Today's Highlight in History:

On May 7, 1915, nearly 1,200 people died when a German torpedo sank the British liner Lusitania off the Irish coast.

On this date:

In 1789, the first inaugural ball was held in New York in honor of President and Mrs. George Washington.

In 1847, the American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.

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, France.

In 1954, 50 years ago, the 55-day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.

In 1963, the United States launched the Telstar Two communications satellite.

In 1975, President Ford formally declared an end to the "Vietnam era." In Ho Chi Minh City - formerly Saigon - the Viet Cong celebrated its takeover.

In 1977, Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby, the first of its Triple Crown victories.

In 1984, a $180 million out-of-court settlement was announced in the Agent Orange class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans who charged they'd suffered injury from exposure to the defoliant.

In 2002, Seattle Slew died in Lexington, Kentucky, at age 28.

Years ago...

Ten years ago: Norway's most famous painting, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch, was recovered almost three months after it was stolen from an Oslo museum. Go For Gin won the 120th Kentucky Derby.

Five years ago: NATO jets struck the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people and injuring 20; President Clinton called the attack a "tragic mistake." A jury in Pontiac, Mich., ordered "The Jenny Jones Show" to pay $25 million to the family of Scott Amedure, a gay man who was shot to death after revealing a crush on Jonathan Schmitz, a fellow guest on the talk show.

One year ago: President Bush ordered U.S. sanctions against Iraq lifted, allowing U.S. humanitarian aid and remittances to flow into Iraq. The White House announced President Bush had chosen New Mexico oilman Colin R. McMillan to be secretary of the Navy and Air Force Secretary James Roche to replace the dismissed secretary of the Army, Thomas White. (However, McMillan died an apparent suicide the following July, while Roche's nomination is being held up in Congress.)

Today's Birthdays: Actor Darren McGavin is 82. Singer Teresa Brewer is 73. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) is 72. Singer Jimmy Ruffin is 65. Singer Johnny Maestro is 65. Actress Robin Strasser is 59. Singer-songwriter Bill Danoff is 58. Rock musician Bill Kreutzmann (The Dead) is 58. NBC newsman Tim Russert is 54. Actor Robert Hegyes is 53. Movie writer-director Amy Heckerling is 50. Actor Michael E. Knight is 45. Rock musician Phil Campbell (Motorhead) is 43. Country musician Rick Schell (Pinmonkey) is 41. Rock singer-musician Chris O'Connor (Primitive Radio Gods) is 39. Actress Traci Lords is 35. Singer Eagle-Eye Cherry is 32. Actor Breckin Meyer is 30. Actor Taylor Abrahamse is 13.


- posted by Bill @ 10:09 AM