Today is Friday, May 29, the 150th day of 2020. There are 216 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 29, 1988, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened their historic summit in Moscow.
On this date:
In 1765, Patrick Henry denounced the Stamp Act before Virginia’s House of Burgesses.
In 1914, the Canadian ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the St. Lawrence River in eastern Quebec after colliding with the Norwegian cargo ship SS Storstad; of the 1,477 people on board the Empress of Ireland, 1,012 died. (The Storstad sustained only minor damage.)
In 1917, the 35th president of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts.
In 1953, Mount Everest was conquered as Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tensing Norgay of Nepal became the first climbers to reach the summit.
In 1995, Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to serve in both the House and the Senate, died in Skowhegan, Maine, at age 97.
In 1998, Republican elder statesman Barry Goldwater died in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at age 89.
In 2009, a judge in Los Angeles sentenced music producer Phil Spector to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson.
One year ago: In his first public remarks on the Russia investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller said charging President Donald Trump with a crime was “not an option” because of federal rules, but he emphasized that the investigation did not exonerate the president. A 2-year-old girl was struck in the head by a foul ball off the bat of Chicago Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. in a game against the Astros in Houston; an attorney for the girl’s family later said she had suffered a skull fracture. (The Astros and other teams extended protective netting further down the left-field and right-field lines later in the season.)
Today’s Birthdays: Former Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent is 82. Motorsports Hall of Famer Al Unser is 81. Actor Helmut Berger is 76. Rock singer Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) is 75. Actor Anthony Geary is 73. Actor Cotter Smith is 71. Singer Rebbie (ree-bee) Jackson is 70. Movie composer Danny Elfman is 67. Singer LaToya Jackson is 64. Actor Ted Levine is 63. Actress Annette Bening is 62. Actor Rupert Everett is 61. Actor Adrian Paul is 61. Singer Melissa Etheridge is 59. Actress Lisa Whelchel is 57.
Thought for Today: “What makes us discontented with our condition is the absurdly exaggerated idea we have of the happiness of others.” — French saying.
