Today in History

Today in History

Today is Friday, May 19, the 139th day of 2017. There are 226 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 19, 1927, the silent movie "Wings," a World War I drama starring Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen, had its world premiere in San Antonio, Texas, where it had been filmed. ("Wings" would go on to win the first Academy Award for best picture.)

On this date:

In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII, was beheaded after being convicted of adultery.

In 1780, a mysterious darkness enveloped much of New England and part of Canada in the early afternoon.

In 1913, California Gov. Hiram Johnson signed the Webb-Hartley Law prohibiting "aliens ineligible to citizenship" from owning farm land, a measure targeting Asian immigrants, particularly Japanese.

In 1935, T.E. Lawrence, also known as "Lawrence of Arabia," died in Dorset, England, six days after being injured in a motorcycle crash.

In 1943, in his second wartime address to the U.S. Congress, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill pledged his country's full support in the fight against Japan.

In 1958, British actor Ronald Colman died in Santa Barbara, California, at age 67.

In 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday to You" to President John F. Kennedy during a Democratic fundraiser at New York's Madison Square Garden.

In 1967, the Soviet Union ratified a treaty banning nuclear and other weapons from outer space as well as celestial bodies such as the moon. (The treaty entered into force in Oct. 1967.)

In 1977, in what became known as the "Girl in the Box" case, 20-year-old Colleen Stan, hitchhiking her way to a party in northern California, was abducted by a couple she'd accepted a ride from and imprisoned as a sex slave for the next seven years.

In 1981, five British soldiers were killed by an Irish Republican Army landmine in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

In 1992, in a case that drew much notoriety, Mary Jo Buttafuoco of Massapequa, New York, was shot and seriously wounded by her husband Joey's teenage lover, Amy Fisher. Vice President Dan Quayle sparked controversy by publicly criticizing the CBS sitcom "Murphy Brown" for having its title character, played by Candice Bergen, decide to become a single mother.

In 1994, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in New York at age 64.

Ten years ago: Group of Eight financial officials wrapped up two days of talks in Germany by calling for more aid, increased debt relief and responsible lending to Africa. Curlin nipped Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense to win the Preakness Stakes.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama and other G-8 leaders held economic talks at Camp David, where they declared that their governments needed to both spark growth and cut debt. Chen Guangcheng (, a blind Chinese legal activist, was hurriedly taken from a hospital and put on a plane for the United States, closing a nearly monthlong diplomatic tussle that had tested U.S.-China relations. I'll Have Another overtook Bodemeister down the stretch to win the Preakness, two weeks after claiming the Kentucky Derby. (A tendon injury forced I'll Have Another into retirement on the eve of the Belmont Stakes.)

One year ago: An EgyptAir jetliner en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people aboard swerved wildly in flight before crashing into the Mediterranean Sea; the cause has yet to be officially determined, although a bomb is suspected. Veteran "60 Minutes" correspondent Morley Safer died in New York at age 84. Actor-comedian Alan Young, who played straight man to a talking horse in the 1960s sitcom "Mister Ed," died in Woodland Hills, California, at age 96.

Today's Birthdays: PBS newscaster Jim Lehrer is 83. TV personality David Hartman is 82. Actor James Fox is 78. Actress Nancy Kwan is 78. Actor Peter Mayhew is 73. Rock singer-composer Pete Townshend (The Who) is 72. Concert pianist David Helfgott is 70. Rock singer-musician Dusty Hill (ZZ Top) is 68. College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL player Archie Manning is 68. Singer-actress Grace Jones is 65. Rock musician Phil Rudd (AC-DC) is 63. Actor Steven Ford is 61. Actress Toni Lewis is 57. Rock musician Iain Harvie (Del Amitri) is 55. Actress Polly Walker is 51. Actor Jason Gray-Stanford is 47. Gospel singer Israel Houghton is 46. Rock singer Jenny Berggren (Ace of Base) is 45. Race car driver Dario Franchitti is 44. TV personality Kim Zolciak Biermann (TV: "Real Housewives of Atlanta") is 39. Country/rock singer Shooter Jennings is 38. Actor Drew Fuller is 37. Actor-comedian Michael Che (TV: "Saturday Night Live") is 34. Christian rock musician Tim McTague is 34. Rock musician James Richardson (MGMT) is 34. Actor Eric Lloyd is 31. Pop singer Sam Smith is 25. Actor Nolan Lyons is 16.

Thought for Today: "We are torn between nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange. As often as not, we are homesick most for the places we have never known." -- Carson McCullers, American author (1917-1967).