Today is Saturday, May 22, the 142nd day of 2021. There are 223 days left in the year.
Today in history
On May 22, 2017, a suicide bomber set off an improvised explosive device that killed 22 people at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England.
Also on this date:
In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a “Pact of Steel” committing the two countries to a military alliance.
In 1960, an earthquake of magnitude 9.5, the strongest ever measured, struck southern Chile, claiming some 1,655 lives.
In 1962, Continental Airlines Flight 11, en route from Chicago to Kansas City, Mo., crashed after a bomb apparently brought on board by a passenger exploded, killing all 45 occupants of the Boeing 707.
In 1967, a fire at the L’Innovation department store in Brussels killed 322 people. ... Poet and playwright Langston Hughes died in New York at age 65.
In 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10, with Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard, flew to within nine miles of the moon’s surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.
Fun fact
A farmer must wait four to five years for a cacao tree to produce its first beans.
They eat what?!
Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches can be found and snacked on in New York City.
Trending words
“Altruism:” noun; (AL-troo-iz-um). Definition: Unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others: behavior by an animal that is not beneficial to or may be harmful to itself but that benefits others of its species.
— Merriam-Webster
Today’s birthdays
Actor Michael Constantine is 94. Conductor Peter Nero is 87. Actor-director Richard Benjamin is 83. Actor Frank Converse is 83. Former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw is 81. Actor Barbara Parkins is 79. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Tommy John is 78. Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 71. Actor-producer Al Corley is 66. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is 64. Singer Morrissey is 62. Actor Ann Cusack is 60. Country musician Dana Williams (Diamond Rio) is 60. Rock musician Jesse Valenzuela is 59. Actor Mark Christopher Lawrence is 57. R&B singer Johnny Gill (New Edition) is 55. Rock musician Dan Roberts (Crash Test Dummies) is 54. Actor Brooke Smith is 54. Actor Michael Kelly is 52. Model Naomi Campbell is 51. Actor Anna Belknap is 49. Actor Alison Eastwood is 49. Singer Donell Jones is 48. Actor Sean Gunn is 47. Actor A.J. Langer is 47. Olympic gold medal speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno is 39. Actor Molly Ephraim (“Last Man Standing”) is 35. Tennis player Novak Djokovic is 34. Actor Anna Baryshnikov (“Superior Donuts”) is 29. Actor Camren Bicondova is 22.
The Edge is compiled by Dallas Marshall. She can be contacted at dmarshall@lmtribune.com.
