Moments in Time – April 23, 2025

#MiddleburyCT

• On May 5, 1945, Elsie Mitchell and five neighborhood children were killed while attempting to drag a Japanese balloon out of the woods. The balloon was armed and exploded soon after they began tinkering with it. They were the only known American civilians to be killed in the continental United States during World War II.
• On May 6, 2013, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were rescued from a Cleveland, Ohio, house where they’d been held captive for years by their abductor, Ariel Castro. Also rescued from the house was Berry’s 6-year-old daughter, who was fathered by Castro.
• On May 7, 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony premiered in Vienna even as the composer was suffering from severe hearing loss. The performance earned him five standing ovations and also caused a stir with its use of voices during “Ode to Joy” in its final movement.
• On May 8, 1886, the first-ever serving of Coca-Cola, created by Dr. John Pemberton, advertised as a health tonic and originally including coca leaf extract, made its debut at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. While it originally sold at the rate of about nine glasses per day, by its 50th anniversary it had become an American icon.
• On May 9, 1671, Thomas “Colonel” Blood, disguised as a priest, was captured while attempting to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. Remarkably, King Charles II was impressed enough by Blood’s nerve that he restored the would-be thief’s Irish estates and even made him a member of the royal court, with an annual pension.
• On May 10, 1970, Boston Bruins star Bobby Orr slipped the winning goal past St. Louis Blues goaltender Glenn Hall during Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final, then leaped into the air before landing flat and sliding into the embrace of his teammates – a moment immortalized by photographer Ray Lussier, whose image remains one of the most famous sports photographs in history.
• On May 11, 1987, Klaus Barbie, former Nazi Gestapo chief of German-occupied Lyon, France, went on trial in Lyon and was charged with 177 crimes against humanity. Convicted two months later, he died of cancer in a prison hospital in 1991.

© 2025 King Features Synd., Inc.