UPI Almanac for Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Today is Wednesday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2017 with 222 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1707; social reformer Sarah Margaret Fuller in 1810; U.S. Army Gen. Ambrose Burnside, who later was a U.S. senator and for whom sideburns were named, in 1824; musician/actor Scatman Crothers in 1910; clarinetist/bandleader Artie Shaw in 1910; singer Helen O'Connell in 1920; singer Rosemary Clooney in 1928; actor Barbara Barrie in 1931 (age 87); actor Joan Collins in 1933 (age 85); tennis Hall of Fame member John Newcombe in 1944 (age 74); writer Mitch Albom in 1958 (age 60); comedian Drew Carey in 1958 (age 60); actor Melissa McBride in 1965 (age 53); voice actor H. Jon Benjamin in 1966 (age 52); singer Maxwell , born Gerald Maxwell Rivera, in 1973 (age 45); singer Jewel Kilcher in 1974 (age 44); Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings in 1974 (age 44); actor Kelly Monaco in 1976 (age 42).

On this date in history:

In 1701, Capt. William Kidd was hanged in London for piracy and murder.

In 1829, Cyrill Demian was granted a patent for his musical instrument called the accordion.

In 1900, U.S. Army Sgt. William H. Carney became the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was cited for his efforts during the Civil War battle of Fort Wagner, S.C., in June 1863.

In 1934, Clyde Barrow and his cigar-smoking sweetheart, Bonnie Parker, who lived by violence, died by violence after being ambushed by police in Bienville Parish, La.

In 1939, the U.S. Navy submarine Squalus went down off New Hampshire in 240 feet of water. Twenty-six men died. Thirty-three were saved in a daring rescue with a diving bell. The submarine was raised in September 1939 and recommissioned the USS Sailfish.

In 1960, Israeli agents captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and spirited him to Israel. He was tried, convicted and hanged.

In 1963, the Alabama Supreme Court ousted Birmingham Mayor Art Hanes and two city commissioners, including segregationist Police Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Conner.

In 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld federal regulations prohibiting federally funded women's clinics from discussing or advising abortion with patients.

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush instituted a new Haitian refugee policy, permitting the Coast Guard to immediately return U.S.-bound boat people to their troubled homeland.

In 1997, Mohammad Khatami, who favored improved economic ties with the West, was elected president of Iran.

In 2009, police said South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, 62, linked to a corruption investigation, died in a leap from a cliff near his home after leaving a suicide note.

In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that California's overcrowded prisons violated the Eighth Amendment banning "cruel and unusual punishment."

In 2012, U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan apologized for a prostitution scandal involving 12 of agents in Colombia but said national security hadn't been compromised. Investigators said the agents, on a security detail in advance of a visit by President Barack Obama, had taken women to their hotel rooms.

In 2013, the Boy Scouts of America ended a century-old ban on openly gay scouts but still prohibited gay adult scout leaders.

In 2014, authorities said 22-year-old Elliot Rodger went on a stabbing and shooting rampage near UC Santa Barbara in Isla Vista, Calif., killing six people and injuring many others before taking his own life.

In 2017, President Donald Trump met with Pope Francis at the Vatican during the U.S. leader's first foreign trip since his election.

A thought for the day: "One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it." -- Knute Rockne