1787 – After a delay of 11 days, the United States Constitutional Convention formally convenes in Philadelphia after a quorum of seven states is secured.

1878 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.

1895 – Playwright, poet, novelist and aesthete Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.

1914 – The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Home Rule Bill for devolution in Ireland.

1925 – Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in Tennessee.

1935 – Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

1953 – The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.

1961 – Apollo program: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of the Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the Moon" before the end of the decade.

1963 – In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established.

1968 – The Gateway Arch in Saint Louis is dedicated.

1977 – Star Wars is released in theaters.

1977 – Chinese government removes a decade old ban on William Shakespeare's work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966.

1986 – Hands Across America takes place.

2011 – Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her twenty-five-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

2012 – The SpaceX Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous with the International Space Station.

2018 – Ireland votes to repeal the Eight Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, prohibiting abortion in all but a few cases, choosing to replace it with the Thirty-Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.

…and if today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You share this special day with…

1803 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and philosopher (d. 1882)

1889 – Igor Sikorsky, Russian-American aircraft designer, founded Sikorsky Aircraft (d. 1972)

1897 – Gene Tunney, American boxer and soldier (d. 1978)

1898 – Bennett Cerf, American publisher and television game show panelist; co-founded Random House (d. 1971)

1929 – Beverly Sills, American soprano and actress (d. 2007)

1935 – W. P. Kinsella, Canadian novelist and short story writer (d. 2016)

1936 – Tom T. Hall, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1938 – Raymond Carver, American short story writer and poet (d. 1988)

1943 – Leslie Uggams, American actress and singer

1944 – Frank Oz, English-born American puppeteer, filmmaker, and actor

1947 – Karen Valentine, American actress

1949 – Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist

1953 – Eve Ensler, American playwright and producer

1960 – Amy Klobuchar, American lawyer and politician

1963 – Mike Myers, Canadian-American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter

1969 – Anne Heche, American actress

Almanac - Monday 5/25/20

KALW NEWSLETTERS