Today in History

Today in History

Today is Thursday, May 11, the 131st day of 2017. There are 234 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 11, 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded during a banquet at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

On this date:

In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam to become governor of New Netherland.

In 1858, Minnesota became the 32nd state of the Union.

In 1937, "SPAM" was registered as a trademark by Hormel Foods, producer of the canned meat product.

In 1947, the B.F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio, announced the development of a tubeless tire.

In 1953, a tornado devastated Waco, Texas, claiming 114 lives.

In 1960, Israeli agents captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In 1973, the espionage trial of Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo in the "Pentagon Papers" case came to an end as Judge William M. Byrne dismissed all charges, citing government misconduct.

In 1981, legendary reggae artist Bob Marley died in a Miami hospital at age 36.

In 1985, 56 people died when a flash fire swept a jam-packed soccer stadium in Bradford, England.

In 1987, doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore transplanted the heart and lungs of an auto accident victim into a cystic fibrosis patient who gave up his own healthy heart to another recipient. (Clinton House, the nation's first living heart donor, died 14 months later.)

In 1996, an Atlanta-bound ValuJet DC-9 caught fire shortly after takeoff from Miami and crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board.

In 1997, IBM's "Deep Blue" computer demolished an overwhelmed Garry Kasparov, winning the six-game chess re-match between man and machine in New York.

Ten years ago: Speaking aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis in the Persian Gulf, Vice President Dick Cheney warned Iran the U.S. and its allies would keep it from restricting sea traffic as well as from developing nuclear weapons. North and South Korea adopted a military agreement, enabling the first train crossing of their border in more than half a century. (The first freight trains began running between the two Koreas in Dec. 2007, but the border was closed by North Korea almost a year later.)

Five years ago: A Chicago jury convicted Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson's former brother-in-law, William Balfour, of murdering her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. (Balfour was sentenced to life in prison.)

One year ago: A white former South Carolina police officer already facing a state murder charge in the shooting death of unarmed black motorist Walter Scott was indicted on federal charges including depriving the victim of his civil rights. A SpaceX capsule returned to Earth with precious science samples from NASA's one-year space station resident, Scott Kelly, who had returned to Earth the previous March. CBS News veteran Morley Safer, a "60 Minutes" correspondent for all but two of the newsmagazine's 48-year history, announced his retirement (Safer died eight days later at age 84).

Today's Birthdays: Comedian Mort Sahl is 90. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is 84. Jazz keyboardist Carla Bley is 81. Rock singer Eric Burdon (The Animals; War) is 76. Actress Pam Ferris is 69. Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly is 67. Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo is 65. Actress Frances Fisher is 65. Actor Boyd Gaines is 64. Country musician Mark Herndon (Alabama) is 62. Actress Martha Quinn is 58. Country singer-musician Tim Raybon (The Raybon Brothers) is 54. Actor Tim Blake Nelson is 53. Actor Jeffrey Donovan is 49. Country musician Keith West (Heartland) is 49. Actor Nicky Katt is 47. Actor Coby Bell is 42. Cellist Perttu Kivilaakso is 39. Actor Austin O'Brien is 36. Actor-singer Jonathan Jackson is 35. Rapper Ace Hood is 29. Latin singer Prince Royce is 28. Musician Howard Lawrence (Disclosure) is 23.

Thought for Today: "Ability hits the mark where presumption overshoots and diffidence falls short." -- Golda Meir, Israeli prime minister (1898-1978).