TODAY IN HISTORY

Tuesday, May  22, 2012 AP Highlight in History:  On May 22, 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy signed a "Pact of Steel" committing the two countries to a military alliance.   AP Photo
On this date in: 1813 Composer Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany. 1859 Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Canon Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. 1861 In what is generally regarded as the first Union combat fatality of the Civil War, Pvt. Thornsbury Bailey Brown was shot and killed by a Confederate soldier at Fetterman Bridge in present-day West Virginia. 1868 The Great Train Robbery took place near Marshfield, Ind., as seven members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000 in cash, gold and bonds. 1907 Actor Laurence Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England. 1947 The Truman Doctrine was enacted as Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey. 1960 A magnitude 9.5 earthquake, the strongest on record, struck southern Chile. Approximately 1,655 people were killed and 3,000 injured. 1972 The island nation of Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka with the adoption of a new constitution. 1990 North Yemen and South Yemen merged to form the Republic of Yemen. 1992 Johnny Carson hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for the last time after nearly 30 years in the job.  Read the original AP story AP Photo/Doug Pizac 1998 Voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland cast ballots giving resounding approval to a Northern Ireland peace accord. 2002 A jury in Birmingham, Ala., convicted former Ku Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry of murder in a 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. 2002 The remains of Chandra Levy, a federal intern who had beem more than a year, were found in a Washington, D.C., park. (An illegal immigrant from El Salvador was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to 60 years in prison.) 2011 A tornado devastated Joplin, Mo., claiming at least 159 lives and destroying about 8,000 homes and businesses.		Video Highlights of This Day in History Today's Birthdays: Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens turns 84 today. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez Name Profession Age Judith Crist Film critic 90 Richard Benjamin Actor, director 74 Bernard Shaw Broadcast journalist 72 Bernie Taupin Songwriter 62 Lisa Murkowski U.S. senator, R-Alaska 55 Morrissey Rock singer 53 Ann Cusack Actress 51 Naomi Campbell Model 42 Anna Belknap Actress ("CSI: NY") 40 Alison Eastwood Actress, director 40 Ginnifer Goodwin Actress ("Big Love") 34 Maggie Q Actress 33 Novak Djokovic Tennis player 25 Speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno turns 30 today. AP Photo/Evan Agostini