Historical Events
1853 – Franconi’s Hippodrome opens in New York City
1869 – The Folies Trévise (later cabaret hall Folies Bergère) opens as an opera house in Paris, France
1972 – 126 killed in an electrical fire in Sunshine Silver mine, Kellogg, Idaho
1979 – -May 10] Vivekananda (Sri Lanka) begins nonstop ride, cycling 187 hrs, 28 min, around Vihara Maha Devi Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka
1980 – Pope John Paul II begins African tour
1988 – Baltimore Orioles sign a 15 year lease to remain in Baltimore and get a new park
Famous Birthdays
1857 – Frederic Cliffe, English composer, born in Bradford, Yorkshire (d. 1931)
1901 – Bob Wyatt, English cricketer (1927-37), born in Surrey (d. 1995)
1937 – Lorenzo Music, American writer, actor and voice actor (Carlton-Rhoda, Garfield), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2001)
1944 – Franz Innerhofer, Austrian writer (Beautiful Days), born in Krimml, Salzberg
1950 – Duncan Gay, Australian politician, Vice-President of the Executive Council (2014-17), born in Crookwell, New South Wales
1961 – Doctor Robert [Bruce Robert Howard], Scottish singer-songwriter (The Blow Monkeys), born in Haddington, Scotland
Famous Deaths
1736 – Albert Seba, Amsterdam pharmacist, dies at 71
1969 – Franz von Papen, German diplomat and chancellor (1932), dies at 89
1979 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
1985 – Hal LeRoy, dancer/actor (Harold Teen), dies at 71 after surgery
1990 – Oleg Anatolyevich Yakovlev, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 49
2015 – Ruth Rendell, English thriller writer (Inspector Wexford novels), dies at 85