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Today is Tuesday, May 21, the 141st day of 2002. There are 224 days left in the year. 

Highlight: 

On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean. 

On this date: 

In 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto died while searching for gold along the Mississippi River. 

In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. 

In 1924, 14-year-old Bobby Franks was murdered in a “thrill killing” committed by Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, two students at the University of Chicago. 

In 1956, the United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. 

In 1968, the nuclear-powered U.S. submarine Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, was last heard from. (The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores.) 

In 1991, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated during national elections by a suicide bomber. 

Ten years ago:  

The Coast Guard announced that high-seas interdiction of Haitian refugees was being drastically scaled back because refugee camps at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba, were filled. 

Five years ago:  

Prosecutors at the Oklahoma City bombing trial of Timothy McVeigh rested their case. The space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the Russian Mir space station. 

One year ago:  

The Mitchell Report on Mideast violence called on Palestinians to jail terrorists and Israel to freeze settlement activity. Cardinals from around the world gathered at the Vatican for a three-day meeting to ponder the challenges facing the Roman Catholic Church and who might lead it after Pope John Paul II. The Supreme Court ruled, six-to-three, that a radio host cannot be sued for airing a phone conversation taped illegally by a third party. 

Today’s Birthdays:  

Actress Jeanne Bates (“Ben Casey”) is 84. Actor David Groh is 63. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ron Isley (The Isley Brothers) is 61. Actor Richard Hatch (“Battlestar Galactica”) is 57. Musician Bill Champlin (Chicago) is 55. Singer Leo Sayer is 54. Actress Carol Potter is 54. Actor Mr. T is 50. Music producer Stan Lynch is 47. Actor Judge Reinhold is 45. Actor-director Nick Cassavetes is 43. Actor Brent Briscoe is 41. Jazz musician Christian McBride is 30. Actress Fairuza Balk is 28. Rapper Havoc (Mobb Deep) is 28. Actress Ashlie Brillault (“Lizzie McGuire”) is 15. Actor Scott Leavenworth (“Philly”) is 12. 

- The Associated Press