Today is Tuesday, May 27, the 147th day of 2025. There are 218 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 27, 1937, the newly completed Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California, was opened to pedestrian traffic (vehicles began crossing the next day).

Also on this date:

In 1896, 255 people were killed when a devastating F4 tornado struck St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois.

In 1930, New York’s Chrysler Building, at the time the world’s tallest building, opened to the public.

In 1941, the British Royal Navy sank the German battleship Bismarck off France, killing over 2,000 German sailors.

In 1942, Doris “Dorie” Miller, a cook aboard the USS West Virginia, became the first African-American to receive the Navy Cross for displaying “extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety” during Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. O’Brien, upheld the conviction of David O’Brien for destroying his draft card outside a Boston courthouse, ruling that the act was not protected by freedom of speech.

In 1993, a bomb set by the Sicilian mafia exploded outside the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy; 5 people were killed and 48 wounded, and dozens of centuries-old paintings were destroyed or damaged.

In 1994, Nobel Prize-winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia to the emotional cheers of thousands after spending two decades in exile.

In 1998, Michael Fortier, the government’s star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after apologizing for not warning anyone about the deadly plot. (Fortier was freed in January 2006.)

In 2006, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Java near the city of Yogyakarta, killing more than 5,700 people.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor Lee Meriwether is 90.
• Actor Bruce Weitz is 82.
• Musician Bruce Cockburn is 80.
• Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater is 75.
• Football Hall of Famer Jackie Slater is 71.
• Actor Richard Schiff is 70.
• Singer Siouxsie Sioux is 68.
• Musician Neil Finn (Split Enz, Crowded House) is 67.
• Actor Peri Gilpin is 64.
• Comedian Adam Carolla is 61.
• Actor Todd Bridges is 60.
• Baseball Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell is 57.
• Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas is 57.
• Actor Paul Bettany is 54.
• Actor Jack McBrayer is 52.
• Rapper-musician Andre 3000 (Outkast) is 50.
• Rapper Jadakiss is 50.
• Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is 50.
• Actor Ben Feldman is 45.
• Actor-singer Chris Colfer is 35.
• Actor Lily-Rose Depp is 26.
• Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Jade Carey is 25.

Today is Saturday, May 24, the 144th day of 2025. There are 221 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 24,1883, New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, at the time the world’s longest suspension bridge, opened to traffic.

Also on this date:

In 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.

In 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.

In 1937, in a pair of rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Social Security Act of 1935.

In 1941, during World War II, the German battleship Bismarck sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood in the North Atlantic, killing all but three of the 1,418 men on board. (The Bismarck would be sunk by British battleships three days later.)

In 1962, astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard the Aurora 7 spacecraft.

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

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

In 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.

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.
• Actor Jim Broadbent is 76.
• Cinematographer Roger Deakins is 76.
• Actor Alfred Molina is 72.
• Musician Rosanne Cash is 70.
• Actor Kristin Scott Thomas is 65.
• Author Michael Chabon is 62.
• Basketball Hall of Famer Joe Dumars is 62.
• Actor John C. Reilly is 60.
• Basketball Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady is 46.
• Dancer-choreographer Mark Ballas is 39.
• Country singer Billy Gilman is 37.
• Rapper G-Eazy is 36.
• Actor Brianne Howey is 36.
• Actor Daisy Edgar-Jones is 27.

Today is Friday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2025. There are 222 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 23, 1934, bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death during a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

Also on this date:

In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, aligning with the Triple Entente of Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler killed himself while in British custody in Lüneburg, Germany.

In 1984, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued a report saying there was “very solid” evidence linking cigarette smoke to lung disease in non-smokers.

In 2013, the Boy Scouts of America announced it would remove membership restrictions based on sexual orientation, while maintaining a ban on openly gay Scout leaders. (The ban on gay Scout leaders and organization employees was lifted two years later.)

In 2015, supporters of marriage equality in Ireland celebrated as referendum results showed a constitutional amendment in favor of recognizing same-sex marriage passing by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

In 2018, NFL owners approved a new policy allowing players to protest during the national anthem by staying in the locker room but forbidding players from sitting or taking a knee if they’re on the field.

In 2021, a cable car taking visitors to a mountaintop view of northern Italy’s Lake Maggiore plummeted to the ground when a cable snapped, killing 14 people.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor Joan Collins is 92.
• Tennis Hall of Famer John Newcombe is 81.
• Chess grand master Anatoly Karpov is 74.
• Comedian-TV host Drew Carey is 67.
• Comedian-actor Lea DeLaria is 67.
• Author Mitch Albom is 67.
• Actor Melissa McBride is 60.
• Singer-songwriter Maxwell is 52.
• “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings is 51.
• Singer-songwriter Jewel is 51.
• Filmmaker Ryan Coogler is 39.
• Singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz (juh-ROHZ’) is 34.

Today is Wednesday, May 21, the 141st day of 2025. There are 224 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 21, 1881, the American Red Cross was founded by nurse and educator Clara Barton in Washington D.C.

Also on this date:

In 1924, 14-year-old Bobby Franks was murdered in a “thrill killing” carried out by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb (Bobby’s distant cousin).

In 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis monoplane near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33 1/2 hours.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean as she landed in Northern Ireland, about 15 hours after leaving Newfoundland.

In 1941, a German U-boat sank the American merchant steamship SS Robin Moor in the South Atlantic after the ship’s passengers and crew were allowed to board lifeboats.

In 1955, Chuck Berry recorded his first single, “Maybellene,” for Chess Records in Chicago.

In 1972, Michelangelo’s Pieta, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, was damaged by a hammer-wielding man. (The sculpture went back on display 10 months later after its damaged elements were reconstructed.)

In 1979, former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the slayings of Mayor George Moscone and openly gay Supervisor Harvey Milk. Outrage over White’s lenient sentence sparked the White Night riots that evening.

In 1991, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated amid Indian national elections by a suicide bomber.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Baseball Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox is 84.
• Singer Ronald Isley (The Isley Brothers) is 84.
• Singer Leo Sayer is 77.
• Actor Mr. T is 73.
• Actor Judge Reinhold is 68.
• Filmmaker Nick Cassavetes is 66.
• Actor Lisa Edelstein is 59.
• Comedian-TV presenter Noel Fielding is 52.
• Actor Fairuza Balk is 51.
• Actor Da’Vine Joy Randolph is 39.
• Country musician Cody Johnson is 38.
• Actor Hannah Einbinder is 30.
• NFL quarterback Josh Allen is 29.

Today is Tuesday, May 20, the 140th day of 2025. There are 225 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 20, 1956, the United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

Also on this date:

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which was intended to encourage settlements west of the Mississippi River by making federal land available for private ownership and farming. About 10% of the land area of the United States (270 million acres, or 1.1 million square km) would be privatized by 1934.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart departed from Newfoundland in an attempt to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Because of weather and equipment problems, Earhart landed the following day in Northern Ireland instead of her intended destination, France.)

In 1948, Chiang Kai-shek was elected as the first president of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

In 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order.

In 1969, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Ap Bia Mountain, referred to as “Hamburger Hill” by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.

In 1985, Radio Marti, operated by the U.S. government, began broadcasting. Cuba responded by attempting to jam its signal.

In 2015, four of the world’s biggest banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup’s banking unit Citicorp, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland — agreed to pay more than $5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to rigging the currency markets.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Japanese baseball star Sadaharu Oh is 85.
• Singer-actor Cher is 79.
• Actor-comedian Dave Thomas is 76.
• Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho, is 74.
• Political commentator Ron Reagan is 67.
• Musician Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go’s) is 67.
• Actor Bronson Pinchot is 66.
• TV personality Ted Allen is 60.
• Actor Mindy Cohn is 59.
• Actor Timothy Olyphant is 57.
• Former racing driver Tony Stewart is 54.
• Rapper Busta Rhymes is 53.
• Actor Matt Czuchry (zoo-KREE’) is 48.
• Actor-singer Naturi Naughton is 41.
• Cyclist Chris Froome is 40.
• Country musician Jon Pardi is 40.