Annie Laurie Ala Kneissl, center, and her brother Alexander Von Auersperg, at right, issued a plea on to Alexandra Isles, former mistress of their stepfather, Claus Von Bulow, to come forward to give testimony at his retrial for attempted murder of their mother, Sunday, May 26, 1985, New York. The children of Martha Sunny von Bulow, from her first marriage to an Austrian prince, issued a statement to Mrs. Isles, with their lawyer Michael Armstrong at left. Mrs. Isles, who is believed to be staying in Europe, has not been available for comment. Mrs. Von Bulows children are making a plea to Mrs. Isles because Judge Corinne gave prosecutors until Tuesday to produce the former mistress after the defense asked for a mistrial. (AP Photo/Frankie Ziths)

Today is Sunday, May 22, the 142nd day of 2022. There are 223 days left in the year.

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Today’s Highlight in History

On May 22, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, speaking at the University of Michigan, outlined the goals of his “Great Society,” saying that it “rests on abundance and liberty for all” and “demands an end to poverty and racial injustice.”

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Thousands of loyal Londoners lined the streets as the King George V and Queen Mary drove through the East End at Gardiner's Corner on May 25, 1935. It was the third of their majesties' jubilee processional visits to the London boroughs. (AP Photo/Len Puttnam)

On this date

In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a “Pact of Steel” committing the two countries to a military alliance.

In 1960, an earthquake of magnitude 9.5, the strongest ever measured, struck southern Chile, claiming some 1,655 lives.

In 1962, Continental Airlines Flight 11, en route from Chicago to Kansas City, Missouri, crashed after a bomb apparently brought on board by a passenger exploded, killing all 45 occupants of the Boeing 707.

In 1967, a fire at the L’Innovation department store in Brussels killed 322 people. Poet and playwright Langston Hughes died in New York at age 65.

Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Co., and his wife, Clara Bryant, sit in the first machine he built at Dearborn, Mi. on May 24, 1946. Standing at right is their grandson and President of Ford Motor Co., Henry Ford II. Ford completed his gas-powered motor car, which he called Quadricycle, in 1896 at age 32. Ford and other auto pioneers are to be honored by the Automotive Golden Jubilee. (AP Photo)

In 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.)

In 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10, with Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard, flew to within nine miles of the moon’s surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.

In 1985, U.S. sailor Michael L. Walker was arrested aboard the aircraft carrier Nimitz, two days after his father, John A. Walker Jr., was apprehended; both were later convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. (Michael Walker served 15 years in prison and was released in 2000.)

In 1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted NBC’s “Tonight Show” for the final time. (Jay Leno took over as host three days later.)

In 2006, The Department of Veterans Affairs said personal data, including Social Security numbers of 26.5 million U.S. veterans, was stolen from a VA employee after he took the information home without authorization.

This is a night view of New York's Brooklyn Bridge, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary, seen May 22, 1983. It's anniversary is May 24. (AP Photo/David Handschuh)

In 2011, a tornado devastated Joplin, Missouri, with winds up to 250 mph, claiming at least 159 lives and destroying about 8,000 homes and businesses.

In 2018, Stacey Abrams won Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, making her the first woman nominee for Georgia governor from either major party. (Abrams, seeking to become the nation’s first Black female governor, was defeated by Republican Brian Kemp.)

In 2020, “Full House” star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded guilty to paying half a million dollars into the University of Southern California as part of a college admissions bribery scheme. (Loughlin would spend two months behind bars; Giannulli began a five-month sentence in November 2020 and was released to home confinement in April 2021.)

Ten years ago: The Falcon 9, built by billionaire businessman Elon Musk, sped toward the International Space Station with a load of groceries and other supplies, marking the first time a commercial spacecraft had been sent to the orbiting outpost. Wesley A. Brown, the first African-American to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, died in Silver Spring, Maryland, at age 85.

Five years ago: A suicide bomber set off an improvised explosive device that killed 22 people at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. In a historic gesture, President Donald Trump solemnly placed a note in the ancient stones of Jerusalem’s Western Wall. Ford Motor Co. announced it was replacing CEO Mark Fields. Actor Dina Merrill, 93, died at her home in East Hampton, New York.

One year ago: Virgin Galactic made its first rocket-powered flight from New Mexico to the fringe of space in a manned shuttle, a step toward offering tourist flights to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere. An expert climbing guide said a coronavirus outbreak on Mount Everest had infected at least 100 climbers and support staff; officials in Nepal had denied that there was a COVID-19 cluster on the world’s highest peak.

Today’s Birthdays: Conductor Peter Nero is 88. Actor-director Richard Benjamin is 84. Actor Frank Converse is 84. Former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw is 82. Actor Barbara Parkins is 80. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Tommy John is 79. Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 72. Actor-producer Al Corley is 67. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is 65. Singer Morrissey is 63. Actor Ann Cusack is 61. Country musician Dana Williams (Diamond Rio) is 61. Rock musician Jesse Valenzuela is 60. Actor Mark Christopher Lawrence is 58. R&B singer Johnny Gill (New Edition) is 56. Rock musician Dan Roberts (Crash Test Dummies) is 55. Actor Brooke Smith is 55. Actor Michael Kelly is 53. Model Naomi Campbell is 52. Actor Anna Belknap is 50. Actor Alison Eastwood is 50. Singer Donell Jones is 49. Actor Sean Gunn is 48. Actor A.J. Langer is 48. Actor Ginnifer Goodwin is 44. R&B singer Vivian Green is 43. Actor Maggie Q is 43. Olympic gold medal speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno is 40. Actor Molly Ephraim (TV: “Last Man Standing”) is 36. Tennis player Novak Djokovic is 35. Actor Anna Baryshnikov (TV: “Superior Donuts”) is 30. Actor Camren Bicondova is 23.

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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 1934, bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death in a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

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MAY 24

On May 24, 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message “What hath God wrought” from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America’s first telegraph line.

In 1935, the first major league baseball game to be played at night took place at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field as the Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1.

In 1974, American jazz composer and bandleader Duke Ellington, 75, died in New York.

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MAY 25

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a Black man, was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for about 9 1/2 minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and pleading that he couldn’t breathe; Floyd’s death, captured on video by a bystander, would lead to worldwide protests, some of which turned violent, and a reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S.

In 1787, the Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.

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MAY 26

On May 26, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in Moscow. (The U.S. withdrew from the treaty in 2002.)

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MAY 27

On May 27, 1935, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, unanimously struck down the National Industrial Recovery Act, a key component of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” legislative program.

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MAY 28

On May 28, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, made up of freed Blacks, left Boston to fight for the Union in the Civil War.

In 1937, Neville Chamberlain became prime minister of Britain.