TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS THURSDAY, MAY 12, the 132nd day of 2022. There are 233 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1949, the Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift. In 1933, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration were established to provide help for the needy and farmers. In 1975, the White House announced the new Cambodian government had seized an American merchant ship, the Mayaguez, in international waters. (U.S. Marines gained control of the ship three days after its seizure, not knowing the 39 civilian members of the crew had already been released by Cambodia.) In 1982, in Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who attacked Pope John Paul II. (In 2008, the pope’s longtime private secretary revealed that the pontiff was slightly wounded in the assault.) In 2008, a devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China’s Sichuan province left more than 87,000 people dead or missing. In 2011, CEOs of the five largest oil companies went before the Senate Finance Committee, where Democrats challenged the executives to justify tax breaks at a time when people were paying $4 a gallon for gas. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Composer Burt Bacharach is 94. Actors Gabriel Byrne and Bruce Boxleitner, and singer Billy Squier are 72. Actor Ving Rhames is 63. Rock musician Billy Duffy is 61. Actors Emilio Estevez and April Grace are 60. Actor Vanessa A. Williams is 59. Actor Samantha Mathis is 52. Actor Jamie Luner is 51. Actors Christian Campbell and Rhea Seehorn are 50. Actor Mackenzie Astin is 49. Actors Malin Akerman and Jason Biggs are 44. Actor Rami Malek is 41.