Today in History, May 25, 1977: George Lucas’ ‘Star Wars’ premiered

Today is May 25. On this date in:

1787

The Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.

1793

Father Stephen Theodore Badin became the first Roman Catholic priest to be ordained in the U.S. during a ceremony in Baltimore.

1810

Argentina began its revolt against Spanish rule with the forming of the Primera Junta in Buenos Aires.

1895

Playwright Oscar Wilde was convicted of a morals charge in London; he was sentenced to two years in prison.

1916

The Chicago Tribune published an interview with Henry Ford in which the industrialist was quoted as saying, “History is more or less bunk.”

1925

Coney Island’s second Island Queen steamboat went on its inaugural trip. (It burned on Sept. 9, 1947 in Pittsburgh’s Monongahela River Wharf.)

Our History:50 years ago: Remembering old Coney Island

1935

Babe Ruth hit his last three career home runs – nos. 712, 713 and 714 – for the Boston Braves in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1959

The U.S. Supreme Court, in State Athletic Commission v. Dorsey, struck down a Louisiana law prohibiting interracial boxing matches. (The case had been brought by Joseph Dorsey Jr., a black professional boxer.)

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.”

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.

1965

Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in the first round of their world heavyweight title rematch in Lewiston, Maine. (Ali’s victory generated controversy over whether he’d truly connected when he sent Liston crashing to the canvas with a right to the head, or whether it was a “phantom punch,” implying that the fight had been fixed.)

1977

George Lucas’ first “Star Wars” film was released.

More:Star Wars quiz: Are you a Jedi, Sith, rebel or Mandalorian?

1979

An American Airlines DC-10 crashed just after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, killing 273 people.

1979

Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared on his way to a school bus stop in Manhattan. (In April 2017, Pedro Hernandez, convicted of killing Etan, was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison.)

1986

An estimated 7 million Americans participated in “Hands Across America” to raise money for the nation’s hungry and homeless.

1992

Jay Leno made his debut as host of NBC’s “Tonight Show,” succeeding Johnny Carson.

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.

2020

George Floyd, a Black man, died when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on his neck for about 9½ minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and pleading that he couldn’t breathe; Floyd’s death, captured on video by a bystander, would lead to worldwide protests, some of which turned violent, and a reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S.