Happy birthday to the late, great George Carlin.
Today is Friday, May 12, 2017, the 132nd day of the year; 233 days remain – it’s 39 days until spring.
- Sunrise: 6:02am
- Sunset: 8:11pm
…giving us 14 hours and 8 minutes of daylight. 99% of the waning moon is visible, rising at 9:53pm.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 12:37am/2:23pm
- Low: 7:14am/7:06pm
International celebrations today…
- Mangers pour divers loas - Haiti
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Day - Australia
- International Midwives Day - Australia
- Nurse's Day - Australia
- St. Andrew's Day - Georgia
- International Nurses Day - International
It’s also…
- Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks A Voice Day
- Hug Your Cat Day
- Limerick Day
- Military Spouse Appreciation Day
- National Nutty Fudge Day
- National Provider Appreciation Day
- Odometer Day
On this day in…
1588 - King Henry III fled Paris after Henry of Guise triumphantly entered the city.
1780 - Charleston, South Carolina fell to British forces.
1847 - William Clayton invented the odometer.
1870 - Manitoba entered the Confederation as a Canadian province.
1881 - Tunisia, in North Africa became a French protectorate.
1885 - In the Battle of Batoche, French Canadians rebelled against the Canadian government.
1888 - Charles Sherrill of the Yale track team became the first runner to use the crouching start for a fast break in a foot race.
1926 - The airship Norge became the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.
1926 - In Britain, a general strike by trade unions ended. The strike began on May 3, 1926.
1937 - Britain's King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
1940 - The Nazi conquest of France began with the German army crossing Muese River.
1942 - The Soviet Army launched its first major offensive of World War II and took Kharkov in the eastern Ukraine from the German army.
1943 - The Axis forces in North Africa surrendered during World War II.
1949 - The Soviet Union announced an end to the Berlin Blockade.
1950 - The American Bowling Congress abolished its white males-only membership restriction after 34 years.
1957 - A.J. Foyt won his first auto racing victory in Kansas City, MO.
1965 - West Germany and Israel exchanged letters establishing diplomatic relations.
1970 - Ernie Banks, of the Chicago Cubs, hit his 500th home run.
1975 - US merchant ship Mayaguez was seized by Cambodian forces in international waters.
1978 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that they would no longer exclusively name hurricanes after women.
1982 - South Africa unveiled a plan that would give voting rights to citizens of Asian and mixed-race descent, but not to blacks.
1984 - South African prisoner Nelson Mandela saw his wife for the first time in 22 years.
1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismissed Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and named Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin as his successor.
2002 - Former U.S. President Carter arrived in Cuba for a visit with Fidel Castro. It was the first time a U.S. head of state, in or out of office, had gone to the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
2003 - In Texas, fifty-nine Democratic lawmakers went into hiding over a dispute with Republican's over a congressional redistricting plan.
2008 - In the U.S., the price for a one-ounce First-Class stamp increased from 41 to 42 cents.
2015 - It was announced that Verizon would be acquiring AOL.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)…
- Edward Lear 1812 - Poet, illustrator
- Lord Grimthorpe (Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe, Q.C.) 1816 - Lawyer, horologist, architect
- Florence Nightingale 1820- Nurse, contributed to modern nursing procedures, author
- Dante Rossetti 1828 - Poet, artist, brother of poet Christian Rossetti
- Jules Massenet 1842 - French composer
- Gabriel Urbain Fauré 1845 - French composer, pianist
- Mildred McAfee 1900- Captain Mildred McAfee (Horton), first director of U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service)
- Katherine Hepburn 1907- Actress ("Morning Glory", "On Golden Pond [1981]", "The Rainmaker")
- Howard K. Smith 1914- Journalist, TV anchorman
- Mary Kay Ash 1915 - U.S. businesswoman and the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc., born Mary Kathlyn Wagner
- Joe Maphis 1921- (Otis W.) Joe Maphis, country singer, entertainer, songwriter
- Bob Goldham 1922 - Hockey player
- John Simon (John Ivan Simon) 1925 - Author and literary, theater, and film critic.
- Yogi Berra 1925- Baseball player, manager
- Burt Bacharach 1929- Composer
- Samuel Nujoma 1929 - President of Namibia
- Felipe (Felipe Rojas) Alou 1935 - Baseball player
- John Bucyk 1935 - Hockey player
- Tom Snyder 1936- Journalist, television host
- Frank Stella 1936 - Abstract artist, sculptor, painter
- George Carlin 1937- Comedian, actor
- Susan Hampshire 1938- Actress ("Cry Terror", "David Copperfield")
- Millie Perkins 1938- Actress ("Wall Street", "Ensign Pulver")
- Ronald L. Ziegler 1939 - Journalist, Press Secretary for U.S. President Richard M. Nixon
- Jayotis Washington 1941- Musician (The Persuasions)
- Billy Swan 1942- Singer, songwriter
- Ted (Theodore Rodger) Kubiak 1942 - Baseball player
- Ian Dury 1942 - Singer (Ian Dury and the Blockheads)
- David Walker 1943 - Musician (Gary Lewis & The Playboys)
- Linda Dano (Linda Rae Wildermuth) 1943- Actress
- Ian McLagan 1946- Musician
- Steve Winwood 1948- Musician (Blind Faith, Traffic, Spencer Davis Group)
- Lindsay Crouse 1948- Actress ("The Juror", "Slap Shot", "Traps")
- Billy Squier 1950- Singer
- Pat (Patrick Leonard) Darcy 1950 - Baseball player
- Gabriel Byrne 1950- Actor ("In Treatment")
- Bruce Boxleitner 1950- Actor ("Scarecrow and Mrs. King", "The Babe")
- Kix Brooks 1955- Musician (Brooks and Dunn)
- Lou Whitaker 1957- Baseball player, nicknamed "Sweet Lou"
- Kim Greist 1958- Actress ("Homeward Bound" movies, "Chicago Hope")
- Kevin Bass 1959- Baseball player
- Ving Rhames 1961- Actor
- Billy Duffy 1961- Musician (The Cult)
- Emilio Estevez 1962- Actor ("Breakfast Club", "The Mighty Ducks" movies, "Young Guns"), Martin Sheen's son, Charlie Sheen's brother
- Vanessa Williams 1963- Actress
- Eddie Kilgallon 1965- Musician (Ricochet)
- Stephen Baldwin 1966- Actor ("Born on the Fourth of July"), brother of Alec Baldwin, William Baldwin and Daniel Baldwin
- Tony Hawk 1968- Skateboarder
- Kim Fields 1969- Actress ("The Facts of Life")
- Samantha Mathis 1970- Actress
- Jamie Luner 1971- Actress ("Melrose Place")
- Mackenzie Astin 1973- Actor
- Melanie Chisholm (Melanie "Mel" Jayne Chisholm) 1976 - Singer (Spice Girls), known as "Sporty Spice)
- Jason Biggs 1978- Actor ("American Pie" movies)
- Samantha Mathis 1978- Actress
- Malin Akerman 1978- Actress
- Steve Smith 1979- Football player
- Emily VanCamp 1986- Actress ("Brothers & Sisters")
- Malcolm David Kelley 1992- Actor ("Lost")
- Sawyer Sweeten 1995- Actor ("Everybody Loves Raymond")
- Sullivan Sweeten 1995- Actor ("Everybody Loves Raymond")
