Today in History: May 15, New State of Israel Attacked by 5 Nations | Life

Today is Wednesday, May 15th, the 136th day of 2024. There are 230 days left in the year.In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating the Department of Agriculture.

In 1928, Walt Disney cartoon character Mickey Mouse made his first public appearance in a test screening of the short film Plane Crazy. (Six months later, Mickey made his official film debut with the release of Steamboat Willie.)

In 1948, a few hours after the declaration of independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its unanimous In re Gault decision that juveniles charged with crimes were entitled to the same due process as adults.

Just after midnight in 1970, Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green, two black students at Jackson State College in Mississippi, were killed when police opened fire during student protests.

In 1972, Alabama Governor George C. Wallace was shot and paralyzed during his presidential campaign in Laurel, Maryland, by Arthur H. Bremer, who served 35 years in prison for attempted murder.

In 1975, U.S. forces invaded the Cambodian island of Koh Tang and captured the American merchant ship Mayaguez, which had been hijacked by the Khmer Rouge. (All 39 crew members had already been safely released by Cambodia; about 40 U.S. soldiers were killed in connection with the operation.)

The Soviet Union began withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in 1988, more than eight years after Soviet troops invaded the country.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, struck down a key provision of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act that barred rape victims from suing their attackers in federal court.

In 2007, Rev. Jerry Falwell, who turned the Christian right into a political force, died in Lynchburg, Virginia, at age 73.

In 2009, General Motors told about 1,100 dealers that their franchises would be terminated.

In 2012, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year.

In 2015, a jury sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three people and injured more than 250.

In 2018, Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano was suspended 80 games for violating baseball’s drug treaty, becoming one of the most high-profile players disciplined under the sport’s anti-doping rules.

In 2020, President Donald Trump formally unveiled a coronavirus vaccine program he called “Operation Warp Speed” to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines and quickly distribute them across the country. Comedian Fred Willard, whose films included “Best In Show” and “Anchorman,” has died at the age of 86.

In 2022, police said the white 18-year-old who shot 10 people in a Buffalo supermarket a day earlier had researched local demographics while looking for places with high concentrations of black residents.