24th May: Today In History

Today is Wednesday, May 24th, the 144th day of 2017. There are 221 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

Events:

1775:  John Hancock was unanimously elected President of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, succeeding Peyton Randolph.

1844:  Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message “What hath God wrought” from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America’s first telegraph line.

1883:  The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, was dedicated by President Chester Alan Arthur and New York Gov. Grover Cleveland.

1935:  The first major league baseball game to be played at night took place at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field as the Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1.

1937:  In a set of rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Social Security Act of 1935.

1941:  The German battleship Bismarck sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood in the North Atlantic, killing all but three of the 1,418 men on board.

1957:  Anti-American rioting broke out in Taipei, Taiwan, over the acquittal of a U.S. Army sergeant who had shot and killed a Chinese man.1962, astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Aurora 7.

1976:  Britain and France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde supersonic transport service to Washington.

1977:  In a surprise move, the Kremlin ousted Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny from the Communist Party’s ruling Politburo.

1980:  Iran rejected a call by the World Court in The Hague to release the American hostages.

1994:  Four Islamic fundamentalists convicted of bombing New York’s World Trade Center in 1993 were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.

2001:  23 people were killed when the floor of a Jerusalem wedding hall collapsed beneath dancing guests, sending them plunging several stories into the basement.

Birthdays:

Actor-comedian-impressionist Stanley Baxter is 91.

Jazz musician Archie Shepp is 80.

Comedian Tommy Chong is 79.

Singer Bob Dylan is 76.

Actor Gary Burghoff is 74.

Singer Patti LaBelle is 73.

Actress Priscilla Presley is 72.

Country singer Mike Reid is 70.

Actor Jim Broadbent is 68.

Quotes Of The Day: 

Follow your heart. Regardless of what others tell you to do, it's how you feel at the end of the day that matters!

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