Today in History

Today in History

Today is Monday, May 14, the 134th day of 2018. There are 231 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 14, 1948, according to the current-era calendar, the independent state of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv by David Ben-Gurion, who became its first prime minister; U.S. President Harry S. Truman immediately recognized the new nation.

On this date:

In 1643, Louis XIV became King of France at age four upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.

In 1796, English physician Edward Jenner inoculated 8-year-old James Phipps against smallpox by using cowpox matter.

In 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory as well as the Pacific Northwest left camp near present-day Hartford, Illinois.

In 1900, the Olympic games opened in Paris as part of the 1900 World's Fair.

In 1925, the Virginia Woolf novel "Mrs Dalloway" was first published in England and the United States.

In 1942, Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" was first publicly performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

In 1955, representatives from eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland. (The Pact was dissolved in 1991.)

In 1961, Freedom Riders were attacked by violent mobs in Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama.

In 1968, John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a news conference in New York to announce the creation of the Beatles' latest business venture, Apple Corps.

In 1973, the United States launched Skylab 1, its first manned space station. (Skylab 1 remained in orbit for six years before burning up during re-entry in 1979.) The National Right to Life Committee was incorporated.

In 1988, 27 people, mostly teens, were killed when their church bus collided with a pickup truck going the wrong direction on a highway near Carrollton, Kentucky. (Truck driver Larry Mahoney served 9 1/2 years in prison for manslaughter.)

In 1998, Frank Sinatra died at a Los Angeles hospital at age 82. The hit sitcom "Seinfeld" aired its final episode after nine seasons on NBC.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush opened a celebratory visit to Israel, which was marking the 60th anniversary of its birth. Former rival John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination during a surprise appearance at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species because of the loss of Arctic sea ice. Justine Henin (EH'-nen), 25, became the first woman to retire from tennis while atop the WTA rankings.

Five years ago: In an op-ed appearing in The New York Times, Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie said she'd undergone a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer. Flamboyant huckster Billie Sol Estes died in DeCordova Bend, Texas, at age 88.

One year ago: Emmanuel Macron (eh-mahn-yoo-EHL' mah-KROHN') swept into office as France's new president, pledging to fortify the European Union, redesign French politics and glue together his divided nation. Five days after South Korea elected a president who expressed a desire to reach out to North Korea, Pyongyang sent a challenge to its rival's new leader by test-firing a ballistic missile. Actor Powers Boothe died in Los Angeles at age 68. Kara McCullough, a 25-year-old scientist working for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and representing the District of Columbia, was crowned Miss USA at the pageant in Las Vegas.

Today's Birthdays: Photo-realist artist Richard Estes is 86. Actress Dame Sian Phillips is 85. Former Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., is 76. Movie producer George Lucas is 74. Actress Meg Foster is 70. Movie director Robert Zemeckis is 67. Rock singer David Byrne is 66. Actor Tim Roth is 57. Rock singer Ian Astbury (The Cult) is 56. Rock musician C.C. (aka Cecil) DeVille is 56. Actor Danny Huston is 56. Rock musician Mike Inez (Alice In Chains) is 52. Fabrice Morvan (ex-Milli Vanilli) is 52. Rhythm-and-blues singer Raphael Saadiq is 52. Actress Cate Blanchett is 49. Singer Danny Wood (New Kids on the Block) is 49. Movie writer-director Sofia Coppola (KOH'-pah-lah) is 47. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is 46. Actor Gabriel Mann is 46. Singer Natalie Appleton (All Saints) is 45. Singer Shanice is 45. Actress Carla Jimenez is 44. Rock musician Henry Garza (Los Lonely Boys) is 40. Alt-country musician-singer Ketch Secor is 40. Rock singer-musician Dan Auerbach is 39. Rock musician Mike Retondo (Plain White T's) is 37. Actress Amber Tamblyn is 35. Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is 34. Actress Lina Esco is 33. NFL player Rob Gronkowski is 29. Actress Miranda Cosgrove is 25.

Thought for Today: "The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." - Dorothy Parker, American author, humorist, poet (1893-1967).