Today’s highlight

On May 12, 2008, a devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China’s Sichuan province left more than 87,000 people dead or missing.

On this date

1933: The Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration were established to provide help for the needy and farmers.

1958: The United States and Canada signed an agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (later the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD).

1986: The military action-drama film “Top Gun,” starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis, had its world premiere in New York.

2009: Five Miami men were convicted in a plot to blow up FBI buildings and Chicago’s Sears Tower; one man was acquitted.

2021: Israel pressed ahead with a fierce military offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing as many as 10 senior Hamas military figures and toppling two high-rise towers housing Hamas facilities; the Islamic militant group showed no signs of backing down, and fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities.

2022: The world got a look at the first wild but fuzzy image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, with astronomers calling it a “gentle giant” on a near-starvation diet.

Today’s birthdays

Singer-musician Steve Winwood is 76. Actor Bruce Boxleitner is 74. Singer Billy Squier is 74. Actor Emilio Estevez is 62. Actor Stephen Baldwin is 58.