Today In History

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May 26, there are 219 days remaining in this year.

 

1521– Martin Luther’s writings were banned by the Edict of Worms.

1868– President Andrew Johnson avoided conviction for impeachment charges of “high crimes and misdemeanors” by one vote.

1940– Allied troops began the massive naval evacuation of troops from Dunkirk, France, during World War II.

1959– Pittsburgh Pirates’ Harvey Haddix pitched 12 perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves before losing, 1–0, in the 13th.

1977– George Willig, “the human fly,” scaled the World Trade Center in New York City by attaching himself to the window washer mechanism and walking straight up until falling into police custody when he reached the top. It took Willig three and a half hours to make the climb, and $1.10 in fines—a penny per floor.

1978– The first legal casino to be operated in the United States outside of Nevada was opened in Atlantic City.

2003– Rwandans voted to approve a new constitution that instituted a balance of power between Hutu and Tutsi.

2011– Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general responsible for the massacre of over 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995, is found and arrested in Lazarevo, a farming town north of Belgrade, Serbia.

 

Birthdays

1837– Washington Augustus Roebling, engineer, pioneer in building of suspension bridges

1878– Isadora Duncan, dancer, pioneer of modern dance

1886– Al Jolson, actor, singer

1895– Dorothea Lange, photographer, “Migrant Mother”

1907– John Wayne, actor

1926– Miles Davis, jazz musician

1948– Stevie Nicks, singer, Fleetwood Mac

1951– Sally K. Ride, American astronaut, first U.S. woman in space

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