Today is Thursday, May 7, the 128th day of 2020. There are 238 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On May 7, 1789, America’s first inaugural ball was held in New York in honor of President George Washington, who had taken the oath of office a week earlier.

On this date:

In 1889, the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore opened its doors.

In 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner RMS Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans, out of the nearly 2,000 on board.

In 1939, Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.

In 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims (rams), France, ending its role in World War II.

In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford formally declared an end to the “Vietnam era.” In Ho Chi Minh City — formerly Saigon — the Viet Cong celebrated its takeover.

In 1992, the latest addition to America’s space shuttle fleet, Endeavour, went on its first flight.

In 1998, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz agreed to buy Chrysler Corp. for more than $37 billion.

Today’s Birthdays: Rhythm-and-blues singer Thelma Houston is 77. Actress Robin Strasser is 75. Singer-songwriter Bill Danoff is 74. Rock musician Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead) is 74. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is 73. Rock musician Prairie Prince is 70. Movie writer-director Amy Heckerling is 68. Actor Michael E. Knight is 61. Rock musician Phil Campbell (Motorhead) is 59.

Thought for Today: “There are those who believe something, and therefore will tolerate nothing; and on the other hand, those who tolerate everything, because they believe nothing.” — Robert Browning, English poet (born this date in 1812; died in 1889).