1796 – Johann Peter Uz, German poet (Theodicee), dies at 75
1878 – Catherine Beecher, American educator (championed higher education for women), dies at 77
1948 – Isidor Achron, American composer, dies of a heart attack at 55
1967 – John Masefield, British writer and poet (Salt-Water Ballads), Poet Laureate (1930-67), dies at 88
1970 – Leonie “Nelly” Sachs, German Swedish poet and playwright (Nobel prize for Literature 1966), dies at 78
1977 – Luc van Brabant, Flemish writer and erotic poet, dies at 67
1994 – Erik Erikson, American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst who coined the phrase “identity crisis”, dies at 91
1996 – Rob Hall, New Zealand mountaineer, dies on Mt Everest at 35
2001 – (Pierino) Perry Como, American singer (“Catch A Falling Star”) and TV personality (The Perry Como Show) dies at 89
2021 – Higinio Vélez, Cuban baseball manager (Olympic gold 2004; Santiago de Cuba, Cuban National Series 1999–2001), dies from COVID-19 at 73
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 12th May 2022
1057 – The Ostromir Gospel, now the oldest surviving Russian manuscript is recorded completed by its scribe Deacon Grigory
1797 – Nore Mutiny: British Royal Navy sailors mutiny on the Thames, England and blockade London
1864 – Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, fought in Chesterfield County, Virginia (Peninsula Campaign), Confederate victory (US Civil War)
1917 – 42nd Preakness: E Haynes aboard Kalitan wins in 1:54.4
1928 – Benito Mussolini announces moves to end women’s suffrage in a speech to the Senate in Italy
1942 – Nazi U-boat sinks American cargo ship at mouth of Mississippi River
1975 – US merchant ship Mayaguez seized by Cambodian forces
1982 – Pulitzer prize awarded to John Updike (Rabbit is Rich)
1984 – France performs nuclear test
2019 – British TV Awards (Baftas): “Killing Eve” Jodie Comer and Benedict Cumberbatch win
Today in History for 12th May 2022
Historical Events
1894 – Ludwig Englander’s musical “Passing Show” premieres in NYC
1958 – US and Canada form North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)
1962 – Grevelingen dam closes in major project to protect the southwest of the Netherlands from flooding
1973 – 6th ABA championship: Indiana Pacers beat Ky Colonels, 4 games to 3
1981 – NY Islanders tie their own record with two shorthanded playoff goals in a period vs Minnesota North Stars
2006 – A major rebellion occurs in São Paulo as members of criminal organization Primeiro Comando da Capital attack police officers and stations, eventually escalating to several prisons in Brazil leaving around 130 dead
Famous Birthdays
1915 – Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founded Mary Kay Cosmetics (d. 2001)
1958 – Kim Greist, American actress (CHUD, Brazil, Payoff, Manhunter), born in Stamford, Connecticut
1958 – Andreas Petroulakis, Greek political caricaturist
1966 – Rafael Bournigal, Dominican infielder (Oakland A’s), born in Azua, Dominican Republic
1978 – Jason Biggs, American actor (American Pie), born in Pompton Plains, New Jersey
1979 – Andre Carter, American football player and coach, born in Denver, Colorado
Famous Deaths
1825 – Elias Mann, American composer, dies at 75
1845 – János Bacsanyi, Hungarian poet (b. 1763)
1876 – Henri-François-Alphonse Esquiros, French poet and writer (Evangile du peuple), dies at 63
1996 – Hubert William Dean, British air armaments specialist, dies at 84
2000 – Adam Petty, American race car driver (b. 1980)
2001 – Didi (Waldyr Pereira), Brazilian soccer midfielder (68 caps; Fluminense), dies at 72
Famous Deaths for 11th May 2022
1938 – Arnold Sauwen, Flemish poet (Hours of Solitude), dies at 81
1944 – Henk Hos, Dutch resistance fighter, executed at 37
1979 – Lester Flatt, American bluegrass guitarist (Flatt and Scruggs – “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”; “Ballad of Jed Clampett”), dies at 64
1986 – Henry P. McIlhenny, American philanthropist, dies at 76
1991 – Ho Dam, North Korean foreign minister (1970-83), dies at 62
1994 – Leonard Friedman, British-Lithuanian violinist (Scottish Baroque Ensemble), dies at 63
1995 – Tibor Sarai, Hungarian composer, dies at 76
1996 – Ademir de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (Brazil national team 1945-53), dies at 73
2014 – Ed Gagliardi, American bass guitarist (Foreigner, 1976-79 – “Feels Like The First Time”), dies from cancer at 62
2016 – David King, British graphic designer (album covers for Jimi Hendrix and The Who), photographer (I Am King), and historian (The Commissar Vanishes), dies at 73
Historical Events for 11th May 2022
1310 – Fifty-four members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake in France for being heretics
1772 – Amsterdam Theater destroyed by fire, 18 killed, in Amsterdam, Northern Netherlands
1900 – James J. Jeffries KOs James J Corbett in 23 for heavyweight boxing title
1931 – Credit-Anstalt, Austria’s largest bank, fails, beginning financial collapse of Central Europe
1943 – US 7th div lands on Attu, Aleutian, (1st US territory recaptured)
1965 – 1st of 2 cyclones in less than a month kills 35,000 (India)
1973 – Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has his charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times dismissed
1993 – 28th Academy of Country Music Awards: Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, and Mary Chapin Carpenter win
1994 – “Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult” released in France
2008 – PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Sergio García of Spain claims the biggest win of his career to date in a sudden-death playoff over American Paul Goydos
Today in History for 11th May 2022
Historical Events
1858 – Minnesota admitted as 32nd US state
1862 – Confederates scuttle CSS Virginia off Norfolk, Virginia
1949 – Siam renames itself Thailand
1975 – Natalie Cole releases her debut album “Inseparable” (wins 2 Grammys)
1998 – India conducts three underground nuclear tests in Pokhran, including a thermonuclear device
2018 – Most popular names in the US for 2017 revealed as Emma for girls, Liam for boys
Famous Birthdays
1838 – Walter Goodman, British painter, illustrator and author (d. 1912)
1905 – Marjorie Sykes, peace campaigner
1947 – Butch Trucks, American drummer (The Allman Brothers – “Whipping Post”), born in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 2017)
1964 – Tim Blake Nelson, American actor (O Brother, Where Art Thou?; The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Watchmen), born in Tulsa, Oklahoma
1974 – Stanley Gene, Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer
1986 – Ronny, Brazilian footballer
Famous Deaths
1304 – Maḥmūd Ghāzān, 7th Mongol Empire ruler in Iran, dies at 32
1938 – Arnold Sauwen, Flemish poet (Hours of Solitude), dies at 81
1996 – Bruce Boyce, Canadian-born American singer and teacher, dies at 85
2013 – Oliver “Ollie” Mitchell, American musician and bandleader (The Wrecking Crew), dies of cancer at 86
2017 – Yale Lary, American NFL safety Hall of Famer (Detroit Lions), dies at 86
2020 – John “Moon” Martin, American rockabilly singer-songwriter and guitarist (“Bad Case Of Loving You”), dies at 74
Famous Deaths for 10th May 2022
1290 – Duke Rudolph II of Austria (b. 1271)
1569 – Juan the Avila, Spanish minister/writer
1760 – Johann Christoph Graupner, German harpsichordist and Baroque composer, dies at 77
1807 – Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, French military leader (commander of the French Expeditionary Force that assisted the Thirteen Colonies), dies at 81
1938 – Percy McAlister, Australian cricket batsman (8 Tests; Big Six cricket dispute 1912), dies at 68
1945 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer and concentration camp administrator, committed suicide at 56
1964 – Mikhail Larionov, Russian painter (b. 1881)
1968 – Maurie Sievers, cricket medium-pacer (Austral v England 1936-37), dies
1973 – Jack E. Leonard, American comedian (Disorderly Orderly), dies at 62
2001 – Deborah Walley, American actress (b. 1943)
Historical Events for 10th May 2022
1823 – 1st steamboat to navigate the Mississippi River arrives at Fort Snelling
1824 – The National Gallery in London opens to the public in its temporary home in a townhouse on Pall Mall
1917 – Atlantic ships get destroyer escorts to stop German attacks
1929 – British Open Men’s Golf, Muirfield: Walter Hagen wins 4th Open title, by 6 strokes from fellow American Johnny Farrell
1953 – KCBD TV channel 11 in Lubbock, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1961 – “Beyond the Fringe” premieres in London
1967 – Rolling Stones Keith Richards, Brian Jones and Mick Jagger arrested on drug charges
1972 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1978 – “Angel” opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 5 performances
1989 – General Manuel Noriega’s Panama government nullifies country’s elections, which the opposition had won by a 3-1 margin
Today in History for 10th May 2022
Historical Events
1267 – Vienna’s church orders all Jews to wear a distinctive garb
1643 – Essex County, Massachusetts is founded, which contains the town of Salem in which the notorious witch-trials will occur in 1692
1893 – 19th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Kunze aboard Lookout wins in 2:39.25
1906 – Russian Duma (Parliament) meets for 1st time
1969 – US troops begin attack on Hill 937 (“Hamburger Hill”), Vietnam
2003 – The May 2003 tornado outbreak sequence takes place.
Famous Birthdays
1911 – Alexander Goode, American US Navy chaplain and rabbi (The Four Chaplains), born in Brooklyn, NYC (d. 1943)
1923 – Herb Carneal, American sports broadcaster (Minnesota Twins 1962-2006; Ford C. Frick Award 1996), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 2007)
1943 – Andrzej Badeński, Polish athlete (400 metres) (d. 2008)
1944 – Jackie Lomax, English singer-songwriter (Is This What You Want), born in Liverpool, England (d. 2013)
1958 – Ellen Ochoa, PhD/Astronaut (STS 56, 66), born in Los Angeles, California
1968 – Al Murray, British comedian
Famous Deaths
1290 – Duke Rudolph II of Austria (b. 1271)
1950 – Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian, bibliographer and archivist, dies at 66
1974 – Hal Mohr [Harold Leon Mohr], American Cinematographer and husband of Evelyn Venable (Captain Blood), dies at 74
2000 – Dédé Fortin, Quebec singer and songwriter (Les Colocs) (b. 1962)
2003 – Milan Vukcevich, Yugoslavian chemist and a grandmaster of chess problem composition, dies at 66
2017 – Geoffrey Bayldon, British stage and screen actor (Catweazle; Worzel Gummidge – “Crowman”), dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 9th May 2022
1446 – Mary of Enghien, Queen of Naples, dies at 79
1790 – William Clingan, American delegate to the Continental Congress
1822 – Charles Duquesnoy, French composer, dies at 62
1905 – Ernst Pauer, Austrian composer and pianist, dies at 78
1963 – Charles Vyner Brooke, 3rd and last White Rajah of Sarawak (1917-46), dies at 88
1968 – Harold Gray, American comic strip artist (Little Orphan Annie), dies at 74
1970 – Walter P. Reuther, American worker’s union leader and president of the CIO, dies in a plane crash at 62
1976 – Raymond Chevreuille, Belgian composer, dies at 74
1986 – Tenzing Norgay, Tibetan climber who was the 1st to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953 with Edmund Hillary, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 71
2010 – Lena Horne, American singer and actress (Cabin in the Sky), dies at 92