Today in history...
May 14
* 1264 – Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England.
* 1483 – Coronation of Charles VIII of France ("Charles l'Affable").
* 1509 – Battle of Agnadello: In northern Italy, French forces defeat the Venetians.
* 1607 – Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony.
* 1608 – The Protestant Union is founded in Auhausen.
* 1610 – Assassination of Henri IV of France, bringing Louis XIII to the throne.
* 1643 – Four-year-old Louis XIV becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.
* 1747 – A British fleet under Admiral George Anson defeats the French at first battle of Cape Finisterre.
* 1796 – Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination.
* 1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs from Camp Dubois and begins its historic journey by traveling up the Missouri River.
* 1811 – Paraguay gains independence from Spain.
* 1836 – The Treaties of Velasco were signed in Velasco, Texas.
* 1861 – The Canellas meteorite, an 859-gram chondrite-type meteorite, strikes the earth near Barcelona, Spain.
* 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Jackson takes place.
* 1868 – Japanese Boshin War: end of the Battle of Utsunomiya Castle, former Shogunate forces withdraw northward to Aizu by way of Nikkō.
* 1870 – The first game of rugby in New Zealand is played in Nelson between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club.
* 1879 – The first group of 463 Indian indentured labourers arrive in Fiji aboard the Leonidas.
* 1889 – The children's charity the NSPCC is launched in London.
* 1913 – New York Governor William Sulzer approves the charter for the Rockefeller Foundation, which begins operations with a $100 million donation from John D. Rockefeller.
* 1925 – Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway is published.
* 1927 – Cap Arcona is launched at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg.
* 1927 – The University of Chicago's local collegiate organization, Phi Sigma, becomes incorporated under Illinois law as Eta Sigma Phi, the National Honorary Classical Fraternity.
* 1929 – Wilfred Rhodes takes his 4000th first-class wicket during a performance of 9 for 39 at Leyton.
* 1931 – Ådalen shootings: five people are killed in Ådalen, Sweden, as soldiers open fire on an unarmed trade union demonstration.
* 1935 – The Philippines ratifies an independence agreement.
* 1935 – Northamptonshire County Cricket Club gains (over Somerset at Taunton by 48 runs) what proved to be their last victory for 99 matches, a record in the County Championship. Their next Championship win was not until May 29, 1939.
* 1939 – Lina Medina becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five.
* 1940 – World War II: Rotterdam is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
* 1940 – World War II: The Netherlands surrenders to Germany.
* 1943 – Sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur off the coast of Queensland, by a Japanese submarine.
* 1948 – Israel is declared to be an independent state and a provisional government is established. Immediately after the declaration, Israel is attacked by the neighboring Arab states, triggering the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
* 1955 – Cold War: Eight communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.
* 1961 – American civil rights movement: The Freedom Riders bus is fire-bombed near Anniston, Alabama, and the civil rights protesters are beaten by an angry mob.
* 1961 – Stirling Moss wins the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix.
* 1970 – The Red Army Faction is established in Germany.
Launch of the Saturn INT-21, carrying the Skylab space station.
* 1973 – Human Space Flight: Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.
* 1978 – First round of the presidential elections in Upper Volta.
* 1986 – Pride of Baltimore lost at sea.
* 1988 – Carrollton bus collision: a drunk driver going the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky, United States hits a converted school bus carrying a church youth group. The crash and ensuing fire kill 27.
* 1998 – The final episode of Seinfeld airs on NBC.
* 2004 – The Constitutional Court of South Korea overturns the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun.
* 2005 – The former USS America (CV-66), a decommissioned supercarrier of the United States Navy, is deliberately sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after four weeks of live-fire exercises. She is the largest ship ever to be disposed of as a target in a military exercise.
Birthdays today...
* 1265 – Dante Alighieri, Italian poet (d. 1321)
* 1316 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1378)
* 1553 – Margaret of Valois, wife of Henry IV (d. 1615)
* 1666 – Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (d. 1732)
* 1679 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer (d. 1764)
* 1699 – Hans Joachim von Zieten, Prussian field marshal (d. 1786)
* 1701 – William Emerson, English mathematician (d. 1782)
* 1710 – King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (d. 1771)
* 1725 – Ludovico Manin, last Doge of Venice (d. 1802)
* 1727 – Thomas Gainsborough, English artist (d. 1788)
* 1737 – George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, British statesman (d. 1806)
* 1752 – Timothy Dwight, American theologian (d. 1817)
* 1752 – Albrecht Thaer, German agronomist (d. 1828)
* 1771 – Robert Owen, Welsh social reformer (d. 1858)
* 1781 – Friedrich Ludwig Georg von Raumer, German historian (d. 1873)
* 1814 – Charles Beyer, German-British locomotive engineer (d. 1876)
* 1817 – Alexander Kaufmann, German poet (d. 1893)
* 1832 – Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (d. 1903)
* 1867 – Kurt Eisner, German politician (d. 1919)
* 1872 – Elia Dalla Costa, Italian cardinals (d. 1961)
* 1878 – James L. Wilkinson, American baseball executive (d. 1964)
* 1880 – Wilhelm List, German field marshal (d. 1971)
* 1881 – G. Murray Hulbert, American politician (d. 1950)
* 1881 – Ed Walsh, American baseball player (d. 1959)
* 1885 – Otto Klemperer, German-born conductor (d. 1973)
* 1890 – Alex Pompez, American baseball executive (d. 1974)
* 1893 – Louis Verneuil, French playwright (d. 1952)
* 1897 – Sidney Bechet, American musician (d. 1959)
* 1897 – Ed Ricketts, American marine biologist (d. 1948)
* 1899 – Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist (d. 1993)
* 1899 – Earle Combs, American baseball player (d. 1976)
* 1900 – Hal Borland, American author (d. 1978)
* 1900 – Leo Smit, Dutch composer (d. 1943)
* 1900 – Edgar Wind, German art historian (d. 1971)
* 1900 – Walter Rehberg, Swiss concert pianist, composer and writer (d. 1957)
* 1901 – Robert Ritter, German psychologist (d. 1951)
* 1903 – Billie Dove, American actress (d. 1997)
* 1904 – Hans Albert Einstein, American professor (d. 1973)
* 1904 – Marcel Junod, Swiss physician (d. 1961)
* 1905 – Jean Daniélou, French cardinal (d. 1974)
* 1905 – Herbert Morrison, American radio announcer (d. 1989)
* 1907 – Hans von der Groeben, German diplomat (d. 2005)
* 1907 – Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 1974)
* 1907 – Johnny Moss, American poker player (d. 1995)
* 1916 – Lance Dossor, British-born concert pianist (d. 2005)
* 1916 – Del Moore, American comedian (d. 1970)
* 1916 – Marco Zanuso, Italian architect (d. 200´1)
* 1917 – Lou Harrison, American composer (d. 2003)
* 1919 – Solange Chaput-Rolland, French-Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2001)
* 1919 – John Hope, American meteorologist (d. 2002)
* 1921 – Richard Deacon, American actor (d. 1984)
* 1921 – Arve Opsahl, Norwegian actor (d. 2007)
* 1922 – Franjo Tuđman, Croatian politician (d. 1999)
* 1923 – Adnan Pachachi, Iraqi politician
* 1923 – Mrinal Sen, Indian film director
* 1925 – Patrice Munsel, American opera soprano
* 1925 – Al Porcino, American jazz trumpet player
* 1926 – Eric Morecambe, British comedian (d. 1984)
* 1927 – Herbert W. Franke, Austrian writer
* 1928 – Will "Dub" Jones, American singer (The Coasters) (d. 2000)
* 1928 – Frederik H. Kreuger, Dutch scientist and inventor
* 1929 – Henry McGee, straight man to Benny Hill (d. 2006)
* 1929 – Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
* 1929 – Barbara Branden, Canadian writer and lecturer
* 1931 – Alvin Lucier, American composer
* 1932 – Robert Bechtle, American painter
* 1933 – Frank Harte, Irish singer and song collector
* 1933 – Michael Chevalier, German voice actor
* 1934 – Siân Phillips, Welsh actress
* 1935 – Rudi Šeligo, Slovenian writer and politician (d. 2004)
* 1936 – Bobby Darin, American singer (d. 1973)
* 1936 – Charlie Gracie, American singer
* 1936 – Waheeda Rehman, Indian actress
* 1940 – Troy Shondell, American singer
* 1940 – 'H'. Jones, British Soldier (VC recipient) (d. 1982)
* 1942 – Valeriy Brumel, Soviet athlete (d. 2003)
* 1942 – Byron Dorgan, American politician
* 1942 – Prentis Hancock, British actor
* 1942 – Tony Pérez, Cuban baseball player
* 1942 – Rüdiger Vogler, German actor
* 1943 – Jack Bruce, Scottish bassist (Cream)
* 1943 – Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland
* 1943 – Derek Leckenby, British musician (Herman's Hermits) (d. 1994)
* 1943 – Elizabeth Ray, American sex scandal figure
* 1944 – George Lucas, American film director
* 1945 – Francesca Annis, British actress
* 1945 – George Nicholls, British rugby league footballer
* 1945 – Yochanan Vollach, Israeli footballer and president of Maccabi Haifa
* 1947 – Tamara Dobson, American actress (d. 2006)
* 1948 – Bob Woolmer, English cricket coach (d. 2007)
* 1949 – Klaus-Peter Thaler, German cyclist
* 1950 – Adolfo Dominguez, Spanish fashion designer
* 1952 – David Byrne, Scottish-born American musician (Talking Heads)
* 1952 – Scott Irwin, American professional wrestler (d. 1987)
* 1952 – Donald R. McMonagle, American astronaut
* 1952 – Robert Zemeckis, American film director
* 1953 – Tom Cochrane, Canadian musician (Red Rider)
* 1953 – Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia
* 1954 – Jens Sparschuh, German writer
* 1955 – Dennis Martínez, Nicaraguan baseball player
* 1955 – Peter Kirsten, former South African cricketer
* 1957 – Leon White, American professional wrestler
* 1958 – Christine Brennan, American sports columnist
* 1959 – Patrick Bruel, French singer
* 1959 – Steve Hogarth, British singer (Marillion)
* 1959 – Rick Vaive, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1960 – Anne Clark, English singer
* 1960 – Steve Williams, American wrestler
* 1961 – Ulrike Folkerts, German actress
* 1961 – Jean Leclerc, French-Canadian singer and songwriter
* 1961 – Tim Roth, English actor
* 1961 – Alain Vigneault, Canadian ice hockey coach
* 1962 – Ian Astbury, English singer (The Cult)
* 1962 – C. C. DeVille, American musician (Poison)
* 1963 – Pat Borders, American baseball player
* 1964 – James M. Kelly, American astronaut
* 1964 – Eric Peterson, American musician (Testament)
* 1964 – Suzy Kolber, American sportscaster
* 1965 – Eoin Colfer, Irish writer
* 1966 – Marianne Denicourt, French actress
* 1966 – Mike Inez, American bassist
* 1966 – Fabrice Morvan, French music artist (Milli Vanilli)
* 1966 – Raphael Saadiq, American musician (Tony! Toni! Toné!)
* 1967 – Tony Siragusa, American football player
* 1969 – Cate Blanchett, Australian actress
* 1969 – Danny Wood, American singer (New Kids on the Block)
* 1971 – Sofia Coppola, American director
* 1971 – Nasha Aziz, Malaysian actress & model
* 1972 – Gabriel Mann, American actor
* 1972 – Mark Ruskell, England-born Scottish politician
* 1973 – Voshon Lenard, American basketball player
* 1973 – Natalie Appleton, Canadian-born singer
* 1973 – Anais Granofsky, Canadian actress and director
* 1973 – Julian White, English rugby union footballer
* 1973 – Shanice, American singer
* 1974 – Jennifer Allan, American model
* 1974 – Krister Axel, American poet and songwriter
* 1975 – Salim Iles, Algerian swimmer
* 1975 – Nicki Sørensen, Danish road bicycle racer
* 1976 – Hunter Burgan, American musician (AFI)
* 1976 – Brian Lawrence, American baseball player
* 1976 – Martine McCutcheon, British actress
* 1977 – Sophie Anderton, English model and television personality
* 1977 – Roy Halladay, American baseball player
* 1977 – Ada Nicodemou, Australian actress
* 1978 – Eddie House, American basketball player
* 1978 – Brent Harvey, Australian footballer
* 1978 – André Macanga, Angolan footballer
* 1978 – Gustavo Varela, Uruguayan footballer
* 1979 – Clinton Morrison, English-born Irish footballer
* 1979 – Carlos Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer
* 1980 – Zdeněk Grygera, Czech footballer
* 1980 – Eugene Martineau, Dutch decathlete
* 1980 – Júlia Sebestyén, Hungarian figure skater
* 1980 – Hugo Southwell, Scottish rugby union footballer
* 1981 – Sarbel, Greek-born singer
* 1982 – BeardyMan, English beatboxer
* 1982 – Ai Shibata, Japanese swimmer
* 1983 – Anahí, Mexican actress and singer (RBD)
* 1983 – Uroš Slokar, Slovenian basketball player
* 1983 – Amber Tamblyn, American actress
* 1983 – Tom Welham, British musician (Thirteen Senses)
* 1984 – Gary Ablett, Jr., Australian rules footballer
* 1984 – Michael Rensing, German footballer
* 1984 – Nigel Reo-Coker, English footballer
* 1984 – Mark Zuckerberg, American internet entrepreneur
* 1985 – Sally Martin, American actress
* 1986 – Camila Sodi, Mexican actress
* 1987 – Franck Songo'o, Cameroonian footballer
* 1987 – Francois Steyn, South African rugby union footballer
* 1990 – Emily Samuelson, American ice dancer
* 1993 – Miranda Cosgrove, American actress and singer
Famous deaths...
* 964 – Pope John XII
* 1470 – Charles VIII of Sweden (b. 1409)
* 1574 – Guru Amar Das, third Sikh Guru (b. 1479)
* 1608 – Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1543)
* 1610 – Henry IV of France (b. 1553)
* 1643 – Louis XIII of France (b. 1601)
* 1649 – Friedrich Spanheim, Swiss theologian (b. 1600)
* 1669 – Georges de Scudéry, French writer (b. 1601)
* 1688 – Antoine Furetière, French writer (b. 1619)
* 1754 – Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French writer (b. 1692)
* 1761 – Thomas Simpson, British mathematician (b. 1710)
* 1818 – Matthew Gregory Lewis, English novelist (b. 1775)
* 1847 – Fanny Mendelssohn, German composer and pianist (b. 1805)
* 1860 – Ludwig Bechstein, German writer (b. 1801)
* 1873 – Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician and writer (b. 1797)
* 1878 – Ookubo Toshimichi, Japanese statesman, samurai, and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration (b. 1830)
* 1887 – Lysander Spooner, American philosopher (b. 1808)
* 1889 – Volney E. Howard, American politician (b. 1809)
* 1893 – Ernst Kummer, German mathematician (b. 1810)
* 1906 – Carl Schurz, German revolutionary and statesman (b. 1829)
* 1912 – Frederick VIII of Denmark (b. 1843)
* 1912 – August Strindberg, Swedish author (b. 1849)
* 1918 – James Gordon Bennett, Jr., American newspaper publisher (b. 1841)
* 1919 – Henry John Heinz, founder of the H. J. Heinz Company (b. 1844)
* 1923 – Charles de Freycinet, French prime minister (b. 1828)
* 1925 – H. Rider Haggard, English author (b. 1856)
* 1931 – David Belasco, American theatrical producer (b. 1853)
* 1931 – Denys Finch Hatton, English big-game hunter (b. 1887)
* 1934 – Lou Criger, American baseball player (b. 1872)
* 1936 – Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, British general (b. 1861)
* 1940 – Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-born anarchist (b. 1869)
* 1943 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1854)
* 1945 – Heber J. Grant, seventh president of the The Church of
of Latter-day Saints (b. 1856)
* 1954 – Heinz Guderian, German General (b. 1888)
* 1957 – Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (b. 1884)
* 1959 – Sidney Bechet, American musician (b. 1897)
* 1962 – Florence Auer, American actress (b. 1880)
* 1968 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (b. 1882)
* 1969 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (b. 1888)
* 1970 – Billie Burke, American actress (b. 1884)
* 1973 – Jean Gebser, German-born author, linguist, and poet (b. 1905)
* 1976 – Keith Relf, British singer and musician (The Yardbirds) (b. 1943)
* 1978 – Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
* 1980 – Hugh Griffith, Welsh actor (b. 1912)
* 1982 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor (b. 1909)
* 1983 – Roger J. Traynor, American judge (b. 1900)
* 1983 – Miguel Alemán Valdés, President of Mexico (b. 1900)
* 1984 – Walter Rauff, German colonel (b. 1906)
* 1985 – Mei Ling Barbara Yung, Hong Kong actress (b. 1959)
* 1987 – Rita Hayworth, American actress (b. 1918)
* 1988 – Willem Drees, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1886)
* 1991 – Jiang Qing, wife of Mao Zedong (b. 1914)
* 1992 – Lyle Alzado, American football player (b. 1949)
* 1992 – Nie Rongzhen, Chinese Communist military leader (b. 1899)
* 1993 – Patrick Haemers, Belgian criminal (b. 1953)
* 1993 – William Randolph Hearst Jr., American newspaper magnate (b. 1908)
* 1995 – Christian B. Anfinsen, American Nobel laureate (b. 1916)
* 1997 – Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician (b. 1934)
* 1998 – Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (b. 1915)
* 1998 – Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American conservationist (b. 1890)
* 2000 – Obuchi Keizo, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)
* 2003 – Dave DeBusschere, American basketball player (b. 1940)
* 2003 – Wendy Hiller, British actress (b. 1912)
* 2003 – Robert Stack, American actor (b. 1919)
* 2004 – Anna Lee, British actress (b. 1913)
* 2006 – Lew Anderson, American actor and bandleader (b. 1922)
* 2006 – Stanley Kunitz, American poet (b. 1905)
* 2006 – Eva Norvind, Mexican actress (b. 1944)
* 2007 – Mary Goldsmith, American ceramist (b. 1908)
* 2007 – Ülo Jõgi, Estonian freedom fighter (b. 1921)
Holidays and observances...
* Liberia: National Unification Day
* Malawi: Hastings Banda's Birthday
Have a great Thursday.
~Brian
