Today in History

Today is Saturday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2015. There are 222 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 23, 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler committed suicide by biting into a cyanide capsule while in British custody in Luneburg, Germany.

On this date:

In 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English.

In 1533, the marriage of England's King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon was declared null and void.

In 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution.

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, Louisiana.

In 1939, the Navy submarine USS Squalus sank during a test dive off the New England coast. Thirty-two crew members and one civilian were rescued, but 26 others died; the sub was salvaged and recommissioned the USS Sailfish.

In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was established.

In 1967, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships, an action which precipitated war between Israel and its Arab neighbors the following month.

In 1984, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued a report saying there was "very solid" evidence linking cigarette smoke to lung disease in non-smokers. "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," starring Harrison Ford, was released by Paramount Pictures.

In 1995, the computer programming language Java was publicly released at the Sun World Conference in San Francisco.

Ten years ago: Afghan President Hamid Karzai (HAH'-mihd KAHR'-zeye) met at the White House with President George W. Bush, who declined to promise Karzai more control over thousands of American troops in Afghanistan. A string of car bombs and suicide attacks in Iraq killed dozens of people.

Five 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. Space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the international space station. The Czech Republic captured the ice hockey world championship, ending Russia's 27-game tournament winning streak with a 2-1 victory in Cologne, Germany. The final episode of the supernatural castaway drama "Lost" aired on ABC after six seasons.

One year ago: A 22-year-old armed with knives and a gun went on a rampage near the Univesity of California, Santa Barbara; Elliot Rodger killed six students and wounded 13 other people before taking his own life. In a report potentially exposing the Catholic Church to new legal arguments by clerical sex abuse victims, a U.N. committee found that the Vatican did exercise worldwide control over its bishops and priests, and had to comply with the U.N.'s anti-torture treaty.

Thought for Today: "Life is like a game of poker: If you don't put any in the pot, there won't be any to take out." — Jackie "Moms" Mabley (1894-1975).

(Above Advance for Use Saturday, May 23)