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Today is Sunday, May 11, the 132nd day of 2008. There are 234 days left in the year. This is Mother’s Day.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On May 11, 1858, Minnesota became the 32nd state of the Union.

On this date:

n In 1502, Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere.

n In 1888, songwriter Irving Berlin was born Israel Baline in Temun, Russia.

n In 1910, Glacier National Park in Montana was established.

n In 1946, the first CARE packages arrived in Europe, at Le Havre, France.

n In 1973, charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the “Pentagon Papers” case were dismissed by Judge William M. Byrne, who cited government misconduct.

n In 1988, master spy Harold “Kim” Philby, the notorious “Third Man” of a British espionage ring, died in the Soviet Union at age 76.

n In 1996, an Atlanta-bound ValuJet DC-9 caught fire shortly after takeoff from Miami and crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board.

Ten years ago: India set off three underground atomic blasts, its first nuclear tests in 24 years. A French mint produced the first coins of Europe’s single currency, the euro.

Today’s Birthdays: Comedian Mort Sahl is 81. Rock singer Eric Burdon (The Animals; War) is 67. Actress Frances Fisher is 56. Actor Boyd Gaines is 55. Country musician Mark Herndon (Alabama) is 53. Actress Martha Quinn is 49. Actress Natasha Richardson is 45.

Thought for Today: “A mother never realizes that her children are no longer children.”—Holbrook Jackson, British critic and historian (1874-1948).