Today is Thursday, May 19, the 139th day of 2005. There are 226 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 19, 1935, T.E. Lawrence, also known as “Lawrence of Arabia,” died in Dorset, England, from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash.
On this date:
In 1643, delegates from four New England colonies met in Boston to form a confederation.
In 1906, the Federated Boys’ Clubs, forerunner of the Boys’ Clubs of America, were organized.
In 1943, in an address to the U.S. Congress, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill pledged his country’s full support in the war against Japan.
In 1954, American composer Charles Ives died in New York.
In 1958, the United States and Canada formally established the North American Air Defense Command.
In 1962, during a Democratic fundraiser at New York’s Madison Square Garden, actress Marilyn Monroe performed a sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday to You” for guest-of-honor President Kennedy.
In 1964, the State Department disclosed that 40 hidden microphones had been found in the U.S. embassy in Moscow.
In 1967, the Soviet Union ratified a treaty with the United States and Britain banning nuclear weapons from outer space.
In 1992, the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits Congress from giving itself mid-term pay raises, went into effect.
In 1994, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in New York at age 64.
Ten years ago: The Senate voted, 99-0, to reject President Clinton’s spending blueprint. NASA’s administrator unveiled plans to slash thousands of aerospace jobs.
Five years ago: China and the European Union reached a market-opening trade deal, clearing Beijing’s largest remaining hurdle to joining the World Trade Organization. Masked gunmen launched a coup in Fiji that toppled Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, the country’s first ethnic Indian premier.
One year ago: Specialist Jeremy C. Sivits wept and apologized after receiving a year in prison and a bad conduct discharge in the first court-martial stemming from abuse of Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison. Outraged relatives of World Trade Center victims heckled former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani during his appearance before the Sept. 11 commission. Two men hurled purple flour at British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the House of Commons. Manmohan Singh, a 71-year-old technocrat, was named India’s new prime minister. Millionaire philanthropist Jack Eckerd, founder of the drugstore empire that bears his name, died in Clearwater, Fla., at age 91.
Today’s Birthdays: PBS newscaster Jim Lehrer is 71. TV personality David Hartman is 70. Actor James Fox is 66. Actress Nancy Kwan is 66. Author-director Nora Ephron is 64. Rock singer-composer Pete Townshend (The Who) is 60. Concert pianist David Helfgott is 58. Rock singer-musician Dusty Hill (ZZ Top) is 56. Singer-actress Grace Jones is 53. Rock musician Phil Rudd (AC-DC) is 51. Baseball catcher Rick Cerone is 51. Actor Steven Ford is 49. Rock musician Iain Harvie (Del Amitri) is 43. Rock singer Jenny Berggren (Ace of Base) is 33. Actor Eric Lloyd is 19.
Thought for Today: “There could be no honor in a sure success, but much might be wrested from a sure defeat.” — T.E. Lawrence, English soldier and author (1888-1935).