Today is Tuesday, May 25th, the 145th day of the year 2021. The year still has 220 days.
Today’s highlight in history
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a black man, died when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for about 9 1/2 minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and pleaded that he could not breathe. Floyd’s death, captured on video by a viewer, would spark global protests, some of which turned violent, and a re-investigation into racism and policing in the United States
On this date
1787: The Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia after enough delegates appeared for a quorum.
1935: Babe Ruth hit his last three career home runs – # 712, 713, and 714 – for the Boston Braves in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. (The pirates won 11-7.)
1946: Transjordan (now Jordan) became a kingdom when it proclaimed its new monarch, Abdullah I.
1959: The US Supreme Court enacted Louisiana law in the State Athletic Commission v. Dorsey case that bans interracial boxing matches. (The case was brought in by Joseph Dorsey Jr., a black professional boxer.)
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy told Congress, “I believe this nation should commit to achieving the goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth before this decade is up.”
1964: The U.S. Supreme Court in the Griffin v County School Board of Prince Edward County ordered Virginia to reopen its public schools, which officials had closed to circumvent the 1954 Brown v Board of Education decision of the Supreme Court on the desegregation in Topeka.
1965: Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in the first round of their world heavyweight title rematch in Lewiston, Maine. (Ali’s victory sparked controversy over whether he really had made a connection when he smacked Liston on the canvas with a right to the head, or whether it was a “phantom strike,” suggesting the fight has been resolved was.)
1977: The first “Star Wars” film (later titled “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”) was released by 20th Century Fox.
1979: 273 people died when an American Airlines DC-10 crashed shortly after taking off from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared on the way to a school bus stop in Lower Manhattan. (In April 2017, ex-shop clerk Pedro Hernandez, convicted of Etan’s murder, was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison.)
1992: Jay Leno made his debut as the host of NBC’s “Tonight Show”, replacing Johnny Carson.
2008: NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander arrived on the Red Planet to search for evidence of water. The spaceship confirmed the presence of water ice at its landing site.
2018: Harvey Weinstein was charged with rape and another sex crime in New York in the first prosecution that arose out of the wave of allegations against him. The once powerful film producer faced the charges and was released on bail of $ 1 million after a court visit. (Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault; serving a 23-year prison term.)
Ten years ago: A Salt Lake City judge sentenced street preacher Brian David Mitchell to life imprisonment for the kidnapping and rape of Elizabeth Smart, who was 14 at the time of her abduction in 2002. A judge in Tucson, Arizona ruled that Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of wounding U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and killing six in a rampage, was mentally incapable of standing on trial.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama ended his historic visit to Vietnam before heading to Japan for a two-day summit of wealthy nations. It was revealed that about a dozen states are suing the Obama administration for instructing public schools in the United States to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. (A federal judge put the guideline on hold after the lawsuit was filed. The Trump administration overturned the Obama guidelines in February 2017.) Actor Johnny Depp’s wife Amber Heard filed for divorce in Los Angeles and led after Jan. Months of marriage show irreconcilable differences.
A year ago: President Donald Trump threatened to pull the Republican National Convention out of North Carolina if the state’s Democratic governor disagreed to allow a full-capacity meeting. (Charlotte would host a reduced portion of the events; prime-time speeches were delivered to largely virtual audiences from Washington and elsewhere.) Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery and Baltimore’s Fort McHenry on Memorial Day; Democrat Joe Biden chose Memorial Day for his first public appearance in two months. He placed a wreath in a park near his home in Delaware. Americans watched Memorial Day with small processions and online tributes that also remembered those lost to the coronavirus. A white woman, Amy Cooper, called 911 to claim she was being threatened by “an African American,” Christian Cooper, who had confronted her for walking her dog without a leash in New York’s Central Park. (After a video of the confrontation became widespread, Amy Cooper lost her job with the Franklin Templeton investment firm and was charged with filing a false police report. The charges were dismissed after completing a counseling program.)
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