike, and that all are different. On those two facts all human wisdom is founded." -- Mark Van Doren, American poet (1894-1972).