Today in History

Today is Monday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2022. There are 222 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On May 23, 1984, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued a report saying there was “very solid” evidence linking cigarette smoke to lung disease in non-smokers.

On this date:

In 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English.

In 1533, the marriage of England’s King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon was declared null and void by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer.

In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary during World War I.

In 1934, bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death in a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

In 1937, industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, founder of the Standard Oil Co. and the Rockefeller Foundation, died in Ormond Beach, Florida, at age 97.

In 1939, the Navy submarine USS Squalus sank during a test dive off the New England coast. Thirty-two crew members and one civilian were rescued, but 26 others died; the sub was salvaged and recommissioned the USS Sailfish.

In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces bogged down in Anzio began a major breakout offensive.

In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler committed suicide by biting into a cyanide capsule while in British custody in Luneburg, Germany.

In 1967, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, an action that helped precipitate war between Israel and its Arab neighbors the following month.

In 1975, comedian Jackie “Moms” Mabley, 81, died in White Plains, New York.

In 2007, President George W. Bush, speaking at the U.S. Coast Guard commencement, portrayed the Iraq war as a battle between the U.S. and al-Qaida and said Osama bin Laden was setting up a terrorist cell in Iraq to strike targets in America.

In 2016, during his visit to Asia, President Barack Obama, eager to banish lingering shadows of the Vietnam War, lifted the U.S. embargo on selling arms to America’s former enemy. Prosecutors failed for the second time in their bid to hold Baltimore police accountable for the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, as an officer was acquitted in the racially charged case that triggered riots a year earlier.

Ten years ago: Egypt held the Arab world’s first competitive presidential vote. (Islamist Mohammed Morsi was ultimately named the winner following a runoff.)

Five years ago: President Donald Trump made a personal appeal for peace between Israel and the Palestinians as he closed a four-day swing through the Middle East. Roger Moore, the star of seven James Bond films, died in Switzerland at age 89.

One year ago: A cable car taking visitors to a mountaintop view of northern Italy’s most picturesque lakes plummeted to the ground and tumbled down a slope, killing 14 people. (The lone survivor, a 6-year-old boy, became the subject of a custody battle between family members in Italy and Israel; the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that he should be returned to his relatives in Italy.) A Ryanair jetliner flying from Greece to Lithuania was forced to land in Belarus so authorities there could arrest a passenger, journalist Raman Pratasevich, a key foe of authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. At age 50, Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship in South Carolina to become the oldest major champion in golf history. Children’s author and illustrator Eric Carle, known for the classic “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” died at 91 in Massachusetts.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Barbara Barrie is 91. Actor Joan Collins is 89. Actor Charles Kimbrough is 86. International Tennis Hall of Famer John Newcombe is 78. Actor Lauren Chapin is 77. Country singer Judy Rodman is 71. Chess grandmaster Anatoly Karpov is 71. Singer Luka Bloom is 67. New York Mets manager Buck Showalter is 66. Actor-comedian-game show host Drew Carey is 64. Actor Lea DeLaria is 64. Country singer Shelly West is 64. Author Mitch Albom is 64. Actor Linden Ashby is 62. Actor-model Karen Duffy is 61. Actor Melissa McBride is 57. Rock musician Phil Selway (Radiohead) is 55. Actor Laurel Holloman is 54. Rock musician Matt Flynn (Maroon 5) is 52. Country singer Brian McComas is 50. Actor John Pollono is 50. Singer Maxwell is 49. Singer Jewel is 48. Game show contestant Ken Jennings is 48. Actor LaMonica Garrett is 47. Actor D.J. Cotrona is 42. Actor Lane Garrison is 42. Actor-comedian Tim Robinson is 41. Actor Adam Wylie is 38. Movie writer-director Ryan Coogler is 36. Golfer Morgan Pressel is 34. Actor Alberto Frezza is 33. Folk/pop singer/songwriter Sarah Jarosz (juh-ROHZ’) is 31.

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