TODAY’S HISTORY

1940: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave his “blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech to the British House of Commons as Germany’s conquest of France began.

1943: The German Afrika Korps surrendered to Allied forces

in North Africa.

1981: Pope John Paul II was shot and critically injured by would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

1985: of Philadelphia Two blocks were destroyed by fire after police dropped an incendiary device on the headquarters of MOVE, a black liberation group.

TODAY’S

BIRTHDAYS: Pope

Pius IX (1792-1878);

Joe Louis (19141981), boxer; Bea Arthur (1922-2009),

actress; singer-songwriter; Harvey Keitel (1939-), Stevie actor; Wonder Ritchie (1950-), Valens singersongwriter/pianist; (19411959), Stephen Colbert (1964-), TV personality; Darius Rucker (1966-), singer-songwriter; Barry Zito (1978-), baseball player; Lena Dunham (1986-), actress; Robert Pattinson (1986-), actor.

TODAY’S FACT: Mehmet Ali Agca returned to the Vatican on Dec. 27, 2014, to lay flowers at the tomb of Pope John Paul II, the man he had attempted to assassinate 33 years earlier. His request to meet Pope Francis was denied.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1995, Alison Hargreaves of Great Britain became the first woman to scale Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen or the help of Sherpas.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Do you know what I like about comedy? You can’t laugh and be afraid at the same time — of anything. If you’re laughing, I defy you to be afraid.” — Stephen Colbert

TODAY’S NUMBER: 161,401 — total salary (in British pounds) of the British prime minister in 2022 (around $203,078). The salary of the president of the United States is $400,000.

TODAY’S MOON: Between first quarter moon (May 8) and full moon (May 15).