Today in History 05/23/20 | National – Leader-Telegram

Today is Saturday, May 23, the 144th day of 2020. There are 222 days left in the year.

Todays highlight in history

On May 23, 1984, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued a report saying there was very solid evidence linking cigarette smoke to lung disease in non-smokers.

On this date

In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary during World War I.

In 1934, bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death in a police ambush in Bienville Parish, La.

In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler committed suicide by biting into a cyanide capsule while in British custody in Luneburg, Germany.

In 1984, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, starring Harrison Ford, was released by Paramount Pictures.

In 2007, President George W. Bush, speaking at the U.S. Coast Guard commencement, portrayed the Iraq war as a battle between the U.S. and al-Qaida and said Osama bin Laden was setting up a terrorist cell in Iraq to strike targets in America.

Ten years ago

In a new al-Qaida video, U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (who would die in a U.S. drone attack in September 2011) advocated the killing of American civilians, accusing the U.S. of intentionally killing a million Muslim civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Five years ago

John Forbes Nash Jr., 86, a mathematical genius whose struggle with schizophrenia was chronicled in the 2001 movie A Beautiful Mind, and his wife, Alicia Nash, 82, were killed in a car crash on the New Jersey Turnpike.

One year ago

The U.S. filed new charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, accusing him of violating the Espionage Act by publishing secret documents containing the names of confidential military and diplomatic sources.

Todays birthdays

Actress Joan Collins, 87.

International Tennis Hall of Famer John Newcombe, 76.

Chess grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, 69.

Boxing Hall of Famer Marvelous Marvin Hagler, 66.

Actor-comedian-game show host Drew Carey, 62.

Author Mitch Albom, 62.

Singer Jewel, 46.

Game show contestant Ken Jennings, 46.

Actor Adam Wylie, 36.

Golfer Morgan Pressel, 32.

Folk/pop singer/songwriter Sarah Jarosz, 29.

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Today in History 05/23/20 | National - Leader-Telegram