REMEMBERING

May 18 birthdays

1742 LIONEL LUKIN British inventor

Lukin paved the way for the first purpose-built lifeboat when he designed the world’s first unsinkable boat, for which he obtained a patent in 1785. A coachbuilder by trade, Lukin was interested in improving the safety of boats.

1868 NICHOLAS II Tsar of Russia

Nicholas was the last Emperor of Russia, a position he had held from 1894 until his abdication in 1917. After the Bolsheviks took power in Russia, Nicholas and his family were in Yekaterinburg. They were all executed on July 17, 1918.

1897 FRANK CAPRA American director

Born in Italy and raised in Los Angeles from the age of five, Capra was one of the US’s most influential directors of the 1930s, He won three Best Director Oscars from six nominations, along with another three Oscars in other categories.

1951 RODGER DAVIS Australian golfer

Davis was ranked in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for 29 weeks between 1987 and 1992. He led the 1987 Open Championships by three strokes after the opening round, but finished one stroke behind eventual winner Nick Faldo.

1975 JACK JOHNSON American musician

Johnson achieved commercial success with his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales, in 2001. Since then, he has topped the US album charts four times. Johnson’s 2013 album, In Between Dreams, peaked at number two.