Today is Wednesday, May 29, the 150th day of 2024. There are 216 days left in the year. This is Memorial Day.

Today in history

On May 29, 1988, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened their historic summit in Moscow.

Also on this date

In 1765, Patrick Henry denounced the Stamp Act before Virginia’s House of Burgesses.

In 1790, Rhode Island became the 13th original colony to ratify the United States Constitution.

In 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state of the union.

In 1914, the Canadian ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the St. Lawrence River in eastern Quebec after colliding with the Norwegian cargo ship SS Storstad; of the 1,477 people on board the Empress of Ireland, 1,012 died. (The Storstad sustained minor damage.)

In 1953, Mount Everest was conquered as Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tensing Norgay of Nepal became the first climbers to reach the summit.

In 1977, Janet Guthrie became the first woman to race in the Indianapolis 500, finishing in 29th place (the winner was A.J. Foyt).

In 1985, 39 people were killed at the European Cup Final in Brussels, Belgium, when rioting broke out and a wall separating British and Italian soccer fans collapsed.

Fun fact

A linguistic study found that winter workers in Antarctica started to develop a new accent. This is a result of them being isolated with only each other for several months.

That’s punny

Why did the Viking buy a boat? There was a sail.

Today’s birthdays

Former Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent is 86. Actor Anthony Geary is 77. Actor Cotter Smith is 75. Singer Rebbie (ree-bee) Jackson is 74. Movie composer Danny Elfman is 71. Singer LaToya Jackson is 68. Actor Ted Levine is 67. Actor Annette Bening is 66. Actor Rupert Everett is 65. Actor Adrian Paul is 65. Singer Melissa Etheridge is 63. Actor Lisa Whelchel is 61. Actor Tracey Bregman is 61. Rock musician Noel Gallagher is 57. Actor Anthony Azizi is 55. Rock musician Chan Kinchla (Blues Traveler) is 55. Actor Laverne Cox is 52. Cartoonist Aaron McGruder (“The Boondocks”) is 50. Singer Melanie Brown (Spice Girls) is 49. Latin singer Fonseca is 45. Actor Justin Chon (TV: “Deception”; “Dr. Ken”) is 43. NBA player Carmelo Anthony is 40. Actor Blake Foster is 39. Actor Riley Keough is 35. Actor Brandon Mychal Smith is 35. Actor Kristen Alderson is 33. Actor Lorelei Linklater is 31.

The Edge is compiled by Katie Clohessy. She can be contacted at kclohessy@lmtribune.com.