Today In History

Today is Wednesday, May 13, the 134th day of 2020. There are 232 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1940: In his first speech as British prime minister, Winston Churchill told Parliament, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

ON THIS DATE

› 1607: English colonists arrived by ship at the site of what became the Jamestown settlement in Virginia (the colonists went ashore the next day).

› 1914: Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis was born in Lafayette, Alabama.

› 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.

› 1918: The first U.S. airmail stamp, costing 24 cents and featuring a picture of a Curtiss JN-4 biplane, was publicly issued. (On some of the stamps, the “Jenny” was printed upside-down, making them collector’s items.)

› 1981: Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter’s Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actor Buck Taylor is 82. Actor Harvey Keitel is 81. Author Charles Baxter is 73. Actress Zoe Wanamaker is 72. Actor Franklyn Ajaye is 71. Singer Stevie Wonder is 70. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich is 68. Actress Leslie Winston is 64. Producer-writer Alan Ball is 63. Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is 59. “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert is 56. Rock musician John Richardson (The Gin Blossoms) is 56. Actor Tom Verica is 56. Singer Darius Rucker (Hootie and the Blowfish) is 54. Actress Susan Floyd is 52. Contemporary Christian musician Andy Williams (Casting Crowns) is 48. Actor Brian Geraghty is 45. Actress Samantha Morton is 43. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is 43. Former NBA player Mike Bibby is 42. Rock musician Mickey Madden (Maroon 5) is 41. Actor Iwan Rheon is 35. Actress-writer-director Lena Dunham is 34. Actor Robert Pattinson is 34. Actress Candice Accola King is 33. Actor Hunter Parrish is 33. Folk-rock musician Wylie Gelber (Dawes) is 32. NHL defenseman P.K. Subban is 32. Actress Debby Ryan is 27.