Today is May 14. On this date in:
1643
Louis XIV became King of France at age 4 upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.
1796
English physician Edward Jenner inoculated 8-year-old James Phipps against smallpox by using cowpox matter.
1804
The Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory and the Pacific Northwest left camp near present-day Hartford, Illinois.
1925
The Virginia Woolf novel “Mrs Dalloway” was first published in England and the United States.
1940
The Netherlands surrendered to invading German forces during World War II.
1942
Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait” was first publicly performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
More:Copland's Fanfare: The making of a musical monument
1942
Baseball Hall of Famer and Cincinnati Reds member Tony Pérez was born in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba.
1944
“Star Wars” creator, director and producer George Lucas was born in Modesto, California.
More:Star Wars quiz: Are you a Jedi, Sith or rebel?
1948
The independent state of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv by David Ben-Gurion, who became its first prime minister; U.S. President Harry S. Truman immediately recognized the new nation.
1955
Representatives from eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland. (The Pact was dissolved in 1991.)
1961
Freedom Riders were attacked by violent mobs in Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama.
1968
John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a news conference in New York to announce the creation of the Beatles’ latest business venture, Apple Corps.
1973
The United States launched Skylab 1, its first manned space station. (Skylab 1 remained in orbit for six years before burning up during re-entry in 1979.) The National Right to Life Committee was incorporated.
1988
Twenty-seven people, mostly teens, were killed when their church bus collided with a pickup going the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky. (Truck driver Larry Mahoney served 9½ years in prison for manslaughter.)
1998
Singer Frank Sinatra died in Los Angeles, age 82.
2001
The Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that there is no exception in federal law for people to use marijuana for medical purposes.
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