Nelson Mandela waves to supporters as he leaves the home of the ailing window of the former head of the Pan African congress at her home in Soweto Thursday, May, 5, 1994. Mandela met with Urbania Mothopeng who was bedridden with a cold. Mandela is about to become South Africa's first black President and is schedule to be sworn in May 10. (AP Photo/Michael Yassukovich)

Today is Sunday, May 10, the 131st day of 2020. There are 235 days left in the year.

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Today’s Highlight

in History

On May 10, 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was named acting director of the Bureau of Investigation (later known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI).

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On this date

In 1611, Sir Thomas Dale arrived in the Virginia Colony, where, as deputy governor, he instituted harsh measures to restore order.

In 1774, Louis XVI acceded to the throne of France.

In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union forces in Irwinville, Georgia.

In 1869, a golden spike was driven in Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.

In 1933, the Nazis staged massive public book burnings in Germany.

In 1940, during World War II, German forces began invading the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. The same day, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned, and Winston Churchill formed a new government.

In 1941, Adolf Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess, parachuted into Scotland on what he claimed was a peace mission. (Hess ended up serving a life sentence at Spandau Prison until 1987, when he apparently committed suicide at age 93.)

In 1975, Sony began selling its Betamax home videocassette recorder in Japan.

In 1978, Britain’s Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon announced they were divorcing after 18 years of marriage.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela took the oath of office in Pretoria to become South Africa’s first black president. The state of Illinois executed serial killer John Wayne Gacy, 52, for the murders of 33 young men and boys.

In 2002, A tense 39-day-old standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem ended with 13 suspected militants flown into European exile and 26 released into the Gaza Strip.

In 2005, a federal bankruptcy judge approved United Airlines’ plan to terminate its employees’ pension plans.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama introduced Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, billing her as a unifying force for a fractured court. Sunday school teacher Melissa Huckaby, accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, pleaded guilty in Tracy, California, to murder. (Huckaby was later sentenced to life in prison.) The European Union put up a staggering $1 trillion to contain its spreading government debt crisis.

Five years ago: Cuban President Raul Castro met with Pope Francis at the Vatican to thank him for working for U.S.-Cuba detente — and said he was so impressed by the pontiff, he was considering returning to the Catholic church. In the first round of Poland’s presidential elections, Andrzej Duda narrowly edged out incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski. (Since neither candidate polled more than 50 percent, a runoff was held two weeks later; Duda won.)

One year ago: Trade talks between the U.S. and China broke up with no agreement, hours after President Donald Trump more than doubled tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. United Nations environmental officials said almost every country had agreed on a legally binding framework for reducing polluting plastic waste; the United States was a notable exception. On the first day that its stock was publicly traded, shares in Uber finished down 8%, reflecting lingering doubts about the company’s future prospects for profitability.

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MAY 11

On May 11, 1502, Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere.

In 1947, the B.F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio, announced the development of a tubeless tire.

In 1950, President Harry S. Truman formally dedicated the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state.

In 1981, legendary reggae artist Bob Marley died in a Miami hospital at age 36.

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MAY 12

On May 12, 2002, Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba, becoming the first U.S. president in or out of office to visit since the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.

In 1937, Britain’s King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey; his wife, Elizabeth, was crowned as queen consort.

In 1970, the Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harry A. Blackmun as a Supreme Court justice.

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MAY 13

On May 13, 1940, in his first speech as British prime minister, Winston Churchill told Parliament, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

In 1607, English colonists arrived by ship at the site of what became the Jamestown settlement in Virginia (the colonists went ashore the next day).

In 1914, heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis was born in Lafayette, Alabama.

In 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, were spat upon and their limousine battered by rocks thrown by anti-U.S. demonstrators in Caracas, Venezuela.

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MAY 14

On May 14, 1940, the Netherlands surrendered to invading German forces during World War II.

In 1643, Louis XIV became King of France at age 4 upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.

In 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory as well as the Pacific Northwest left camp near present-day Hartford, Illinois.

In 1863, Union forces defeated the Confederates in the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi.

In 1998, singer-actor Frank Sinatra died at a Los Angeles hospital at age 82. The hit sitcom “Seinfeld” aired its final episode after nine years on NBC.

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MAY 15

On May 15, 1948, hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act establishing the Department of Agriculture.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, whose members came to be known as WACs. Wartime gasoline rationing went into effect in 17 Eastern states, limiting sales to three gallons a week for non-essential vehicles.

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MAY 16

On May 16, 1943, the nearly month-long Warsaw Ghetto Uprising came to an end as German forces crushed the Jewish resistance and blew up the Great Synagogue.

In 1770, Marie Antoinette, age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.

In 1868, at the U.S. Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, 35 out of 54 senators voted to find Johnson guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors” over his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, falling one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict; the trial ended 10 days later after two other articles of impeachment went down to defeat as well.

In 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized by Pope Benedict XV.

In 1939, the federal government began its first food stamp program in Rochester, New York.

In 1975, Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

In 1984, comedian Andy Kaufman died in Los Angeles at age 35.

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