This Week In History

This Week In History

May 12
1780 Charleston, South Carolina falls to British forces. 1865 The last land battle of the Civil war occurs at Palmito Ranch, Texas. It is a Confederate victory. 1932 The body of Charles Lindbergh’s baby is found. 1935 Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio by "Bill W.," a stockbroker, and "Dr. Bob S.," a heart surgeon. 1949 The Berlin Blockade ends. 1975 The U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez is seized by Cambodian forces. 1997 Tornado narrowly misses downtown Miami

May 13
1607 English colonists land near the James River in Virginia. 1648 Margaret Jones of Plymouth is found guilty of witchcraft and is sentenced to be hanged. 1846 The United States declares war on Mexico after fighting has already begun. 1912 The Royal Flying Corps is established in England. 1913 Igor Sikorsky flies the first four-engine aircraft. 1968 Peace talks between the United States and North Vietnam begin in Paris. 1981 Pope John Paul II survives an assassination attempt.1992 Three astronauts simulanteously walk in space for the first time. They retrieved and repaired the Intelsat-6 satellite from the US shuttle Endeavour in a walk lasting 8 hours 29 minutes 2000 The Vatican ends an enduring mystery, saying the third secret of Fatima, the Virgin Mary is said to have told three children in 1917 was a foretelling of the shooting of Pope John Paul II in 1981.

May 14
1796 English physician Edward Jenner gives the first successful smallpox vaccination. 1804 Explorer William Clark sets off from St. Louis, Missouri. 1853 Gail Borden applies for a patent for condensed milk. 1897 Guglielmo Marconi sends first communication by wireless telegraph. 1897 "Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Phillip Sousa is performed for the first time in Philadelphia. 1948 Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion establishes the State of Israel. 1961 A bus carrying black and white civil rights activists is bombed and burned in Alabama. 1973 The U.S. space station Skylab is launched. 1991 In South Africa, Winnie Mandela is sentenced to six years in prison for her part in the kidnapping and beating of three black youths and the death of a fourth.

May 15
1602 English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold discovers Cape Cod. 1820 The U.S. Congress designates the slave trade a form of piracy. 1886 Emily Dickinson dies in Amherst, Mass., where she had lived in seclusion for the previous 24 years. 1930 Ellen Church becomes the first airline stewardess. 1942 The United States begins rationing gasoline. 1958 Sputnik III is launched by the Soviet Union. 1963 The last Project Mercury space flight, carrying Gordon Cooper, is launched. 1972 George Wallace is shot by Arthur Bremer in Laurel, Maryland. 1981 - Len Barker, the 25-year-old pitching sensation of the Cleveland Indians, became the tenth major-league hurler to toss a perfect game. Barker led the Indians past the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0. Barker was absolutely perfect in this game: no runs, no hits, no walks, no visits to the mound by the manager and no stray hot-dog wrappers on the field.

May 16
1770 Marie Antoinette marries future King Louis XVI of France. 1868 President Andrew Johnson is acquitted during Senate impeachment, by one vote, cast by Edmund G. Ross. 1928 The first Academy Awards are held in Hollywood.

May 17
1756 Britain declares war on France. 1792 Merchants form the New York Stock Exchange at 70 Wall Street. 1875 The first Kentucky Derby is run in Louisville.1940 Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium and begins the invasion of France. 1954 The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules for school integration in Brown v. Board of Education. 1973 The Senate Watergate Committee begins its hearings.

May 18
1652 A law is passed in Rhode Island banning slavery in the colonies but it causes little stir and seems unlikely to be enforced. 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte becomes the Emperor of France. 1860 Abraham Lincoln is nominated for president.1917 The U.S. Congress passes the Selective Service act, calling up soldiers to fight World War I. 1951 The United Nations moves its headquarters to New York city. 1980 After rumbling for two months, Mount Saint Helens, in Washington, erupts 3 times in 24 hours.

Famous Birthdays

May 12
1812 Edward Lear, poet, painter and the youngest of 21 children. 1820 Florence Nightingale, English nurse and hospital reformer. 1907 Katherine Hepburn, actress (The Philadelphia Story, The African Queen). 1915 Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics. 1925 Yogi Berra (Lawrence Peter Berra), baseball player and coach. Russian poet. 1936 Tom Snyder, newscaster and television host. 1937 George Carlin, comedian 1961 Ving Rhames, actor 1968 Tony Hawk, skateboard star 1978 Jason Biggs, actor

May 13
1842 Sir Arthur Sullivan, composer, collaborator with W.S. Gilbert.1914 Joe Louis, world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949.1923 Beatrice Arthur, actress 1939 Harvey Keitel, actor 1951 Stevie Wonder, musician 1961 Dennis Rodman, basketball player

May 14
1686 Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, German physicist, instrument maker, inventor of the thermometer. 1727 Thomas Gainsborough, painter ("Blue Boy"). 1944 George Lucas, film director and producer (Star Wars). 1946 Robert Jarvik, American physician. 1969 Cate Blanchett, actress

May 15
1856 Lyman Frank Baum, author (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). 1902 Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago through the 1960s and early 1970’s. 1930 Jasper Johns, Jr., painter, leader of the Pop Art movement. 1937 Trini Lopez (singer) 1937 Madeleine Albright (politician) 1969 Emmitt Smith, football player

May 16
1801 William Henry Seward, U.S. Secretary of State (1861-1869). 1804 Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, founder of the first U.S. kindergarten. 1905 Henry Fonda, American actor (Grapes of Wrath, On Golden Pond). 1913 Woody Herman, jazz bandleader.1952 Pierce Brosnan, actor 1955 Olga Korbut, Olympic gymnast. 1966 Janet Jackson 1973 Tori Spelling

May 17
1444 Sandro Botticelli, painter (The Birth of Venus). 1836 Joseph Norman Lockyer, British astonomer, discovered helium. 1900 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranian religious leader, terrorist 1912 Archibald Cox, special prosecutor in the Watergate hearings, fired by President Nixon. 1955 Bill Paxton, actor 1956 Bob Saget, television host 1956 Sugar Ray Leonard, boxer 1987 Tahj Mowry, actor

May 18
1868 Nicholas II, the last Russian czar. 1872 Bertrand Russell, English mathematician, philosopher and social reformer. 1897 Frank Capra, film director (It’s A Wonderful Life). 1918 John Paul II [Karol Jozef Wojtyla], Roman Catholic pope. 1919 Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer. 1931 Robert Morse, actor 1946 Reggie Jackson, baseball player 1952 George Strait (country singer)