Today is Monday, May 16, the 136th day of 2011. There are 229 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History

On May 16, 1811, an American frigate, the USS President, pursued and engaged a British sloop-of-war, the HMS Little Belt, off North Carolina after initially mistaking it for the HMS Guerriere, which had seized and impressed an American sailor. (The more seriously damaged Little Belt lost 11 crew members; both sides claimed the other had fired first.)

On this date

In 1770, Marie Antoinette, age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.

In 1868, the Senate failed by one vote to convict President Andrew Johnson as it took its first ballot on the 11 articles of impeachment against him.

In 1910, the U.S Bureau of Mines was established. (It ceased operations in 1996, its functions having been transferred to other agencies.)

In 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized by Pope Benedict XV.

In 1929, the first Academy Awards were presented. The movie “Wings” won “best production,” while Emil Jannings and Janet Gaynor were named best actor and best actress.

In 1939, the government began its first food stamp program in Rochester, N.Y.

In 1975, Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

In 1991, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.

Ten years ago

Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen was indicted on charges of spying for Moscow. (Hanssen later pleaded guilty to 15 counts of espionage and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.) Nathaniel Brazill, a 14-year-old boy who’d shot and killed English teacher Barry Grunow, was convicted of second-degree murder in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Brazill was later sentenced to 28 years in prison without possibility of parole.)

Five years ago

The Pentagon released the first video images of American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the military headquarters and killing 189 people on 9/11. Richard Hatch, who’d won $1 million in the debut season of “Survivor,” was sentenced in Providence, R.I., to more than four years in prison for failing to pay taxes on his reality TV prize and other income. Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden, the winningest coaches in Division I-A football, were elected to the college football Hall of Fame.

One year ago

BP crews finally succeeded in keeping some of the oil rushing from a blown well out of the Gulf of Mexico by hooking up a mile-long tube to funnel the crude into a tanker ship. Space shuttle Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station for its last planned visit. Rafael Nadal won a record 18th Masters title by beating Roger Federer 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the Madrid final. Lebanese-born Miss Michigan Rima Fakih won the 2010 Miss USA title.

Today’s Birthdays

Actor Pierce Brosnan is 58. Actress Debra Winger is 56. Rock musician Boyd Tinsley (The Dave Matthews Band) is 47. Rock musician Krist Novoselic is 46. Singer Janet Jackson is 45. Country singer Scott Reeves (Blue County) is 45. Actor Brian O’Byrne is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ralph Tresvant (New Edition) is 43. Political correspondent Tucker Carlson is 42. Tennis player Gabriela Sabatini is 41. Country singer Rick Trevino is 40. Actress Tori Spelling is 38. Actress Megan Fox is 25. Actor Marc John Jefferies is 21.

Thought for Today

“The enemy of the conventional wisdom is not ideas but the march of events.”

— John Kenneth Galbraith,

American economist, diplomat and author (1908-2006)