Today is Saturday, May 17, the 137th day of 2014. There are 228 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, unanimously struck
down racially segregated public schools, ruling that "separate educational facilities are
inherently unequal."
On this date:
In 1792, the New York Stock Exchange had its origins as a group of brokers met under a tree on Wall
Street.
In 1912, the Socialist Party of America nominated Eugene V. Debs for president at its convention in
Indianapolis.
In 1933, U.S. News & World Report had its beginnings as David Lawrence began publishing a weekly
newspaper called United States News.
In 1939, Britain’s King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, arrived in Quebec on the first visit to
Canada by a reigning British monarch.
In 1946, President Harry S. Truman seized control of the nation’s railroads, delaying – but not
preventing – a threatened strike by engineers and trainmen.
In 1961, Cuban leader Fidel Castro offered to release prisoners captured in the Bay of Pigs invasion in
exchange for 500 bulldozers. (The prisoners were eventually freed in exchange for medical supplies.)
In 1973, a special committee convened by the U.S. Senate began its televised hearings into the Watergate
scandal.
In 1974, four car bombs exploded in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland, killing 33 people (the Ulster Volunteer
Force claimed responsibility two decades later).
In 1987, 37 American sailors were killed when an Iraqi warplane attacked the U.S. Navy frigate Stark in
the Persian Gulf. (Iraq apologized for the attack, calling it a mistake, and paid more than $27 million
in compensation.)
Ten years ago: Massachusetts became the first state to allow legal same-sex marriages.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama strode head-on into the stormy abortion debate, telling graduates
at the University of Notre Dame that both sides had to stop demonizing one another.
One year ago: The ousted head of the Internal Revenue Service, Steven Miller, faced hours of intense
grilling before Congress; both defiant and apologetic, Miller acknowledged agency mistakes in targeting
tea party groups for special scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status, but insisted that agents
broke no laws and that there was no effort to cover up their actions.