Today is Wednesday, May 23, the 144th day of 2012. There are 222 days left in the year.
1430 ― Joan of Arc captured by Burgundians at Compiegne, who sell her to the British
1785 ― Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals
1883 ― Baseball game between one-armed and one-legged players
1900 ― Associated Press News Service forms in New York
1934 ― Wallace Carothers manufactures first nylon (polymer 66)
1945 ― Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi leader & Chief of Police, commits suicide
1945 ― Winston Churchill resigns as British P.M.
1958 ― Mao Tse Tung starts ``Great leap forward" movement in China
1990 ― Cost of rescuing savings & loan failures is put at up to $130 billion
1994 ― Star Trek The Next Generation, finale airs this week in syndication