1 of 4 | On May 25, 2008, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft made a smooth landing on Mars, completing a nine-month, 422-million-mile journey, setting down in the planet's frigid polar region where scientists hoped to find water. File Image courtesy of JPL-Calech/University of Arizona | License Photo
Today is Saturday, May 25, the 146th day of 2024 with 220 to follow. The moon is full. Morning stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus. Advertisem*nt
Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include poet/philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1803; YMCA leader/Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Mott in 1865; dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in 1878; aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky in 1889; humorist/publisher Bennett Cerf in 1898; actor Claude Akins in 1926; spy novelist Robert Ludlum in 1927; opera singer Beverly Sills, born Belle Miriam Silverman, in 1929; basketball Hall of Fame member K.C. Jones in 1932; Canadian writer W.P. Kinsella in 1935; actor Dixie Carter in 1939; actor Ian McKellen in 1939 (age 85); singer/actor Leslie Uggams in 1943 (age 81); singer Jessi Colter in 1943 (age 81); director/actor/puppeteer Frank Oz, born Richard Frank Oznowicz, in 1944 (age 80); actor Karen Valentine in 1947 (age 77); actor Connie Sellecca in 1955 (age 69); comedian/actor Mike Myers in 1963 (age 61); actor Ray Stevenson in 1964; actor Anne Heche in 1969; actor Octavia Spencer in 1972 (age 52); actor Cillian Murphy in 1976 (age 48); actor Esme Bianco in 1982 (age 42); wrestler Roman Reigns, born Leati Joseph Anoa'i in 1985 (age 39); gymnast Aly Raisman in 1994 (age 30).
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On this date in history:
Related
- UPI Archives: NASA: Phoenix Mars Lander is now silent
- UPI Archives: NASA ends Phoenix Mars Lander operations
In 1787, with George Washington presiding, the first regular session of the Constitutional Convention, which drew up the Constitution of the United States, convened at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
In 1925, John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school, leading to a trial that became a media sensation. Scopes was convicted and fined $100; the conviction was later overturned.
In 1935, winding up his legendary career (with the Boston Braves in his last season), Babe Ruth hit his 714th home run in his final game. The record stood for 39 years until Hank Aaron, also with the Braves, although in Atlanta, broke it in 1974. Aaron went on to hit 755 homers and current record-holder Barry Bonds had 762.
In 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy told a joint session of Congress of the plan to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
In 1977, the first installment of George Lucas' Star Wars film series was released.
In 1986, 5 million people formed a broken 4,000-mile human chain from Los Angeles to New York in "Hands Across America," to benefit the nation's homeless. The event raised $24.5 million.
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In 1994, after living 20 years in exile, mostly in the United States, Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned to his homeland. He had been expelled after The Gulag Archipelago, an expose of the Soviet prison camp system, was published in the West in 1974.
In 1997, mutinous soldiers seized power in Sierra Leone.
In 2008, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft made a smooth landing on Mars, completing a nine-month, 422-million-mile journey, setting down in the planet's frigid polar region where scientists hoped to find water.
In 2011, The Oprah Winfrey Show broadcast its final original episode after 25 years on the air.
In 2012, private space company SpaceX's Dragon capsule became the first commercial cargo vessel to visit the International Space Station.
In 2013, amid tight security, about 3,000 people who had been in the Boston Marathon April 15 when bombs killed three people and injured scores of others returned to complete the final mile. One runner said the event, called OneRun, was "a great way to show the strength of Boston and the camaraderie in our city."
In 2020, George Floyd died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than 9 minutes during an arrest on suspicion of using counterfeit money. Less than a year later, a jury convicted Chauvin on second- and third-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Floyd's death sparked worldwide protests against police excessive use of force and racial bias.
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A thought for the day: "The way to bring about change is to be proactive and active." -- American actor Octavia Spencer
