Today’s highlight

On May 7, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, ending its role in World War II.

On this date

1889: The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore opened its doors.

1915: A German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner RMS Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans, out of the nearly 2,000 on board.

1928: The minimum voting age for British women was lowered from 30 to 21 — the same age as men.

1939: Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.

1941: Glenn Miller and His Orchestra recorded “Chattanooga Choo Choo” for RCA Victor.

1954: The 55-day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.

1963: The United States launched the Telstar 2 communications satellite.

1975: President Gerald R. Ford formally declared an end to the “Vietnam era.”

In Ho Chi Minh City — formerly Saigon — the Viet Cong celebrated its takeover.

1977: Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby, the first of his Triple Crown victories.

2010: A BP-chartered vessel lowered a 100-ton concrete-and-steel vault onto the ruptured Deepwater Horizon well in an unprecedented, and ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to stop most of the gushing crude fouling the sea.

Today’s birthdays

R&B singer Thelma Houston is 80. Actor Robin Strasser is 78. Singer-songwriter Bill Danoff is 77. Rock musician Bill Kreutzmann is 77. Former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is 76. Rock musician Prairie Prince is 73. Movie writer-director Amy Heckerling is 71. Actor Michael E. Knight is 64. Rock musician Phil Campbell (Motorhead) is 62. Actor Traci Lords is 55. Actor Morocco Omari is 53.