On This Day: May 26

Updated May 25, 2012, 2:28 pm

On May 26, 1868, the Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ended with his acquittal as the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.
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On May 26, 1907, John Wayne, the American actor famous for his roles in western movies, was born. Following his death on June 11, 1979, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

1521 Martin Luther was declared an outlaw and his writings were banned by the Edict of Worms.

1805 Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned king of Italy.

1868 The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ended with his acquittal as the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

1896 The Dow Jones Industrial Average was first published. The average price of the 11 initial stocks was 40.94

1908 The first major oil strike in the Middle East took place as engineers working for British entrepreneur William Knox D’Arcy hit a gusher in Masjid-i-Suleiman in present-day Iran.

1969 Apollo 10 returned to Earth after a mission that served as a dress rehearsal for the first moon landing.

1972 President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in Moscow.

1977 George H. Willig scaled the outside of the south tower of New York’s World Trade Center; he was arrested at the top of the 110-story building.

1978 The first legal casino in the eastern United States opened in Atlantic City, N.J.

1994 Pop star Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married in the Dominican Republic.

1998 The Supreme Court ruled that Ellis Island – historic gateway for millions of immigrants – is mainly in New Jersey, not New York.

2004 Terry Nichols was found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.

2009 President Barack Obama nominated federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court.

2009 California’s Supreme Court upheld the Proposition 8 gay marriage ban but said the 18,000 same-sex weddings that had taken place before the prohibition passed were still valid.

2011 Congress passed a four-year extension of post-Sept. 11 powers contained in the Patriot Act to search records and conduct roving wiretaps in pursuit of terrorists.

2011 Ratko Mladic, the brutal Bosnian Serb general suspected of leading the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys, was arrested after a 16-year manhunt.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actress Helena Bonham Carter turns 46 years old today.

AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

Actor Joseph Fiennes turns 42 years old today.

AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau

1939 Brent Musburger, Sportscaster, turns 73

1948 Stevie Nicks, Rock singer, turns 64

1949 Philip Michael Thomas, Actor (“Miami Vice”), turns 63

1949 Hank Williams Jr., Country musician, turns 63

1951 Sally K. Ride, Astronaut, turns 61

1953 Kay Hagan, U.S. senator, D-N.C., turns 59

1957 Margaret Colin, Actress, turns 55

1962 Genie Francis, Actress (“General Hospital”), turns 50

1962 Bobcat Goldthwait, Comedian, turns 50

1963 Joe Dumars, Basketball Hall of Famer, turns 49

1964 Lenny Kravitz, Rock musician, turns 48

1971 Matt Stone, TV producer (“South Park”), turns 41

1976 Jay Feely, Football player, turns 36

Historic Birthdays

John Wayne 5/26/1907 – 6/11/1979 American film actor.Go to obituary »

87 Helen Eugenie Anderson 5/26/1909 – 3/31/1997
American ambassador to Denmark; first woman to serve as U.S. ambassador

84 Robert Morley 5/26/1908 – 6/3/1992
English actor, director and playwright

70 Dorothea Lange 5/26/1895 – 10/11/1965
American documentary photographer

94 Salo Wittmayer Baron 5/26/1895 – 11/25/1989
Austrian-born American historian

64 Al Jolson 5/26/1886 – 10/23/1950
American stage and film singer and comedian

50 Isadora Duncan 5/26/1877 – 9/14/1927
American dancer

85 Olaf Gulbransson 5/26/1873 – 9/18/1958
Norwegian-born German illustrator and satirist

54 Robert Fitzsimmons 5/26/1863 – 10/22/1917
English-born world boxing champion in three weight divisions between 1891 and 1903

89 Washington Roebling 5/26/1837 – 7/21/1926
American civil engineer; designed the Brooklyn Bridge

38 Aleksandr Pushkin 5/26/1799 (O.S.) – 1/29/1837 (O.S.)
Russian poet, novelist, dramatist and short-story writer

1521	Martin Luther was declared an outlaw and his writings were banned by the Edict of Worms.
1805	Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned king of Italy.
1868	The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ended with his acquittal as the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.
1896	The Dow Jones Industrial Average was first published. The average price of the 11 initial stocks was 40.94
1908	The first major oil strike in the Middle East took place as engineers working for British entrepreneur William Knox D’Arcy hit a gusher in Masjid-i-Suleiman in present-day Iran.
1969	Apollo 10 returned to Earth after a mission that served as a dress rehearsal for the first moon landing.
1972	President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in Moscow.
1977	George H. Willig scaled the outside of the south tower of New York’s World Trade Center; he was arrested at the top of the 110-story building.
1978	The first legal casino in the eastern United States opened in Atlantic City, N.J.
1994	Pop star Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married in the Dominican Republic.
1998	The Supreme Court ruled that Ellis Island – historic gateway for millions of immigrants – is mainly in New Jersey, not New York.
2004	Terry Nichols was found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
2009	President Barack Obama nominated federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court.
2009	California’s Supreme Court upheld the Proposition 8 gay marriage ban but said the 18,000 same-sex weddings that had taken place before the prohibition passed were still valid.
2011	Congress passed a four-year extension of post-Sept. 11 powers contained in the Patriot Act to search records and conduct roving wiretaps in pursuit of terrorists.
2011	Ratko Mladic, the brutal Bosnian Serb general suspected of leading the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys, was arrested after a 16-year manhunt.

1939	Brent Musburger, Sportscaster, turns 73
1948	Stevie Nicks, Rock singer, turns 64
1949	Philip Michael Thomas, Actor (“Miami Vice”), turns 63
1949	Hank Williams Jr., Country musician, turns 63
1951	Sally K. Ride, Astronaut, turns 61
1953	Kay Hagan, U.S. senator, D-N.C., turns 59
1957	Margaret Colin, Actress, turns 55
1962	Genie Francis, Actress (“General Hospital”), turns 50
1962	Bobcat Goldthwait, Comedian, turns 50
1963	Joe Dumars, Basketball Hall of Famer, turns 49
1964	Lenny Kravitz, Rock musician, turns 48
1971	Matt Stone, TV producer (“South Park”), turns 41
1976	Jay Feely, Football player, turns 36

87	Helen Eugenie Anderson 5/26/1909 – 3/31/1997 American ambassador to Denmark; first woman to serve as U.S. ambassador
84	Robert Morley 5/26/1908 – 6/3/1992 English actor, director and playwright
70	Dorothea Lange 5/26/1895 – 10/11/1965 American documentary photographer
94	Salo Wittmayer Baron 5/26/1895 – 11/25/1989 Austrian-born American historian
64	Al Jolson 5/26/1886 – 10/23/1950 American stage and film singer and comedian
50	Isadora Duncan 5/26/1877 – 9/14/1927 American dancer
85	Olaf Gulbransson 5/26/1873 – 9/18/1958 Norwegian-born German illustrator and satirist
54	Robert Fitzsimmons 5/26/1863 – 10/22/1917 English-born world boxing champion in three weight divisions between 1891 and 1903
89	Washington Roebling 5/26/1837 – 7/21/1926 American civil engineer; designed the Brooklyn Bridge
38	Aleksandr Pushkin 5/26/1799 (O.S.) – 1/29/1837 (O.S.) Russian poet, novelist, dramatist and short-story writer