Today in History

Today in History

Today is Saturday, May 16, the 137th day of 2020. There are 229 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 16, 1943, the nearly month-long Warsaw Ghetto Uprising came to an end as German forces crushed the Jewish resistance and blew up the Great Synagogue.

On this date:

In 1770, Marie Antoinette, age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.

In 1868, at the U.S. Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, 35 out of 54 senators voted to find Johnson guilty of "high crimes and misdemeanors" over his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, falling one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict; the trial ended 10 days later after two other articles of impeachment went down to defeat as well.

In 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized by Pope Benedict XV.

In 1939, the federal government began its first food stamp program in Rochester, New York.

In 1953, Associated Press correspondent William N. Oatis was released by Communist authorities in Czechoslovakia, where he had been imprisoned for two years after being forced to confess to espionage while working as the AP's Prague bureau chief.

In 1966, China launched the Cultural Revolution, a radical as well as deadly reform movement aimed at purging the country of "counter-revolutionaries."

In 1975, Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

In 1984, comedian Andy Kaufman died in Los Angeles at age 35.

In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court, in California v. Greenwood, ruled that police could search discarded garbage without a search warrant. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop released a report declaring nicotine was addictive in ways similar to heroin and cocaine.

In 1990, death claimed entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. in Los Angeles at age 64 and "Muppets" creator Jim Henson in New York at age 53.

In 1991, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the United States Congress as she lauded U.S.-British cooperation in the Persian Gulf War.

In 2006, the Pentagon released the first video images of American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the military headquarters and killing 189 people on 9/11.

Ten years ago: BP crews finally succeeded in keeping some of the oil rushing from a blown well out of the Gulf of Mexico by hooking up a mile-long tube to funnel the crude into a tanker ship. Space shuttle Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station. Rafael Nadal won a record 18th Masters title by beating Roger Federer 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the Madrid final. Lebanese-born Miss Michigan Rima Fakih won the 2010 Miss USA title.

Five years ago: U.S. commandos killed a man described as the Islamic State's head of oil operations in a rare ground attack inside Syria. An Egyptian court sentenced the country's first freely elected leader, ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, to death over a mass prison break during the 2011 uprising that eventually brought him to power. (Morsi collapsed and died in court in June, 2019, during trial on espionage charges.) American Pharoah won the Preakness in a driving rain, keeping alive his Triple Crown bid, which he achieved at the Belmont Stakes the following month.

One year ago: The death of globe-trotting architect I.M. Pei was confirmed by his New York company; one of Pei's sons said he had died overnight at the age of 102. Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was ordered back to jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. (Manning was released in March, 2020 after prosecutors reported that the grand jury that subpoenaed her had disbanded.) Prosecutors in Dallas said Billy Chemirmir, a man who'd previously been arrested in the death of an 81-year-old woman, had been charged with killing at least 11 more elderly women whose jewelry and other valuables he allegedly stole. "The Big Bang Theory" closed out its run as television's top-rated comedy; the series had won 10 Emmy Awards, including four acting honors for Jim Parsons.

Today's Birthdays: Former U.S. Senator and Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker is 89. Former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats is 77. Jazz musician Billy Cobham is 76. Actor Danny Trejo is 76. Actor Bill Smitrovich is 73. Actor Pierce Brosnan is 67. Actress Debra Winger is 65. Olympic gold medal gymnast Olga Korbut is 64. Olympic gold medal marathon runner Joan Benoit Samuelson is 62. Actress Mare Winningham is 61. Rock musician Boyd Tinsley (The Dave Matthews Band) is 56. Rock musician Krist Novoselic is 55. Singer Janet Jackson is 54. Country singer Scott Reeves (Blue County) is 54. Actor Brian F. O'Byrne is 53. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ralph Tresvant (New Edition) is 52. Actor David Boreanaz is 51. Political correspondent Tucker Carlson is 51. Actress Tracey Gold is 51. International Tennis Hall of Famer Gabriela Sabatini is 50. Country singer Rick Trevino is 49. Musician Simon Katz is 49. TV personality Bill Rancic is 49. Actor Khary Payton is 48. Rapper Special Ed is 48. Actress Tori Spelling is 47. Actor Sean Carrigan is 46. Singer-rapper B. Slade (formerly known as Tonex) is 45. Actress Lynn Collins is 43. Actress Melanie Lynskey is 43. Actor Jim Sturgess is 42. Actor Joseph Morgan is 39. DJ Alex Pall (The Chainsmokers) is 35. Actress Megan Fox is 34. Actor Drew Roy is 34. Actor Jacob Zachar is 34. Actor-comedian Jermaine Fowler is 32. Actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster is 30. Actor Marc John Jefferies is 30. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Ashley Wagner is 29. Actor Miles Heizer is 26.

Thought for Today: "Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying." -- Studs Terkel, American author and historian (born this date in 1912, died 2008).

Copyright 2020, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.