From The Daily:

May 21, 1993

In an article titled “VIPs get parking ticket break,” The Daily reported that some members of the UW administration were in the practice of personally paying for parking tickets received by visiting public officials, important guests and departmental consultants. ASUW President Judy Nicastro was “outraged” when she learned about the practice, but there was no action she could take. John Pettit, assistant vice president of business and personnel services, said that state funds were never used to pay tickets.

May 23, 1974

According to this day’s Daily, the UW’s Delta Tau Delta fraternity was planning to open its house to foster children. John Luidema, the frat’s resident adviser, was hopeful that the plan — the first of its kind in the United States — would catch on and inspire other fraternities and sororities to implement similar programs.

The fraternity’s plan was to provide a home for four to six 13- to 15-year-old boys and work with them to help them to live a “normal life.” Luidema would be the official guardian of the foster children, but “each fraternity member would have the responsibilities of a foster parent.”

Source: The Daily archives

Around the World:

May 20, 1873

Businessman Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis receive a patent for the creation of work pants reinforced with metal rivets. Say hello to the blue jeans, one of the most famous and enduring articles of clothing ever invented. Originally known as waist overalls, the pants were first made by seamstresses working out of their homes. Soon enough, Strauss opened a factory to mass produce them.

May 22, 1856

The halls of Congress bear witness to the savage beating of Northern Sen. Charles Sumner by Southern Rep. Preston Brooks. As the debate over slavery had grown more and more tense, Sumner had slighted a relative of Brooks. Brooks, taking it upon himself to defend his kinsman’s honor, entered the Senate chamber, cane in hand, and approached Sumner at his desk. The beating that ensued ensured that Brooks would be praised in the South and vilified in the North. It took Sumner three years to recover, during which time his Senate seat was left empty.

May 23, 1934

Infamous criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are shot to death by Louisiana and Texas state patrols. Parker and Barrow began their life of crime together in 1932, committing robberies, stealing cars and murdering several people in the commission of those crimes, including law enforcement personnel. The duo was perceived by some of the public to be a romantic, folk-hero type couple, mostly due to playful photographs of them that were discovered by police and published in newspapers.

May 24, 1974

Duke Ellington, jazz legend, dies at age 75. Born Edward Kennedy Ellington in 1899, he earned the nickname “Duke” as a teenager for his elegant, polished manner. Ellington took some piano lessons as a child but was mostly self-taught. He became interested in music in his late teens, seeing it as a way to attract the ladies. By 1927, he was leading his own band. Among the band’s hits were jazz classics “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Mood Indigo” and “Take the A Train.” Ellington performed on his 75th birthday, in April 1974, less than a month before his death.

SOURCE: HISTORY.COM/THIS-DAY-IN-HISTORY

Reach features editor Randy Ferreiro at features@dailyuw.com.