Today’s Highlights

On May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers. The gunman, Salvador Ramos, a former student at the school, was also killed. It was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. elementary school since the 2012 attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

On this date

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.

1883: New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, at the time the world’s longest suspension bridge, opened to traffic.

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.

1962: Astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard the Aurora 7 spacecraft.

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

1994: Four Islamic extremists convicted of bombing New York’s World Trade Center in 1993 were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.

Today’s birthdays

Comedian Tommy Chong is 87. Musician Bob Dylan is 84. Actor Gary Burghoff (M*A*S*H) is 82. Singer Patti LaBelle is 81. Actor Priscilla Presley is 80. Musician Rosanne Cash is 70. Actor Kristin Scott Thomas is 65. Basketball Hall of Famer Joe Dumars is 62. Actor John C. Reilly is 60.