TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, May 12, the 132nd day of 2021. There are 233 days left in the year.
ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY
On May 12, 1949, the Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift.
1937 — Britain’s King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey; his wife, Elizabeth, was crowned as queen consort.
1943 — During World War II, Axis forces in North Africa surrendered.
1955 — Manhattan’s last elevated rail line, the Third Avenue El, ceased operation.
1970 — The Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harry A. Blackmun as a Supreme Court justice.
1982 — In Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who attacked Pope John Paul II.
1997 — Australian Susie Maroney became the first woman to swim from Cuba to Florida, covering the 118mile distance in 24-and-ahalf hours.
2008 — A devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China’s Sichuan province left more than 87,000 people dead or missing.
Ten years ago — 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.
Five years ago — A divided US Supreme Court blocked the execution of an Alabama inmate so that a lower court could review claims that strokes and dementia had rendered him incompetent to understand his looming death sentence.
One year ago — House Democrats unveiled a Coronavirus aid package totaling more than $3 trillion, including nearly $1 trillion for states and cities to avert layoffs and a fresh round of direct cash aid to American households.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS Composer Burt Bacharach is 93. R&B singer Jayotis Washington is 80. Actor Linda Dano is 78. Singer-musician Steve Winwood is 73. Actor Bruce Boxleitner is 71. Singer Billy Squier is 71. Country singer Kix Brooksis 66. Actor Kim Greist is 63. Rock musician Eric Singer (Kiss) is 63. Actor Ving Rhames is 62. Rock musician Billy Duffy is 60. Actor Emilio Estevez is 59. Actor April Grace is 59. Actor Vanessa A. Williams is 58. TV personality/chef Carla Hall is 57. Actor Stephen Baldwin is 55. Actor Scott Schwartz is 53. Actor Kim Fields is 52. Actor Samantha Mathis is 51. Actor Jamie Luner is 50. Actor Christian Campbell is 49. Actor Rhea Seehorn is 49. Actor Mackenzie Astin is 48. Country musician Matt Mangano (The Zac Brown Band) is 45. Actor Rebecca Herbst is 44. Actor Malin Akerman is 43. Actor Jason Biggs is 43. Actor Rami Malek is 40. Actor-singer Clare Bowen is 37. Actor Emily VanCamp is 35. Actor Malcolm David Kelley is 29. Actor Sullivan Sweeten is 26.