New State of Israel Attacked by 5 Nations – Chicago Tribune

Today is Wednesday, May 15th, the 136th day of 2024. There are 230 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight of the story:

On May 15, 1948, a few hours after the declaration of independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

On this date:

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating the Department of Agriculture.

In 1928, Walt Disney cartoon character Mickey Mouse made his first public appearance in a test screening of the short film Plane Crazy. (Six months later, Mickey made his official film debut with the release of Steamboat Willie.)

In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its unanimous In re Gault decision that juveniles charged with crimes were entitled to the same due process as adults.

Just after midnight in 1970, Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green, two black students at Jackson State College in Mississippi, were killed when police opened fire during student protests.

In 1972, Alabama Governor George C. Wallace was shot and paralyzed during his presidential campaign in Laurel, Maryland, by Arthur H. Bremer, who served 35 years in prison for attempted murder.

In 1975, U.S. forces invaded the Cambodian island of Koh Tang and captured the American merchant ship Mayaguez, which had been hijacked by the Khmer Rouge. (All 39 crew members had already been safely released by Cambodia; about 40 U.S. soldiers were killed in connection with the operation.)

The Soviet Union began withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in 1988, more than eight years after Soviet troops invaded the country.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, struck down a key provision of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act that barred rape victims from suing their attackers in federal court.

In 2007, Rev. Jerry Falwell, who turned the Christian right into a political force, died in Lynchburg, Virginia, at age 73.

In 2009, General Motors told about 1,100 dealers that their franchises would be terminated.

In 2012, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year.

In 2015, a jury sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three people and injured more than 250.

In 2018, Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano was suspended 80 games for violating baseball’s drug treaty, becoming one of the most high-profile players disciplined under the sport’s anti-doping rules.

In 2020, President Donald Trump formally unveiled a coronavirus vaccine program he called “Operation Warp Speed” to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines and quickly distribute them across the country. Comedian Fred Willard, whose films included “Best In Show” and “Anchorman,” has died at the age of 86.

In 2022, police said the white 18-year-old who shot 10 people in a Buffalo supermarket a day earlier had researched local demographics while looking for places with high concentrations of black residents.

Today’s birthdays: Actress and singer Anna Maria Alberghetti is 88. Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is 88. Singer Lenny Welch is 86. Actress and singer Lainie Kazan is 82. Actress Gunilla Hutton is 82. Actor Chazz Palminteri is 78. Former health and Social Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is 76. Singer-songwriter Brian Eno is 76. Actor Nicholas Hammond (film: “The Sound of Music”) is 74. Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett is 71. Musician and composer Mike Oldfield is 71. Actor Lee Horsley is 69. TV personality Giselle Fernández is 63. Rapper Grandmaster Melle Mel is 63. Actress Brenda Bakke is 61. Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith is 55. Actor Brad Rowe is 54. Actor David Charvet is 52. Actor Russell Hornsby is 50. Rock musician Ahmet Zappa is 50. Olympic gold medal gymnast Amy Chow is 46. Actor David Krumholtz is 46. Rock musician David Hartley (The War on Drugs) is 44. Actor Jamie-Lynn Sigler is 43. Actress Alexandra Breckenridge is 42. Rock musician Brad Shultz (Cage the Elephant) is 42. Rock musician Nick Perri is 40. Tennis player Andy Murray is 37.