Historical Events
1897 – Herbert Henry Dow founds Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan
1927 – Ritz Hotel opens in Boston
1941 – Italian army in Ethiopia under general Aosta surrenders to Britain
1958 – 11th Cannes Film Festival: “The Cranes Are Flying” directed by Mikhail Kalatozov wins the Palme d’Or
1985 – 110th Preakness: Pat Day aboard Tank’s Prospect wins in 1:53.4
2014 – Swiss voters reject a $25 per hour minimum wage
Famous Birthdays
1872 – Bertrand Russell, English mathematician and philosopher (Nobel 1950), born in Trellech, England (d. 1970)
1905 – Eric Zeisl, Austrian-American composer (Requiem Ebraico), born in Vienna (d. 1959)
1933 – Bernadette Chirac, French politician and wife of President Jacques Chirac, born in Paris, France
1940 – Pat Trimborn, South African cricket fast bowler (4 Tests, 11 wickets), born in Durban, Natal, South Africa
1965 – Ingo Schwichtenberg, German drummer (Helloween), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1995)
1971 – Ben Coleman, American guard/offensive tackle (Jacksonville Jaguars), born in South Hill, Virginia
Famous Deaths
1675 – Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer, dies at 51
1848 – William Leidesdorff, Mixed-race early Californian businessman, dies at 37
1961 – Henry O’Neill, American actor (Lady Killer, Nothing But Trouble), dies
1986 – John Bubbles Sublett, American tap dancer (Black and Bubbles), dies at 84
1996 – Kevin Gilbert, American singer, composer and instrumentalist (Toy Matinee; Tuesday Night Music Club), dies of accidental asphyxiation at 29
2007 – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (1991), dies at 74