Today is Friday, May 29, the 149th day of 2026. There are 216 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Also on this date:
In 1790, Rhode Island became the 13th and final original colony to ratify the United States Constitution.
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.
In 1977, Janet Guthrie became the first woman to race in the Indianapolis 500, finishing in 29th place (A.J. Foyt won the race for his record fourth Indy 500 victory).
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.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev began their fourth summit meeting in Moscow.
In 2004, the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated by President George W. Bush.
In 2009, a judge in Los Angeles sentenced music producer Phil Spector to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of actor Lana Clarkson. (Spector remained in prison until his death in January 2021.)
In 2020, fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with murder in the death of George Floyd, the Black man whose dying gasps under Chauvin’s knee led to nationwide protests against racial injustice. (Chauvin was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison.)
Today’s Birthdays: Basketball Hall of Famer Richie Guerin is 94. Singer Rebbie Jackson is 76. Musician-composer Danny Elfman is 73. Singer La Toya Jackson is 70. Actor Ted Levine is 69. Actor Annette Bening is 68. Actor Rupert Everett is 67. Musician Melissa Etheridge is 65. Musician Noel Gallagher is 59. Actor Laverne Cox is 54. Singer Melanie Brown (Spice Girls) is 51. Basketball Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony is 42. Actor Riley Keough is 37. Actor Maika Monroe is 33. MLB pitcher Paul Skenes is 24.