May 22, 2009 - Today In History

Today is Friday, May 22, the 142nd day of 2009. There are 223 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 22, 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10, with Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard, flew to within nine miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.

On this date:

In 1813, composer Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany.

In 1859, author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In 1868, a major train robbery took place near Marshfield, Ind., as members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000 in loot.

In 1907, actor-director Laurence Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England.

In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a "Pact of Steel" committing the two countries to a military alliance.

In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was enacted as Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey.

In 1968, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, sank in the Atlantic Ocean. (The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores.)

In 1972, President Richard Nixon began a visit to the Soviet Union, during which he and Kremlin leaders signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The island nation of Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka.

In 1979, Canadians voted in parliamentary elections that put the Progressive Conservatives in power, ending the 11-year tenure of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

In 1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for the last time.

Ten years ago:

Columbine High School seniors wearing blue-and-silver gowns marched single file in a graduation ceremony that mixed celebration of the day with sorrow for victims of the recent massacre.

Five years ago:

In Tunisia, Arab leaders convened their annual summit, but the opening session was overshadowed
by the walkout of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who criticized peace efforts.

Filmmaker Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," a scathing indictment of Bush White House actions after the Sept. 11 attacks, won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Samuel C. Johnson Jr., who'd built the family's S.C. Johnson Wax company into a consumer products giant, died at age 76.

One year ago:

A Texas appeals court said the state had no right to take more than 400 children from a polygamist sect's ranch. (After the Texas Supreme Court upheld the ruling, the children were returned to their parents.)

Britain's Conservative Party won a special election that was viewed as a barometer of the popularity
of Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Gordon Brown.

Indiana Jones returned to the big screen in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

Today's Birthdays:

Movie reviewer Judith Crist is 87.

Singer Charles Aznavour is 85.

Actor Michael Constantine is 82.

Conductor Peter Nero is 75.

Actor-director Richard Benjamin is 71.

Actor Frank Converse is 71.

Actor Michael Sarrazin is 69.

Former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw is 69.

Actress Barbara Parkins is 67.

Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 59.

Actor-producer Al Corley is 53.

Singer Morrissey is 50.

Actress Ann Cusack is 48.

Country musician Dana Williams (Diamond Rio) is 48.

Rock musician Jesse Valenzuela is 47.

R&B singer Johnny Gill (New Edition) is 43.

Rock musician Dan Roberts (Crash Test Dummies) is 42.

Actress Brooke Smith is 42.

Model Naomi Campbell is 39.

Actress Anna Belknap is 37.

Actress Alison Eastwood is 37.

Singer Donell Jones is 36.

Actress A.J. Langer is 35.

Olympic gold-medal speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno is 27.

Thought for Today:

"It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations;
but it would be truer to say they are governed by the weakness of their imaginations."

— Walter Bagehot,
English editor and economist
(1826-1877).