Today in History: 05-29-14

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Today is Thursday, May 29, the 149th day of 2014. There are 216 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight:
On May 29, 1914, the Canadian ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the St. Lawrence River in
eastern Quebec after colliding with the Norwegian cargo ship SS Storstad; of the 1,477 people on board
the Empress of Ireland, 1,012 died. (The Storstad suffered only minor damage.)
On this date:
In 1765, Patrick Henry denounced the Stamp Act before Virginia’s House of Burgesses.
In 1790, Rhode Island became the 13th original colony to ratify the United States Constitution.
In 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state of the union.
In 1917, the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts.

In 1942, the movie "Yankee Doodle Dandy," starring James Cagney as George M. Cohan, premiered
at a war-bonds benefit in New York. Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter
Orchestra recorded Irving Berlin’s "White Christmas" in Los Angeles for Decca Records.
In 1953, Mount Everest was conquered as Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tensing Norgay of Nepal became
the first climbers to reach the summit.
In 1961, a couple in Paynesville, West Virginia, became the first recipients of food stamps under a pilot
program created by President John F. Kennedy.
In 1973, Tom Bradley was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles, defeating incumbent Sam Yorty.
In 1999, Discovery became the first space shuttle to dock with the International Space Station.
Ten years ago: A shooting rampage by al-Qaida militants at a housing complex in Khobar, Saudi Arabia’s
oil hub, killed 22 people, most of them foreign oil industry workers. America dedicated a memorial to
its World War II veterans on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Death claimed former Watergate
special prosecutor Archibald Cox at age 92 and Sam Dash, former chief counsel of the Senate Select
Committee on Watergate, at age 79.
Five years ago: A judge in Los Angeles sentenced music producer Phil Spector to 19 years to life in
prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson.

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