Volcanic ash and steam rises from Mount St. Helens, Washington, as it erupted, May 18, 1980. Fifty-seven people died in the natural disaster.

Today is Sunday, May 17, the 138th day of 2020. There are 228 days left in the year.

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Today’s Highlight in History

On May 17, 1792, the New York Stock Exchange had its beginnings as a group of brokers met under a tree on Wall Street and signed the Buttonwood Agreement.

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On this date

In 1510, early Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli died in Florence, Italy; he was probably in his mid 60s.

In 1536, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared the marriage of England’s King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn invalid after she failed to produce a male heir; Boleyn, already condemned for high treason, was executed two days later.

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 1954, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision which held that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, and therefore unconstitutional.

In 1973, a special committee convened by the U.S. Senate began its televised hearings into the Watergate scandal.

In 1980, rioting that claimed 18 lives erupted in Miami’s Liberty City after an all-white jury in Tampa acquitted four former Miami police officers of fatally beating black insurance executive Arthur McDuffie.

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.)

In 1992, orchestra leader Lawrence Welk died in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 89.

In 1995, Jacques Chirac (zhahk shih-RAHK’) was sworn in as president of France, ending the 14-year tenure of Socialist Francois Mitterrand (frahn-SWAH’ mee-teh-RAHN’).

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. (“Megan’s Law,” as it’s known, was named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in 1994.)

In 2002, former President Jimmy Carter ended a historic visit to Cuba sharply at odds with the Bush administration over how to deal with Fidel Castro, saying limits on tourism and trade often hurt Americans more than Cubans.

In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriages.

Ten years ago: The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that young people serving life prison terms should have “a meaningful opportunity to obtain release” provided they didn’t kill their victims. Laura Silsby, the last of 10 Americans detained while trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after the Jan. 2010 earthquake, was freed after a judge sentenced her to time already served.

Five years ago: A shootout erupted between bikers and police outside a restaurant in Waco, Texas, leaving nine of the bikers dead and 20 people injured. The contested city of Ramadi, capital of Iraq’s largest province, fell to the Islamic State group in a major loss despite intensified U.S.-led airstrikes. Pope Francis canonized Sisters Mariam Bawardy and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas, two nuns from what was 19th-century Palestine, in hopes of encouraging Christians across the Middle East who were facing a wave of persecution from Islamic extremists.

One year ago: Herman Wouk (wohk), the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “The Caine Mutiny” and “The Winds of War,” died at his California home; he was 103. With a score of 128 after the second round of the PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka (KEHP’-kuh) achieved the lowest 36-hole score in major championship history, and the largest lead (seven shots) of anyone at the halfway point of a Grand Slam event in 85 years. (Koepka would win the event for a second straight year.) Taiwan’s legislature voted to legalize same-sex marriage, making Taiwan the first place in Asia with a law that allowed and spelled out the terms of same-sex marriage. The owners of the pet known as Grumpy Cat, an internet sensation because of her sourpuss expression, announced on social media that the feline had died at her Arizona home at the age of seven.

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MAY 18

On May 18, 1980, the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state exploded, leaving 57 people dead or missing.

In 1863, the Siege of Vicksburg began during the Civil War, ending July 4 with a Union victory.

In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, endorsed “separate but equal” racial segregation, a concept renounced 58 years later by Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

In 1910, Halley’s Comet passed by earth, brushing it with its tail.

In 1920, Pope John Paul II was born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.

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MAY 19

On May 19, 1943, in his second wartime address to the U.S. Congress, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill pledged his country’s full support in the fight against Japan; that evening, Churchill met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House, where the two leaders agreed on May 1, 1944 as the date for the D-Day invasion of France (the operation ended up being launched more than a month later).

In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, was beheaded after being convicted of adultery.

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MAY 20

On May 20, 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order.

In 1506, explorer Christopher Columbus died in Spain.

In 1873, Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for men’s work pants made with copper rivets.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

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MAY 21

On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis monoplane near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33 1/2 hours.

In 1471, King Henry VI of England died in the Tower of London at age 49.

In 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto died while searching for gold along the Mississippi River.

In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant was nominated for president by the Republican national convention in Chicago.

In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.

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MAY 22

On May 22, 1968, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, sank in the Atlantic Ocean. (The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores.)

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MAY 23

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.

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

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