1835 – John Nash, British town planner/architect (Regent’s Park), dies
1882 – Jules Nicolas Crevaux, French naval doctor and explorer (French Guiana and the Amazon), murdered on the Pilcomayo River at 35
1962 – Frank Jenks, American stage and screen actor (Colonel Flack, Zombies on Broadway), dies of cancer at 59
1970 – William Dobell, Australian portrait artist, dies at 70
2001 – Jason Miller, American actor and writer (Exorcist, Light of Day), dies at 62
2002 – Ruth Cracknell, Australian actress (Mother and Son), dies at 76
2019 – Jerome Callet, American musician and designer of brass instruments, dies at 89
2020 – Rolf Hochhuth, German playwright (Der Stellvertreter), dies at 89
2023 – Keiko Tanaka-Ikeda, Japanese gymnast (World C’ship gold balance beam 1954; Olympic bronze team 1964; first Japanese female to win a world title), dies at 89
2025 – José Mujica, 40th President of Uruguay (2010-2015), champion of the poor, and former urban guerrilla with the Tupamaros, dies at 89
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 13th May 2026
1654 – Venetian fleet under Norwegian Admiral Cort Adeler beats Turkish fleet the near the Dardanelles, sinking 15 Turkish galleys
1861 – Queen Victoria announces Britain’s position of neutrality during the US Civil War
1927 – VVOG soccer team forms in Harderwijk
1940 – Aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky pilots first untethered test flight of his VS-300 helicopter in Stratford, Connecticut
1941 – Willy Lewis’ US jazz band performs in Switzerland
1954 – Chinese Middle School students in Singapore take part in anti-National Service riots
1955 – Mickey Mantle hits 3 consecutive HRs of at least 463′
1993 – CBS’ soap opera “Knots Landing” ends 14 year-run with 334th show in Netherlands and US
Today in History for 13th May 2026
Historical Events
1652 – Ingen Ryuki is invited to become abbot of Sofukuji Temple in Nagasaki
1864 – -16] Atlanta Campaign: Battle of Resaca, Georgia
1943 – German and Italian forces in Africa surrender
1991 – Apple releases Macintosh operating System 7, codenamed the “Big Bang”
1995 – Chelsi Smith, 21, of USA, crowned 44th Miss Universe Shanna Lynn Moakler, (19-NY), replaces Chelsi Smith as Miss USA
Famous Birthdays
1883 – Henk Sneevliet, Dutch Communist, editor (Spartacus) and WWII resistance fighter, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1942)
1903 – Alfred Pugsley, English civil engineer (R101 airship), born in London, England (d. 1998)
1912 – Helen Craig, American actress (Snake Pit, They Live by Night), born in San Antonio, Texas (d. 1986)
1927 – Clive Barnes, British-American drama critic (NY Times, 1978-2008; NY Post, 1965-77), born in London, England (d. 2008)
1944 – Son Sook, South Korean screen and theatre actress (Volcano, Guest, Mother), radio host, and politician, born in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea
Famous Deaths
1831 – Christian Gottfried Körner, German lawyer, dies at 74
1921 – Jean Aicard, French poet and novelist (Jeune Croyances), dies at 73
1972 – Dan Blocker, American actor (Cimarron City – “Tiny”; Bonanza – “Hoss”), dies of a pulmonary embolism at 43
1974 – Denny Shute, American golfer (British Open 1933, PGA C’ship 1936-37), dies at 69
2001 – R.K. Narayan, Indian novelist (Malguidi Days), dies at 94
Famous Deaths for 12th May 2026
1792 – Charles Simon Favart, French dramatist, dies at 81
1897 – Willem Roelofs, Dutch Revival painter and lithographer, dies at 75
1907 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French writer (Against the Grain), dies at 59
1989 – Marcelle de Manziarly, French pianist and composer, dies at 89
1992 – Lenny Montana [Leonardo Passafaro], American professional wrestler (NWA Georgia), and actor (The Godfather), dies of a heart attack at 66
1996 – Homer Keller, American contemporary classical composer (Quiet Music for a Tree), and educator (University of Oregon, 1958-76), dies at 81
2021 – Higinio Vélez, Cuban baseball manager (Olympic gold 2004; Santiago de Cuba, Cuban National Series 1999–2001), dies from COVID-19 at 73
2023 – Bruce Robertson, New Zealand rugby union centre (34 Tests, 22 tries; Counties Manukau RFU), dies at 71
2024 – Ron Lynch, Australian rugby league forward (12 Tests; NSW 17 games, Parramatta 194 games), dies at 84
2025 – Yasunao Tone, Japanese-American avant-garde composer and multi-media artist (Fluxus), dies at 90
Historical Events for 12th May 2026
1865 – Last land action of Civil war at Palmito Ranch, Texas
1908 – Wireless Radio Broadcasting is patented by Nathan B. Stubblefield
1925 – Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan become autonomous Soviet republics
1968 – “March of the Poor” under Rev Ralph Abernathy reaches Washington, D.C.
1968 – WSKG TV channel 46 (PBS) in Binghamton, NY, begins broadcasting
1994 – WIBC Bowling Queens won by Anne Marie Duggan
1999 – David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament
2024 – Flash flood kills at least 300 people in northern Afghanistan and destroys nearly 2000 homes
Today in History for 12th May 2026
Historical Events
1898 – Louisiana adopts new constitution with “grandfather clause” designed to eliminate black voters
1915 – Franklin K. Mathiews first presents idea of “Book Week”
1961 – Russian Mikhail Botvinnik wins World Chess Championship for his third time
1978 – US Commerce Department says hurricane names will no longer be only female
2014 – Voters in Eastern Ukraine vote for self-rule in referendum
Famous Birthdays
1700 – Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect (Palace of Caserta), born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples (now Italy) (d. 1773)
1910 – Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, British biochemist who developed protein crystallography to study molecular structure, including that of vitamin B12 (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1964), born in Cairo, Egypt (d. 1994)
1956 – Homer Simpson, American fictional patriarchal character, and donut aficionado from the long running animated television show “The Simpsons”, born in Springfield
1959 – Ving Rhames [Irving Rameses Rhames], American actor (Mission Impossible), born in New York City
1981 – Lorena Bernal, Argentine Spanish model and actress (Miss Spain 1999), born in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
Famous Deaths
1918 – Abel Hoadley, Australian confectioner (Violet Crumble), dies at 73
1943 – Albert Stoessel, American violinist, conductor, composer, and educator, dies of a heart attack on the podium at 48
1957 – Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
2007 – Mullah Dadullah Akhund, Taliban military leader (b. 1966?)
2020 – Astrid Kirchherr, German photographer, helped establish The Beatles image, dies at 81
Famous Deaths for 11th May 2026
912 – Leo VI (the Wise), Byzantine Emperor (886-912) and writer (Problematica), dies at 45
1849 – Otto Nicolai, German composer and conductor, dies at 38 of a stroke
1881 – Henri-Frédéric Amiel, Swiss writer (Journal Intime), dies at 59
1917 – Otto Klauwell, German composer, dies at 66
1988 – Kim Philby, British spy and Soviet mole who was a member of the “Cambridge Five”, dies at 76
1989 – Jitka Snížková, Czech composer, music educator and musicologist, dies at 64
2001 – Henry Katzman, American pianist, songwriter (founding member of BMI), and landscape painter, dies at 89
2014 – Reg Gasnier, Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame centre and captain (36 Tests; 3 World Cups; St. George RLFC), dies at 74
2018 – Scott Hutchinson, Scottish musician (Frightened Rabbit), found dead after a suffering from mental illness at 36
2022 – Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian-American journalist (Al Jazeera), shot and killed by Israeli forces at 51
Historical Events for 11th May 2026
1674 – Netherlands and Cologne sign peace treaty
1812 – British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London. Ironically, descendants of both later stand for the same seat in Parliament at the same time, but neither wins
1865 – Confederate Brigadier General Meriwether Jeff Thompson surrenders at Jacksonport, Arkansas
1928 – 63rd British Open Men’s Golf Championship, Royal St George’s GC: Walter Hagen wins 3rd of his 4 Open Championship titles, 2 strokes ahead of fellow American Gene Sarazen
1940 – 65th Preakness: Fred A Smith aboard Bimelech wins in 1:58.6
1963 – “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” single by Peter, Paul and Mary hits #2; Peter Yarrow adapted a poem that college classmate Lenny Lipton had left behind after borrowing Yarrow’s typewriter
1969 – British comedy troupe Monty Python forms, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin
1989 – NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: Montreal Canadians beat Philadelphia Flyers, 4 games to 2
Today in History for 11th May 2026
Historical Events
1625 – Peasants besiege Frankenburg estate in Upper Austria
1919 – Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hod Eller no-hits St Louis Cardinals, 6-0 at Redland Field, Cincinnati
1969 – British comedy troupe Monty Python forms, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin
1972 – US conducts a nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site
2020 – Colombian airline Avianca, and world’s 2nd oldest, becomes 1st major airline to file for bankruptcy due to COVID-19
Famous Birthdays
1840 – Filippo Capocci, Italian organ virtuoso and composer, born in Rome, Papal States (d. 1911)
1895 – Jan Parandowski, Polish writer and translator, born in Lwów, Austria-Hungary (now Lviv, Ukraine) (d. 1978)
1927 – Zilpha Keatly Snyder, American Newbury Award-winning children’s literature author (Headless Cupid; The Egypt Game), born in Lemoore, California (d. 2014)
1970 – Dean Capobianco, Australian 200m/400m (Olympics 1992, 96)
1988 – Marek Pospieszalski, Polish avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer, born in Częstochowa, Poland
Famous Deaths
1743 – Francesco Stradivari, Italian violin maker and son of Antonius, dies at 70
2016 – Jim Pothecary, South African cricket medium pace bowler (3 Tests, 9 wickets; Western Province), dies at 82
2021 – Janine Brookner [née Okun], American CIA officer and lawyer who spoke out against sexual discrimination in the CIA, dies of complications of kidney disease and cancer at 80
2023 – Hodding Carter III, American White House press secretary under Jimmy Carter (1977-80), dies after a series of strokes at 88
2024 – Mary Wells Lawrence, American businesswoman and the first woman to own a major US national advertising agency (Wells Rich Greene), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 10th May 2026
1859 – John Archduke of Austria, dies
1891 – Karl Wilhelm von Nägeli, Swiss botanist (famous for his work on plant cells), dies at 74
1914 – Sir William Alexander Smith, Scottish founder of the Boys’ Brigade, dies at 59
1943 – Arnaud/Armand Fraiteur, Belgian resistance fighter, hanged
1965 – Hubertus van Mook, Dutch colonial administrator (Acting Governor General of the Dutch East Indies 1942-48), dies at 70
1995 – Harold Berens, comedian, dies at 92
2000 – (André) “Dédé” Fortin, Canadian rock and ska singer-songwriter (Les Colocs), dies by suicide at 37
2004 – Alf Valentine, Jamaican cricketer (great West Indian lefty spinner), dies at 74
2006 – Soraya [Lamilla], Colombian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, arranger and record producer (“Amor En Tus Ojos / Love In Your Eyes”‘; “Casi”), dies of breast cancer at 37
2021 – Néstor Montelongo, Uruguayan soccer utility (36 caps; Montevideo Wanderers, Peñarol, Nacional, Racing), dies at 66