Today in history
Today is Saturday, May 12, the 132nd day of 2018. There are 233 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlights in History:
On May 12, 1943, during World War II, Axis forces in North Africa surrendered. The two-week Trident Conference, headed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, opened in Washington.
On this date:
In 1012, Pope Sergius IV died, ending a nearly three-year papacy; he was succeeded by Pope Benedict VIII.
In 1780, during the Revolutionary War, the besieged city of Charleston, South Carolina, surrendered to British forces.
In 1870, an act creating the Canadian province of Manitoba was given royal assent, to take effect in July.
In 1932, the body of Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was found in a wooded area near Hopewell, New Jersey.
In 1937, Britain’s King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey; his wife, Elizabeth, was crowned as queen consort.
In 1949, the Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift.
In 1958, the United States and Canada signed an agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (later the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD).
In 1967, “Are You Experienced,” the debut album of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was released in Britain by Track Records. Procol Harum’s debut single “A Whiter Shade of Pale” was released in the United Kingdom on the Deram label. English poet laureate John Masefield died in Abingdon at age 88.
In 1978, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that hurricanes would no longer be given only female names.
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 1997, Australian Susie Maroney became the first woman to swim from Cuba to Florida, covering the 118-mile distance in 24 1/2 hours.
In 2003, the Texas House ground to a standstill after 51 Democratic lawmakers left the state in a dispute over a Republican congressional redistricting plan. (The Democrats returned four days later from Oklahoma, having succeeded in killing the bill.)
Ten years ago: A devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China’s Sichuan province left more than 87,000 people dead or missing. Irena Sendler, credited with saving some 2,500 Jewish children from the Holocaust, died in Warsaw, Poland, at age 98. Pop artist Robert Rauschenberg died on Captiva Island, Florida, at age 82. Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history during the second game of a doubleheader against Toronto, which won the match, 3- 0, in 10 innings. NBC announced that Jimmy Fallon would succeed Conan O’Brien as host of “Late Night.”
Five years ago: Pope Francis gave the Catholic Church new saints, including hundreds of 15th- century martyrs who were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first canonization ceremony before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square. Nineteen people were wounded in a gang-related shooting during a Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans. Serena Williams kept her No. 1 ranking and added career title No. 50 as she beat Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6- 4 in the final of the Madrid Open; Rafael Nadal won his fifth title since returning from a knee injury by beating Stanislas Wawrinka (vah-VRINK’-ah) 6-2, 6- 4.