Monday, May 25, is the 145th day of 2026. There will be 220 days left in the year.

Today in history:

In 2020, George Floyd, a Black man, was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and pleading he couldn’t breathe; Floyd’s death, captured on video by a bystander, would lead to worldwide protests, some violent, and a reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S.

Also on this date:

In 1787, the Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia after enough delegates arrived for a quorum.

In 1935, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Babe Ruth, then playing for the Boston Braves, hit his 714th and final home run; his career home run record would stand for almost 40 years.

In 1946, Transjordan (now Jordan) became a kingdom as it proclaimed its new monarch, Abdullah I.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy told Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, ordered the Virginia county to reopen its public schools, which officials had closed in an attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka desegregation ruling.

In 1977, “Star Wars” was released by 20th Century Fox; it would become the highest-grossing film in history at the time.

In 1979, 273 people died when an American Airlines DC-10 crashed just after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

In 2008, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander arrived on the Red Planet to begin searching for evidence of water; the spacecraft confirmed the presence of water ice at its landing site.

In 2012, the private company SpaceX made history as its Dragon capsule became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Ian McKellen is 87. Actor-singer Leslie Uggams is 83. Filmmaker and puppeteer Frank Oz is 82. Actor Karen Valentine is 79. Actor Jacki Weaver is 79. Rock singer Klaus Meine (Scorpions) is 78. Actor Patti D’Arbanville is 75. Playwright Eve Ensler is 73. Actor Connie Sellecca is 71. Musician Paul Weller is 68. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is 66. Actor-comedian Mike Myers is 63. Actor Octavia Spencer is 56. Actor Cillian Murphy is 50. Football Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher is 48. Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Aly Raisman is 32. Actor Brec Bassinger is 27. NFL quarterback Cam Ward is 24.