Today in History
Today is Wednesday, May 16, the 136th day of 2018. There are 229 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 16, 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.
On this date:
In 1532, Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro and a small band of soldiers landed on the northwestern coast of Peru.
In 1703 (Old Style calendar), the Russian city of Saint Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great.
In 1770, Marie Antoinette, age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.
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 1946, the Irving Berlin musical “Annie Get Your Gun,” starring Ethel Merman as Annie Oakley, opened on Broadway.
In 1948, CBS News correspondent George Polk, who had been covering the Greek civil war between communist and nationalist forces, was found slain in Salonika Harbor.
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 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 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.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush visited Saudi Arabia, where he failed to win help from Saudi leaders to relieve skyrocketing American gas prices. Osama bin Laden said in an audio statement that al-Qaida would continue its holy war against Israel and its allies until the liberation of the Palestinians. Robert Mondavi, the patriarch of California wine country, died in Yountville at age 94.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama named a temporary chief for the scandal-marred Internal Revenue Service and pressed Congress to approve new security money to prevent another Benghazi-style terrorist attack. Candice Glover won the 12th season of “American Idol” on Fox.
One year ago: The White House issued a furious denial after a report that President Donald Trump personally appealed to FBI Director James Comey to abandon the bureau’s investigation into National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. President Trump met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (REH’-jehp TY’-ihp UR’-doh-wahn) at the White House, where both leaders vowed to repair a relationship battered by years of disputes over Syria’s civil war and its various fighting groups.
Today’s Birthdays: Former U.S. Rep John Conyers, D-Mich., is 89. Former U.S. Senator and Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker is 87. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats is 75. Jazz musician Billy Cobham is 74. Actor Danny Trejo is 74. Actor Bill Smitrovich is 71. Actor Pierce Brosnan is 65. Actress Debra Winger is 63. Olympic gold medal gymnast Olga Korbut is 63. Olympic gold medal marathon runner Joan Benoit Samuelson is 61. Actress Mare Winningham is 59. Rock musician Boyd Tinsley (The Dave Matthews Band) is 54. Rock musician Krist Novoselic is 53. Singer Janet Jackson is 52. Country singer Scott Reeves (Blue County) is 52. Actor Brian F. O’Byrne is 51. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ralph Tresvant (New Edition) is 50. Actor David Boreanaz is 49. Political correspondent Tucker Carlson is 49. Actress Tracey Gold is 49. International Tennis Hall of Famer Gabriela Sabatini is 48. Country singer Rick Trevino is 47. Musician Simon Katz is 47. TV personality Bill Rancic is 47. Actress Tori Spelling is 45. Actor Sean Carrigan is 44. Singer-rapper B. Slade (formerly known as Tonex) is 43. Actress Lynn Collins is 41. Actress Melanie Lynskey is 41. Actor Jim Sturgess is 40. Actor Joseph Morgan is 37. DJ Alex Pall (The Chainsmokers) is 33. Actress Megan Fox is 32. Actor Drew Roy is 32. Actor Jacob Zachar is 32. Actor-comedian Jermaine Fowler is 30. Actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster is 28. Actor Marc John Jefferies is 28. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Ashley Wagner is 27. Actor Miles Heizer is 24.
Thought for Today: “I want, of course, peace, grace, and beauty. How do you do that? You work for it.” — Studs Terkel, American writer (born this date in 1912, died 2008).