Today's Highlight in History:
On May 23rd, 1960, Israel announced it had captured former Nazi1 official Adolf Eichmann in Argentina. (Eichmann was tried in Israel, found guilty of crimes against humanity, and hanged in 1962.)
On this date:
In 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English.
In 1533, the marriage of England's King Henry the Eighth to Catherine of Aragon was declared null and void.
In 1701, Captain William Kidd was hanged in London after he was convicted of piracy2 and murder.
In 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify3 the United States Constitution.
In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in World War One.
In 1934, bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death in a police ambush4 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
In 1937, industrialist5 John D. Rockefeller died in Ormond Beach, Florida.
In 1940, Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, the Pied Pipers and featured soloist6 Frank Sinatra recorded "I'll Never Smile Again" in New York for RCA.
In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler committed suicide while imprisoned7 in Luneburg, Germany.
In 1998, official returns showed two convincing "yes" votes for the Northern Ireland peace accord in British-linked Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Ten years ago: The Soviet8 Union unveiled an economic-reform program that included plans for a national referendum. Neil Bush, son of the president, denied any wrongdoing as a director of a failed Denver savings-and-loan in testimony9 before Congress.
Five years ago: The nine-story hulk of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was demolished10. That same day, James Nichols, whose brother and a friend were charged in the Oklahoma bombing, was released from federal custody11.
One year ago: Social Democrat12 Johannes Rau won election to Germany's largely ceremonial presidency13. Professional wrestler14 Owen Hart, also known as "The Blue Blazer," died when he fell 78 feet from a cable as he was being lowered into the ring at a World Wrestling Federation15 show in Kansas City, Missouri. "Rosetta," a Belgian film, won top honors at the 52nd annual Cannes Film Festival.