19th May: Today In History

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

Today’s Highlight in History:

Events:

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.)

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.)

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.

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

1992:  In a case that drew much notoriety, Mary Jo Buttafuoco (buh-tuh-FYOO’-koh) 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.

1994:  Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in New York at age 64

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.

Quotes Of The Day:

Make yourself a priority. At the end of the day, you’re your longest commitment.

Don't start the day with the broken pieces of yesterday. Everyday is a brand new start.