Today in History - May 18
Today is Sunday, May 18, the 139th day of 2008. There are 227 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On May 18, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
On this date:
In 1642, the Canadian city of Montreal was founded by French colonists.
In 1804, the French Senate proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte emperor.
In 1896, the Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, endorsed "separate but equal" racial segregation, a concept that was renounced 58 years later with Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
In 1920, Pope John Paul II was born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland.
In 1926, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished while visiting a beach in Venice, Calif.; she reappeared more than a month later, claiming to have been kidnapped.
In 1927, a schoolhouse in Bath, Mich., was blown up with explosives planted by local farmer Andrew Kehoe, who then set off a dynamite-laden automobile; the attacks killed 38 children and six adults, including Kehoe, who'd earlier killed his wife.
In 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier as she piloted a North American F-86 Canadair over Rogers Dry Lake, Calif.
In 1967, Tennessee Gov. Buford Ellington signed a measure repealing the law against teaching evolution that was used to prosecute John T. Scopes in 1925.
In 1980, the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state exploded, leaving 57 people dead or missing.
In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first British citizen to rocket into space as she flew aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft with two cosmonauts on an eight-day mission.
Ten years ago: The government filed an antitrust case against Microsoft Corp., saying the powerful software company had a "choke hold" on competitors that was denying consumers important choices about how they bought and used computers. (The Justice Department and Microsoft reached a settlement in 2001.) The Supreme Court ruled that even public broadcasting stations owned and run by states need not invite marginal candidates to political debates they sponsor.
Five years ago: A Hamas suicide attacker disguised as an observant Jew killed seven Israeli bus passengers. Pope John Paul II celebrated his 83rd birthday with an open-air Mass and requests for prayers so he could continue his papacy. "Les Miserables" closed on Broadway after more than 16 years and 6,680 performances.
One year ago: The White House and Congress failed to strike a deal after exchanging competing offers on an Iraq war spending bill that Democrats said should set a date for U.S. troops to leave. French President Nicolas Sarkozy named a radically revamped cabinet which included seven women among its 15 members.
Today's Birthdays: Actor Bill Macy is 86. Sportscaster Jack Whitaker is 84. Actor Pernell Roberts is 80. Actor Robert Morse is 77. Actor and television executive Dwayne Hickman is 74. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Brooks Robinson is 71. Bluegrass singer-musician Rodney Dillard (The Dillards) is 66. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Reggie Jackson is 62. Actress Candice Azzara is 61. Country singer Joe Bonsall (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 60. Rock musician Rick Wakeman (Yes) is 59. Actor James Stephens is 57. Country singer George Strait is 56. Rhythm-and-blues singer Butch Tavares (Tavares) is 55. Actor Chow Yun-Fat is 53. Rock singer-musician Page Hamilton is 48. Contemporary Christian musician Barry Graul (MercyMe) is 47. Singer-actress Martika is 39. Comedian-writer Tina Fey is 38. Rapper Special Ed is 34. Rock singer Jack Johnson is 33. Rhythm-and-blues singer Darryl Allen (Mista) is 28. Actor Matt Long is 28. Christian-rock musician Kevin Huguley (Rush of Fools) is 26. Actor Spencer Breslin is 16.
Thought for Today: "Life is a joke that's just begun." — W.S. Gilbert, English librettist (1836-1911).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080518/...n_hi/history_1