1608 – Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1543)
1832 – John van Speijk, Dutch heroic sailor, buried
1912 – August Strindberg ‘Father of modern Swedish Literature’, Swedish dramatist and writer (Miss Julie), dies at 63
1943 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian international lawyer (1st Socialist to win Nobel Peace Prize 1913), dies at 89
1947 – John Ray Sinnock, US chief engraver (1925-47), dies at 59
1978 – Bill Lear, American engineer, manufacturer and CEO (Lear Jet Corp), dies at 75
1982 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor (The Mole People, Leave it to Beaver), dies from a heart attack at 73
1987 – Rita Hayworth [Margarita Cansino], American actress (Gilda; Cover Girl; The Lady from Shanghai), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 68
1997 – Princess Caradja-Kretzulesco, descendant of Dracula, dies at 76
2018 – Tom Wolfe, American journalist and author (The Right Stuff), dies at 88
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 14th May 2024
1889 – The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is launched in London, England, led by Benjamin Waugh
1918 – Sunday baseball is made legal in Washington, D.C.
1920 – Washington Senator Walter Johnson wins his 300th game vs Detroit
1944 – 91 German bombers harass Bristol
1960 – Michael Flanders and Donald Swann’s musical review “At the Drop of a Hat” closes at John Golden Theater, NYC, after 216 performances
1975 – US forces raid Cambodian island of Koh Tang to free Mayaguez ship
1981 – NASA launches space vehicle S-192
1994 – FA Cup Final: Manchester United defeat Chelsea 4-0 at Wembley Stadium, London
1995 – Dalai Lama proclaims 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima 11th reincarnation of Panchen Lama, Tibet’s 2nd most senior spiritual leader
2002 – Ten members of the Darwin-based Network Against Prohibition invade the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory of Australia.
Today in History for 14th May 2024
Historical Events
1940 – Admiral Johannes Furstner, Royal Dutch Navy, departs to England
1957 – Bob Merrill’s musical “New Girl in Town” opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 432 performances
1972 – In Willie Mays’ 1st game as New York Met, his homer beats San Francisco Giants, 5-4 (his former team of over 20 years), at Shea Stadium, New York
1987 – Colt revolver (Peacemaker) of 1873 sells for $242,000
1997 – Baseball’s Executive Council suspends NY Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for his suing other team owners
2020 – Global death toll from COVID-19 passes 300,000 with 4.4 million confirmed infections
Famous Birthdays
1316 – Charles IV, King of Bohemia (1346-78) and Holy Roman Emperor (1355-78), born in Prague (d. 1378)
1895 – Renato Lunelli, composer Italian organist, composer, and musicologist, born in Trent, Austria-Hungary (now Trento, Italy) (d. 1967)
1899 – Earle Combs, American Baseball HOF center fielder (9 × World Series 1927, 28, 32, 36–39, 41, 43; New York Yankees), born in Richmond, Kentucky (d. 1976)
1928 – Will “Dub” Jones, American bass singer (The Coasters – “Charlie Brown”), born in Shreveport, Louisiana (d. 2000)
1973 – Voshon Lenard, NBA guard (Miami Heat)
1997 – Jennifer Kupcho, American golfer (Chevron Championship 2022; Evian Championship 2019 runner-up), born in Littleton, Colorado
Famous Deaths
649 – Theodore, Greek Pope (642-49) (excommunicated by Paul II), dies
1873 – Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician and writer (b. 1797)
1966 – Megan Lloyd George, English politician (1st female MP for Welsh – Carmarthen), dies at 64
1977 – Robert Maynard Hutchins, American educational philosopher (University of Chicago), dies at 78
1991 – Shintaro Abe, minister of Exterior of Japan (1982-86), dies
2009 – Bob Rosburg, American golfer, broadcaster (PGA Championship 1959), dies of head injuries from a fall at 82
Famous Deaths for 13th May 2024
1742 – Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1719)
1832 – Georges Cuvier [Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Cuvier], French naturalist and zoologist, dies at 62
1839 – Israel Ashkenazi of Shklov, founded Ashkenazic community (1815), dies
1925 – Boris Savinkov, Russian writer and revolutionary, dies in prison under mysterious circumstances at 46
1926 – Libert H. Boeynaems, Belgian Catholic prelate and the fourth vicar apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands, dies at 68
1939 – Stanislaw Lesniewski, Polish logician and mathematician (Warsaw School of Logic), dies at 53
1982 – Gara Garayev [Kara Karayev], Soviet-Azerbaijani composer (Seven Beauties), dies at 64
1996 – John “Jack” Baines, British mountaineering publisher, dies at 57
2006 – Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (b. 1923)
2020 – Rolf Hochhuth, German playwright (Der Stellvertreter), dies at 89
Historical Events for 13th May 2024
641 – Eligius (Saint Eloy) becomes bishop of Doornik-Noyon
1364 – Peter Coutherel banished from Leuven
1877 – Caesar Franck’s symphonic poem “Lesson Eolides” premieres
1946 – US sentences 58 camp guards of Mauthausen concentration camp to death
1949 – 1st British-produced jet bomber, the Canberra, makes its 1st test flight
1975 – “Rodgers and Hart” opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 108 performances
1982 – Braniff Airlines files for bankruptcy
1996 – Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.
2018 – China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier begins sea trials in Dalian, China
2023 – 67th Eurovision Song Contest: Loreen wins for Sweden, for the second time, singing “Tattoo”, in Liverpool, England, hosting on behalf of Ukraine
Today in History for 13th May 2024
Historical Events
1638 – Construction of the Red Fort begins at Shahjahanabad, Mughal Empire (now Dehli, India)
1890 – 18th Preakness: W Martin aboard Montague wins in 2:36.75
1917 – 1st appearance of Mary to 3 shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal
1966 – The Rolling Stones release “Paint it Black” in the UK
1973 – “Cyrano” opens at Palace Theater NYC for 49 performances
2000 – In Enschede, the Netherlands, a fireworks factory explodes, killing 22 people, wounding 950, and resulting in approximately €450 million in damage
Famous Birthdays
1929 – Creed Taylor, American Grammy Award-winning jazz and bossa nova record producer (Stan Getz; Wes Montgomery), and label founder (Impluse!; CTI Records), born in Lynchburg, Virginia (d. 2022)
1937 – Roch Carrier, Canadian novelist (The Hockey Sweater), born in Sainte-Justine, Quebec
1939 – Hildrun Laufer-Claus, German long jumper, born in Dresden, Germany
1949 – Franklyn Ajaye, American comedian and actor (Car Wash, The Jazz Singer, Bridesmaids), born in Brooklyn, New York
1966 – Alison Goldfrapp, English singer-songwriter (Seventh Tree), born in London
1983 – Timnit Gebru, Eritrean-Ethiopian computer scientist (Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute), born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Famous Deaths
1312 – Theobald II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1263)
1951 – Marianne Philips, Dutch author (Issue Beukennoot), dies at 65
1975 – Vladislav Zolotaryov, Soviet Russian bayanist (button accordion player), and composer (Six Children’s Suites), takes his own life at 53
1984 – Stanislaw Ulam, Polish-American mathematician and nuclear physicist (Manhattan Project, H-bomb), dies at 75
1985 – Leatrice Joy, silent screen star, dies in Riverdale (Bronx) NYC at 91
2009 – Frank Aletter, American character actor (Mac-It’s About Time, Tom-Nancy), dies of lung cancer at 83
Famous Deaths for 12th May 2024
1838 – Jędrzej Śniadecki, Polish writer, physician, chemist (creation of modern Polish terminology in the field of chemistry), dies at 69
1864 – J.E.B. Stuart [James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart], Confederate General in the American Civil War, killed in action at 31
1878 – Catherine Beecher, American educator (championed higher education for women), dies at 77
1906 – Gabriel C. Wharton, American civil engineer and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 81
1907 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French writer (Against the Grain), dies at 59
1941 – Ruth Stonehouse, American silent film actress and director, dies at 48
1970 – Wladyslaw Anders, Polish army general (WWI and WWII), and politician (Parliament-in exile), dies at 78
1994 – Helen Lee Mai, Hong Kong actress, dies at 63
2001 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1925)
2017 – Bill Dowdy, American jazz drummer (The Three Sounds), dies at 84
Historical Events for 12th May 2024
1534 – German Duchy of Wurttemberg becomes Lutheran under Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg
1864 – Battle of Spotsylvania, fought near Courthouse, Virginia (Overland Campaign), inconclusive result (US Civil War)
1919 – New York Yankees and Washington Senators play second straight extra inning tie, 4-4 in 15 innings at the Polo Grounds; 0-0 in 12 the previous day
1948 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates due to ill health
1953 – KUHT TV channel 8 (PBS) in Houston, TX, begins broadcasting
1967 – 20th Cannes Film Festival: “Blowup” directed by Michelangelo Antonioni wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
1972 – Milwaukee Brewers beat Minnesota Twins, 4-3, in 22 innings (completed 5/13)
1976 – 20th European Cup: Bayern Munich beats Saint-Etienne 1-0 at Glasgow
1995 – Jose Mesa gets 1st of his M.L. record 37 consecutive saves
2001 – 46th Eurovision Song Contest: Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL for Estonia wins singing “Everybody” in Copenhagen
Today in History for 12th May 2024
Historical Events
1525 – Battle at Biblingen: Zwabische Union beats rebel Wurttemberg farmers
1789 – William Wilberforce makes his first major speech on abolition in the UK House of Commons, reasoning the slave trade morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice
1911 – 1st Inter-Empire Championships open in London
1942 – Russia occupies Crackow, until Aug 23, 1943
1952 – Gaj Singh is crowned Maharaja of Jodhpur
2008 – Wenchuan earthquake, measuring 7.8 in magnitude occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 87,000, injuring 374,643 and leaving homeless between 4.8 million and 11 million people
Famous Birthdays
1496 – Gustav I, King of Sweden (1523-60) who abolished Sweden’s elective monarchy, born in Rydboholm Castle, Sweden (d. 1560)
1806 – Amos Beebe Eaton, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Catskill, New York (d. 1877)
1923 – Hector Laing, English biscuit manufacturer (McVitie and Price), pilot and Director of the Bank of England (d. 2010)
1938 – Millie Perkins, American actress (Diary of Anne Frank, Table for 5, Shooting), born in Passaic, New Jersey
1948 – Steve Winwood, English singer, songwriter and musician (Spencer Davis Group – “Gimme Some Lovin'”; Traffic – “Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys”; solo – ‘Higher Love”; “While You See A Chance”), born in Birmingham, England
1966 – Rafael Bournigal, Dominican infielder (Oakland A’s), born in Azua, Dominican Republic
Famous Deaths
1878 – Catherine Beecher, American educator (championed higher education for women), dies at 77
1909 – Bertha Townsend, American tennis player (US Nat C’ship 1888-89), dies at 40
1935 – Józef Piłsudski, Father of the Second Polish Republic who served as its Chief of State (1918-22), Marshall of Poland and later its de facto leader (1926-35), dies at 67
1963 – Stanisław Wiechowicz, Polish composer, dies at 69
1998 – Hermann Lenz, German writer (Swabian Chronicles), dies at 75
2001 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1925)
Famous Deaths for 11th May 2024
1631 – Christoph Buel, German composer, dies at 57
1849 – Juliette Récamier, French socialite, dies at 71
1857 – Eugène François Vidocq, French criminal and police detective, dies at 81
1956 – Walter Sydney Adams, American astronomer and director of Mount Wilson, dies at 79
1962 – Hans Luther, German politician (Chancellor, 1925-6), dies at 83
1965 – Lode Baekelmans, Belgian writer (Tille), dies at 84
1994 – Alfred James Broomhall, British Protestant Christian medical missionary to China, dies at 82
1996 – Joan Thirkettle, British journalist, dies at 48
1996 – Ademir de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (Brazil national team 1945-53), dies at 73
2007 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Chief and Head-of-Head of Samoa (1962-2007), dies at 94