Today is Wednesday, May 15th, the 136th day of 2024. There are 230 days left this year.
Today's history highlights:
On May 15, 1948, hours after declaring independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon.
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act creating the Department of Agriculture.
In 1928, Walt Disney's cartoon character Mickey Mouse made his first public appearance in a test screening of the short film Plane Crazy. (Mickey made his official screen debut six months later with the release of Steamboat Willie.)
In 1967, the United States Supreme Court ruled in its unanimous Gault decision that juveniles accused of crimes have the same right to due process as adults.
Shortly after midnight in 1970, black students at Jackson State University in Mississippi, Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green, were shot and killed by police during a student protest.
In 1972, Alabama Governor George C. Wallace was shot and paralyzed while campaigning for president in Laurel, Maryland, by Arthur H. Bremer, who was serving a 35-year sentence for attempted murder.
In 1975, the U.S. military invaded Koh Tan, Cambodia, and captured the U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez, which had been captured by the Khmer Rouge. (All 39 crew members have already been safely released by Cambodia, and approximately 40 U.S. military personnel died in connection with the operation.)
In 1988, more than eight years after Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan, the Soviet Union began the process of withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.
In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, struck down a key provision of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, holding that rape victims cannot sue their attackers in federal court.
In 2007, Reverend Jerry Falwell, who built the Christian Right into a political force, died at the age of 73 in Lynchburg, Virginia.
In 2009, General Motors notified approximately 1,100 dealers that it was terminating their franchises.
In 2012, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving was named NBA Rookie of the Year.
In 2015, a jury sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) to death for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and injured more than 250 others.
In 2018, Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano was suspended for 80 games for violating baseball's drug agreement, making him one of the most high-profile players to be disciplined under baseball's anti-doping rules. There was only one person.
In 2020, President Donald Trump formally announced a coronavirus vaccine program he called “Operation Warp Speed” aimed at accelerating the development and quickly distributing a COVID-19 vaccine across the United States. Fred Willard, the comedic actor who starred in films such as “Best in Show'' and “Anchorman,'' has died at the age of 86.
In 2022, police said the white 18-year-old who had shot and killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket the previous day was researching local demographics when looking for areas with high concentrations of black residents.
Today's birthdays: Actor and singer Anna Maria Alberghetti, 88, counterculture icon Wavy Gravy, 88, singer Lennie Welch, 86, actor and singer Lainey Kazan, 82, actor Gunilla Hutton, 82, Chazz Palminteri is 78 years old, former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is 76 years old, singer-songwriter Brian Eno is 76 years old, actor Nicholas Hammond (The Sound of Music) is 74 years old, and baseball player Hall of Famer George Brett is 71 years old, musician and composer Mike Oldfield is 71 years old, and actor Lee Horsley is 71 years old. 69 years old. TV personality Gisele Fernandez is 63 years old. Rapper Grandmaster Mele Mel is 63 years old. Actor Brenda Bakke is 61 years old. Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith is 55 years old. Actor Brad Lowe is 54 years old. Actor David Charvet (Charle Bey) is 52 years old. Actor Russell Hornsby is 50 years old. Rock musician Ahmet Zappa is 50 years old. Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Amy Chou is 46 years old. Actor David Krumholtz is 46 years old. Rock musician David Hartley (War on Drugs) is 44 years old. Actor Jamie Lynn Sigler is 43 years old. Alexandra Breckenridge is 42 years old, rock musician Brad Schultz (Cage the Elephant) is 42 years old, rock musician Nick Perry is 40 years old, and tennis player Andy Murray is 37 years old.