Today in history...
May 12 1797
Following Napoleon's conquest of Venice, Ludovico Manin reluctantly steps down as its last Doge. Thus ends the Most Serene Republic's 820-year history of national sovereignty.
May 12 1932
When a truck driver stops in rural New Jersey to take a leak, he stumbles upon the badly decomposed body of the Lindbergh Baby lying in a shallow grave 45 feet from the highway.
May 12 1971
Tor Johnson dies of congestive heart failure at the age of 67 in San Fernando, California. The man who once wrestled under the name "The Super Swedish Angel" leaves behind a legacy of B-movie acting roles, most famously as the bald zombie in Ed Wood's masterpiece "Plan 9 from Outer Space."
May 12 1982
During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan Fernandez Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet. Krohn, an ultraconservative Spanish priest opposed to the Vatican II reforms, decided that the Pope must be killed for being an "agent of Moscow."
Birthdays today..
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* 1401 – Emperor Shōkō (d. 1428)
* 1496 – Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1560)
* 1590 – Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1621)
* 1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor General of New France (d. 1698)
* 1626 – Louis Hennepin, Flemish missionary (d. 1705)
* 1670 – Frederick Augustus I of Poland (d. 1733)
* 1700 – Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect (d. 1773)
* 1725 – Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (d. 1785)
* 1767 – Manuel de Godoy, Spanish statesman (d. 1851)
* 1803 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist (d. 1873)
* 1804 – Robert Baldwin, Canadian politician (d. 1858)
* 1806 – Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish statesman (d. 1881)
* 1812 – Edward Lear, British author and poet (d. 1888)
* 1820 – Florence Nightingale, British nurse (d. 1910)
* 1828 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, British painter (d. 1882)
* 1829 – Pavlos Carrer, Greek composer (d. 1896)
* 1842 – Jules Massenet, French composer (d. 1912)
* 1845 – Gabriel Fauré, French composer (d. 1924)
* 1850 – Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. statesman (d. 1924)
* 1867 – Hugh Trumble, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
* 1874 – Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician (d. 1929)
* 1880 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American scientist (d. 1951)
* 1889 – Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank (d. 1980)
* 1892 – Fritz Kortner, Austrian-born director (d. 1970)
* 1895 – William Giauque, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1982)
* 1895 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (d. 1986)
* 1899 – Indra Devi, Latvian Yoga Instructor (d. 2002)
* 1900 – Helene Weigel, German actress (d. 1971)
* 1903 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, British actor (d. 1991)
* 1907 – Leslie Charteris, British author and screenwriter (d. 1993)
* 1907 – Katharine Hepburn, American actress (d. 2003)
* 1910 – Charles B. Fulton, American jurist (d. 1996)
* 1910 – Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, British biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
* 1912 – Archibald Cox, U.S. Solicitor General (d. 2004)
* 1914 – Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet (d. 1993)
* 1914 – Howard K. Smith, American journalist (d. 2002)
* 1915 – Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founded Mary Kay Cosmetics (d. 2001)
* 1917 – Frank Clair, Canadian football coach (d. 2005)
* 1918 – Julius Rosenberg, Soviet spy (d. 1953)
* 1921 – Joseph Beuys, German artist (d. 1986)
* 1921 – Farley Mowat, Canadian writer and naturalist
* 1922 – Marco Denevi, Argentine writer (d. 1998)
* 1924 – Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian mathematician
* 1924 – Tony Hancock, British comedian (d. 1968)
* 1924 – Maxine Cooper Gomberg, American actress (d. 2009)
* 1925 – Yogi Berra, American baseball player
* 1928 – Burt Bacharach, American composer
* 1928 – Henry Cosby, African-American songwriter (d. 2002)
* 1929 – Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1929 – Sam Nujoma, first President of Namibia
* 1930 – Jesús Franco, Spanish film director
* 1933 – Andrey Voznesensky, Russian poet
* 1935 – Felipe Alou, Dominican baseball player and manager
* 1935 – Johnny Bucyk, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1936 – Guillermo Endara, President of Panama
* 1936 – Tom Snyder, American television personality (d. 2007)
* 1936 – Frank Stella, American painter
* 1937 – Beryl Burton, British cyclist (d. 1996)
* 1937 – George Carlin, American comedian (d. 2008)
* 1937 – Susan Hampshire, British actress
* 1938 – Millie Perkins, American film actress
* 1939 – Miltiadis Evert, Greek politician
* 1939 – Reg Gasnier, Australian rugby league footballer
* 1939 – Ron Ziegler, White House Press Secretary (d. 2003)
* 1939 – Jalal Dabagh, Kurdish politician
* 1942 – Ian Dury, British musician (d. 2000)
* 1942 – Michel Fugain, French singer and songwriter
* 1942 – Billy Swan, American songwriter and singer
* 1945 – Alan Ball, Jr., English footballer (d. 2007)
* 1945 – Ian McLagan, British keyboardist (Small Faces)
* 1945 – Patrick Ricard, French businessman
* 1946 – L. Neil Smith, American science fiction author
* 1946 – Daniel Libeskind, American architect
* 1947 – Michael Ignatieff, Canadian politician
* 1947 – Micheline Lanctôt, American film actor, director and screenwriter
* 1947 – catherine yronwode, American writer and editor
* 1948 – David Heineman, American politician, current governor of Nebraska
* 1948 – Joe Tasker, British mountaineer (d. 1982)
* 1948 – Steve Winwood, British musician (The Spencer Davis Group; Traffic)
* 1950 – Bruce Boxleitner, American actor
* 1950 – Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor
* 1950 – Billy Squier, American singer
* 1956 – Bernie Federko, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1956 – Glenn Robbins, Australian comedian
* 1957 – Lou Whitaker, American baseball player
* 1958 – Andreas Petroulakis, Greek political caricaturist
* 1958 – Eric Singer, American drummer
* 1959 – Ving Rhames, American actor
* 1960 – Paul Arcand, Quebec radio host, journalist and film director
* 1960 – Ian Khan, British racing driver
* 1961 – Paul Begala, American political commentator
* 1961 – Billy Duffy, British guitarist (The Cult)
* 1961 – Thomas Dooley, German-American Soccer Player
* 1961 – Lar Park Lincoln, American actress
* 1961 – Bruce McCulloch, Canadian actor
* 1962 – Emilio Estevez, American actor
* 1962 – Brett Gurewitz, American songwriter and record producer (Bad Religion) (Epitaph)
* 1963 – Panagiotis Fasoulas, Greek basketball player, Mayor of Piraeus
* 1963 – Gavin Hood, South African film director
* 1963 – Stefano Modena, Italian racing driver
* 1963 – Charles Pettigrew, American singer (Charles and Eddie) (d. 2001)
* 1963 – Jerry Trimble, American actor
* 1963 – Deborah Kara Unger, Canadian actress
* 1963 – Vanessa A. Williams, American actress
* 1966 – Stephen Baldwin, American actor
* 1966 – Bebel Gilberto, Brazilian singer
* 1967 – Paul D'Amour, American bass guitarist (ex-Tool)
* 1967 – Joe McKinney, Irish actor
* 1968 – Mark Clark, American baseball player
* 1968 – Tony Hawk, American skateboarder
* 1968 – Scott Schwartz, American actor
* 1968 – Catherine Tate, British comedian
* 1969 – Kim Fields, American actress
* 1969 – Cesar Millan, professional dog trainer
* 1969 – Kevin Nalty, famed YouTuber
* 1970 – Jim Furyk, American golfer
* 1970 – Samantha Mathis, American actress
* 1970 – Steve Palframan, South African cricketer
* 1970 – Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
* 1971 – Doug Basham, American professional wrestler
* 1973 – Kendra Kassebaum, American stage actress
* 1973 – Travis Lutter, Mixed Martial Arts Fighter
* 1975 – Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby union footballer
* 1975 – Lawrence Phillips, American football player
* 1977 – Graeme Dott, British snooker player
* 1977 – Rebecca Herbst, American actress
* 1978 – Jason Biggs, American actor
* 1978 – Wilfred Le Bouthillier, Acadian-Canadian singer
* 1978 – Aya Ishiguro, Japanese singer (formerly Morning Musume)
* 1978 – Josh Phelps, American baseball player
* 1978 – Hossein Reza Zadeh, Iranian weightlifter
* 1979 – Andre Carter, American football player
* 1979 – Robert Key, English Cricketer
* 1979 – Erdinç Saçan, Turkish-Dutch politician
* 1979 – Steve Smith, American football player
* 1979 – Callum Chambers, Australian rules footballer
* 1981 – Lorena Bernal, Spanish model and actress, Miss Spain 1999
* 1981 – Kentaro Sato, Japanese composer
* 1981 – Dennis Trillo (Abelardo Dennis Florencio Ho),Filipino Actor and Singer
* 1983 – Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
* 1985 – Tally Hall, American soccer player
* 1985 – Jeroen Simaeys, Belgian footballer
* 1986 – Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress
* 1988 – Marcelo, Brazilian footballer
* 1988 – Marky Cielo, Filipino dancer and actor (d. 2008)
* 1992 – Malcolm David Kelley, American actor
* 1995 – Luke Benward, American actor
Famous deaths...
* 1003 – Pope Silvester II
* 1012 – Pope Sergius IV
* 1382 – Queen Joan I of Naples (b. 1327)
* 1465 – Thomas Palaeologus, Titular Byzantine emperor, Despot of the Morea (b. 1409)
* 1634 – George Chapman, English writer
* 1641 – Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, English statesman (b. 1593)
* 1684 – Edme Mariotte, French physicist and priest
* 1699 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Flemish painter (b. 1626)
* 1700 – John Dryden, English writer (b. 1631)
* 1708 – Adolf Friedrich II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1658)
* 1748 – Thomas Lowndes, English astronomer (b. 1692)
* 1759 – Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor (b. 1700)
* 1784 – Abraham Trembley, Swiss naturalist (b. 1710)
* 1792 – Charles Simon Favart, French dramatist (b. 1710)
* 1796 – Johann Peter Uz, German poet (b. 1720)
* 1798 – George Vancouver, British navy officer and explorer (b. 1757)
* 1801 – Nicholas Repnin, Russian statesman (b. 1734)
* 1842 – Walenty Wańkowicz, Polish painter (b. 1799)
* 1845 – János Bacsanyi, Hungarian poet (b. 1763)
* 1856 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician (b. 1786)
* 1859 – Sergei Aksakov, Russian writer (b. 1791)
* 1860 – Charles Barry, English architect (b. 1795)
* 1864 – J. E. B. Stuart, American soldier from Virginia and a Confederate Army general (b. 1833)
* 1867 – Friedrich William Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist (b. 1795)
* 1871 – Anselme Payen, French physicist (b. 1795)
* 1876 – Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian revolutionary, brutally killed by the Turks (b. 1843)
* 1884 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer (b. 1824)
* 1889 – John Cadbury, English chocolate entrepreneur (b. 1801)
* 1907 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (b. 1848)
* 1916 – James Connolly, Irish socialist (b. 1868)
* 1925 – Amy Lowell, American poet (b. 1874)
* 1931 – Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist (b. 1858)
* 1935 – Józef Piłsudski, Polish statesman (b. 1867)
* 1944 – Max Brand, American author (b. 1892)
* 1944 – Arthur Quiller-Couch, English writer (b. 1863)
* 1956 – Louis Calhern, American actor (b. 1895)
* 1957 – Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
* 1957 – Erich von Stroheim, film director and actor (b. 1885)
* 1963 – Bobby Kerr, Canadian runner (b. 1882)
* 1966 – Felix Martin Julius Steiner, German Heer and Waffen-SS officer (b. 1896)
* 1967 – John Masefield, British writer (b. 1878)
* 1970 – Nelly Sachs, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
* 1971 – Heinie Manush, American baseball player (b. 1901)
* 1973 – Art Pollard, American racecar driver (b. 1927)
* 1985 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter (b. 1901)
* 1986 – Elisabeth Bergner, Austrian actress (b. 1897)
* 1990 – Chen Kenmin, Japanese chef (b. 1912)
* 1992 – Robert Reed, American actor (b. 1932)
* 1992 – Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and lyricist (b. 1911)
* 1992 – Lenny Montana, American actor (b. 1926)
* 1994 – Erik Erikson, German psychoanalyst (b. 1902)
* 1994 – John Smith, British politician (b. 1938)
* 1995 – Mia Martini, real name: Domenica Bertè, Italian singer and song-writer (b. 1947)
* 1999 – Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baaz, Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia 1993-1999 (b. 1910)
* 1999 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist (b. 1914)
* 2000 – Adam Petty, American race car driver (b. 1980)
* 2001 – Perry Como, American singer (b. 1912)
* 2001 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1925)
* 2002 – Joseph Bonanno, Italian-born gangster (b. 1905)
* 2003 – Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French UN High Commissioner for Refugees (b. 1933)
* 2005 – Martin Lings, English Islamic scholar (b. 1909)
* 2005 – Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1937)
* 2006 – Hussein Maziq, former Libyan prime minister (b. 1918)
* 2006 – Gillespie V. Montgomery, former U.S. representative from Mississippi (b. 1920)
* 2007 – Mullah Dadullah Akhund, Taliban military leader
* 2007 – Teddy Infuhr, American former child actor (b. 1936)
* 2008 – Robert Rauschenberg, American artist (b. 1925)
* 2008 – Irena Sendler, Polish social worker, WWII heroine (b. 1910)
Holidays and observances...
* International Nurses Day, commemorating the birthday of Florence Nightingale in 1820.
Have a great Tuesday.
~Brian
