This day in history

[May 15, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Friday, May 15, the 135th day of 2009. There are 230 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On May 15, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the breakup of Standard Oil Co., ruling it was a monopoly in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

On this date:

In 1859, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Pierre Curie was born in Paris.

In 1909, actor James Mason was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England.

In 1929, a fire at the Cleveland Clinic claimed 123 lives.

In 1930, registered nurse Ellen Church, the first airline stewardess, went on duty aboard an Oakland-to-Chicago flight operated by Boeing Air Transport (a forerunner of United Airlines).

In 1942, wartime gasoline rationing went into effect in 17 Eastern states, limiting sales to three gallons a week for nonessential vehicles.

In 1948, hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

In 1963, astronaut L. Gordon Cooper blasted off aboard Faith 7 on the final mission of the Project Mercury space program.

In 1969, Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas resigned amid a controversy over his past legal fees.

In 1972, George C. Wallace was shot by Arthur Bremer and left paralyzed while campaigning in Laurel, Md., for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In 1975, U.S. forces invaded the Cambodian island of Koh Tang and recaptured the American merchant ship Mayaguez. (All 40 crew members had already been released safely by Cambodia; some 40 U.S. servicemen were killed in the operation.)

Ten years ago: Russian President Boris Yeltsin triumphed over his Communist foes, surviving an impeachment vote in the Russian parliament. Charismatic won the Preakness, finishing 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Menifee.

Five years ago: A 40-ton steel girder dropped from a freeway overpass construction site into morning traffic in Golden, Colo., crushing one car and killing a family of three. Col. Robert Morgan, commander of the famed Memphis Belle B-17 bomber that flew combat missions over Europe during World War II, died in Asheville, N.C., at age 85. Kentucky Derby winner Smarty Jones posted a record 11 1/2 length victory in the Preakness (however, the horse failed to win the Belmont Stakes).

One year ago: President George W. Bush, addressing the Israeli Knesset, gently urged Mideast leaders to "make the hard choices necessary for peace" and condemned what he called "the false comfort of appeasement." California's Supreme Court declared gay couples in the state could marry -- a victory for the gay rights movement that was overturned by the passage of Proposition 8 the following November. Emmy-winning composer Alexander "Sandy" Courage, who created the otherworldly theme for the original "Star Trek" TV series, died in Los Angeles at age 88.

Today's birthdays: Actor Joseph Wiseman is 91. Playwright Sir Peter Shaffer ("Amadeus") is 83. Actress-singer Anna Maria Alberghetti is 73. Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is 73. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is 72. Singer Trini Lopez is 72. Singer Lenny Welch is 71. Actress-singer Lainie Kazan is 69. Actor-director Paul Rudd ("Knots Landing") is 69. Country singer K.T. Oslin is 67. Singer-songwriter Brian Eno is 61. Actor Nicholas Hammond ("The Sound of Music") is 59. Actor Chazz Palminteri is 57. Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett is 56. Musician-composer Mike Oldfield ("Tubular Bells") is 56. Actor Lee Horsley is 54. TV personality Giselle Fernandez is 48. Dallas Cowboys great Emmitt Smith is 40. Singer-rapper Prince Be (PM Dawn) is 39. Actor Brad Rowe is 39. Actor David Charvet is 37. Rock musician Ahmet Zappa is 35. Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is 34. Olympic gold-medal gymnast Amy Chow is 31. Actor David Krumholtz ("Numb3rs") is 31. Actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler is 28. Rock musician Nick Perri is 25.

Thought for today: "Vice is most dangerous when it puts on the garb of virtue." -- Danish proverb

[Associated Press]

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