Today in History
Today is Monday, May 13, the 134th day of 2024. There are 232 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter’s Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca (MEH’-met AH’-lee AH’-juh).
On this date:
In 1607, English colonists arrived by ship at the site of what became the Jamestown settlement in Virginia (the colonists went ashore the next day).
In 1914, heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis was born in Lafayette, Alabama.
In 1917, three shepherd children reported seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary near Fatima, Portugal; it was the first of six such apparitions that the children claimed to have witnessed.
In 1940, in his first speech as British prime minister, Winston Churchill told Parliament, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
In 1972, 118 people died after fire broke out at the Sennichi Department Store in Osaka, Japan.
In 1973, in tennis’ first so-called “Battle of the Sexes,” Bobby Riggs defeated Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 in Ramona, California. (Billie Jean King soundly defeated Riggs at the Houston Astrodome in September.)
In 1985, a confrontation between Philadelphia authorities and the radical group MOVE ended as police dropped a bomb onto the group’s row house, igniting a fire that killed 11 people and destroyed 61 homes.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton nominated federal appeals Judge Stephen G. Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Harry A. Blackmun; Breyer went on to win Senate confirmation.
In 2002, President George W. Bush announced that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin (POO’-tihn) would sign a treaty to shrink their countries’ nuclear arsenals by two-thirds.
In 2012, Donald “Duck” Dunn, the bassist who helped create the gritty Memphis soul sound at Stax Records in the 1960s as part of the legendary group Booker T. and the MGs, died in Tokyo while on tour at age 70.
In 2016, the Obama administration issued a directive requiring public schools to permit transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity.
In 2018, 69-year-old “Superman” actress Margot Kidder was found dead by a friend near her Montana home in what was later ruled a suicide from a drug and alcohol overdose.
In 2019, Doris Day, the sunny blond film star and singer who appeared in comedic roles opposite Rock Hudson and Cary Grant in the 1950s and 1960s, died at her California home at the age of 97.
In 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ coronavirus stay-at-home order, ruling that his administration had overstepped its authority by extending the order for another month.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Buck Taylor is 86. Actor Harvey Keitel is 85. Author Charles Baxter is 77. Actor Zoe Wanamaker is 76. Actor Franklyn Ajaye is 75. Singer Stevie Wonder is 74. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich is 72. Actor Leslie Winston is 68. Producer-writer Alan Ball is 67. Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is 63. “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert is 60. Rock musician John Richardson is 60. Actor Tom Verica is 60. Singer Darius Rucker (Hootie and the Blowfish) is 58. Actor Susan Floyd is 56. Actor Brian Geraghty is 49. Actor Samantha Morton is 47. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is 47. Former NBA player Mike Bibby is 46. Rock musician Mickey Madden (Maroon 5) is 45. Actor Iwan Rheon is 39. Actor-writer-director Lena Dunham is 38. Actor Robert Pattinson is 38. Actor Candice Accola King is 37. Actor Hunter Parrish is 37. Folk-rock musician Wylie Gelber (Dawes) is 36. NHL defenseman P.K. Subban is 36. Actor Debby Ryan is 31.
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