UPI Almanac for Monday, May 22, 2017

Today is Monday, May 22, the 142nd day of 2017 with 223 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Uranus, and Neptune. Evening stars are Jupiter and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include German composer Richard Wagner in 1813; Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, in 1859; baseball Hall of Fame member Al Simmons in 1902; actor Laurence Olivier in 1907; game show announcer Johnny Olson in 1910; pioneering jazz musician Sun Ra (born Herman Blount) in 1914; critic Judith Crist in 1922; French singer Charles Aznavour in 1924 (age 93); entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens Jr. in 1928 (age 89); activist Harvey Milk in 1930; pianist/composer Peter Nero in 1934 (age 83); actor Richard Benjamin in 1938 (age 79); actor Paul Winfield in 1939; journalist Bernard Shaw in 1940 (age 77); actor Michael Sarrazin in 1940; Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski in 1942 (age 75); Northern Irish political activist/Nobel Peace Prize laureate Betty Williams in 1943 (age 74); Northern Irish soccer legend George Best in 1946; British songwriter Bernie Taupin in 1950 (age 67); model/actor Naomi Campbell in 1970 (age 47); actor Ginnifer Goodwin in 1978 (age 39); Olympic champion speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno in 1982 (age 35); tennis player Novak Djokovic in 1987 (age 30); Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz in 1984 (age33).

On this date in history:

In 1868, seven members of the Reno gang stole $98,000 from a railway car at Marshfield, Ind. It was the original "Great Train Robbery."

In 1924, the discovery of the body of Bobby Franks, 13, of Chicago led to the arrest and conviction of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb in a "thrill killing" that was often called "the crime of the century." They were given life sentences. Loeb was killed in prison; Leopold was paroled after serving 33 years.

In 1972, Richard Nixon became the first U.S president to visit Moscow.

In 1987, a tornado flattened Saragosa, Texas, population 185, killing 29 residents and injuring 121.

In 1992, Johnny Carson ended his nearly 30-year career as host of The Tonight Show.

In 2002, authorities in Birmingham, Ala., convicted a fourth suspect in a 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. Bobby Frank Cherry, 71, a former Ku Klux Klansman, was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2003, Annika Sorenstam became the first woman in 59 years to compete in a PGA event but her 5-over-par 145 through two rounds of the Bank of America Colonial tournament failed to make the cut.

In 2009, General Motors struck a deal with union workers in which GM would finance half of a $20 billion retiree health benefit obligation with company stock.

In 2011, the deadliest tornado to strike the United States in half a century roared into the heart of Joplin, Mo., with winds of 200 mph. It killed nearly 160 people, injured about 1,100 others and destroyed nearly one-third of the city. Damage was estimated in the $3 billion range.

In 2013, two men armed with knives and a cleaver killed British soldier Lee Rigby on a southeast London street. The attackers, who said they were avenging the killing of Muslims by Britain's military, were both sentenced to life in prison.

In 2014, Thailand's military announced it had taken control of the country and suspended the Constitution. The coup followed months of political turmoil.

In 2015, voters in Ireland overwhelmingly approved a measure to allow civil same-sex marriage, making it the first nation in the world to legalize gay unions through a popular vote

A thought for the day: "There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not?" -- Robert F. Kennedy