May 17......

May 17 is the 137th (138th in leap years) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 228 days remaining in the year on this date.

Best Liberal Quote of the Day: On Fundamentalism "Fundamentalism is rigorously and systematically used to indoctrinate and subjugate young minds. It is a contraceptive designed to prevent intellectual fertilization." — Stephen Jay Gould {One of the world's preeminent scientists on Evolution.}

Stupidest Quote from the Right for the Day: On Hypocrisy "I've gambled all my life and it's never been a moral issue with me. I liked church bingo when I was growing up." — William Bennett, Ronald Reagan's secretary of education and author of The Book of Virtues justifying his multimillion dollar gambling addiction

Thought for the day: "The reason people blame things on previous generations? There's only one other choice!"

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}

EVENTS

● 218 - 7th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet

● 352 Liberius was elected 36th pope of the Early Church. During this time the dispute between Arius and Athanasius was at its height, and after vacillating earlier, Liberius vindicated himself as a champion of Nicene orthodoxy.

● 884 - St Adrian III begins his reign as Catholic Pope

● 1291 - Scottish medieval Franciscan philosopher John Duns Scotus, 25, was ordained. He believed in "divine will" rather than "divine intellect," and founded a scholastic system called Scotism. In the Catholic Church he is known as "the Subtle Doctor."

● 1521 - Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.

● 1525 - Battle at Zabern: duke of Lutherans beats rebels

● 1527 - Pánfilo de Narvaéz departs to explore Florida

● 1536 - Anne Boleyn's 4 "lovers" executed

● 1540 - Afghan chief Sher Khan defeated Mongul Emperor Humayun at Kanauj.

● 1544 - Scottish Earl Matthew van Lennox signs secret treaty with Henry VIII

● 1579 - Artois/Henegouwen/French-Flanders sign Treaty/Peace of Parma recognizing Spanish duke van Parma as land guardian

● 1590 - Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.

● 1620 - First merry-go-round introduced, Turkey.

● 1630 - Italian Jesuit Niccolo Zucchi, 1st to see 2 belts on Jupiter surface

● 1631 - Earl Johann Tilly attacks Maagdenburg

● 1642 - Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (1612–1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.

● 1648 - Emperor Ferdinand III defeats Maximilian I of Bavaria

● 1672 - Frontenac becomes Governor of New France (Canada)

● 1673 - Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.

● 1678 - King Charles II & Louis XIV sign secret treaty

● 1681 - Louis XIV sent an expedition to aid James II in Ireland. As a result, England declares war on France.

● 1712 - Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria honored as "sovereign of Netherlands"

● 1733 - England passes Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum & molasses imported to the colonies from a country other than British possessions

● 1742 - Frederick great (Emperor of Prussia) beats Austrians

● 1744 - French army takes Austrian Netherlands

● 1750 - Tax revolt in Gorinchem

● 1756 - Britain declares war on France (7 Years' or French & Indian War)

● 1775 - American Revolutionary War: The Continental Congress bans trade with Canada.

● 1787 - English slave ship Sisters, from Africa to Cuba, capsizes

● 1792 - The New York Stock Exchange is formed.

● 1794 - Hard frost in southern New England

● 1803 - John Hawkins & Richard French patent the Reaping Machine

● 1804 - Lewis & Clark begin exploration of the Louisiana Purchase

● 1809 - Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.

● 1814 - Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.

● 1814 - The Constitution of Norway is signed and the Danish Crown Prince Christian Frederik is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.

● 1829 - John Jay, American statesman and the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, died at age 83.

● 1844 - Birth of Julius Wellhausen, the German biblical scholar who, in his 1878 "History of Israel," first advanced the JEDP Hypothesis, claiming that the Pentateuch (i.e., the first five O.T. books) was a compilation of four earlier, literary sources.

● 1846 - The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax.

● 1848 - Premier Earl Schimmelpenninck resigns

● 1849 - A fire threatens to burn St. Louis, Missouri, to the ground.

● 1853 - Thorbecke's liberals win 2nd-Parliamentary election

● 1858 - Twelve hundred Coeur d'Alene, Palouse, Spokane and Skitswich Indians defeat strong force of Col. Steptoe near Colfax, Wash., at village of To-ho-to-nim-me.

● 1862 - Battle of Princeton WV, ends, about 128 casualities

● 1863 - Battle of Big Black River Bridge, Mississippi

● 1863 - Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, her first book in the Galician language.

● 1864 - Battle of Adairsville GA, Union forces Confederates to retreat

● 1865 - The International Telegraph Union (the later International Telecommunication Union) is established.

● 1871 - Indian fighter General Sherman escapes in ambulance vs Comanches

● 1873 - Birth of French WWI anti-war author Henri Barbusse (“Under Fire”).

● 1876 - 7th US Cavalry under Custer leaves Fort Lincoln

● 1877 - Edwin T Holmes installs 1st telephone switchboard burglar alarm

● 1881 - Frederick Douglass appointed recorder of deeds for Washington DC

● 1881 - Revised version of New Testament

● 1884 - Alaska becomes a US territory

● 1900 - Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.

● 1902 - Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.

● 1909 - White firemen on Georgia RR strike to protest hiring blacks

● 1910 - Canada sets the designs for the 1¢-50¢ coins

● 1910 - Halley's Comet terrifies millions.

● 1911 - Maureen O'Sullivan, the American movie actress who played "Jane" in the Tarzan movies, was born.

● 1915 - National Baptist Convention chartered

● 1915 - The last British Liberal Party government (Herbert Henry Asquith) falls.

● 1918 - Almost the entire leadership of Sinn Féin are arrested.

● 1919 - Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) formally established, Zurich, Switzerland.

● 1919 - Committee of One Thousand forms to oppose Winnipeg General Strike.

● 1920 - 1st De Havilland double-decker flight (London) lands in Schiphol

● 1920 - 1st flight by Dutch airlines KLM (Koninklijke-Luchtvaart-Maatschappij)

● 1921 - Belgian-Luxembourg sign customs union

● 1921 - President Harding opens (via telephone) 1st Valencia Orange Show

● 1922 - Five hundred black strikebreakers brought to Haverstraw, N.Y. as first wave of strikebreakers quit in support of strike.

● 1923 - Fire during closing day ceremonies at Grover Cleveland School (South Carolina)

● 1926 - The U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires was damaged by bombs that were believed set by sympathizers of Sacco and Vanzetti.

● 1926 - Chiang Kai-shek is made supreme war lord in Canton

● 1926 - German Government of Marx takes power

● 1932 - U.S. Congress changes the colonial name "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico."

● 1933 - Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.

● 1937 - Juan Negrin succeeds Largo Caballero as Spain's premier

● 1938 - Congress approves Vinson Naval Act, which funds a two-ocean navy

● 1940 - World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.

● 1940 - World War II: The old city centre of the Dutch town of Middelburg is bombed by the German Luftwaffe, to force the surrender of the Dutch armies in Zeeland.

● 1942 - Dutch SS vows loyalty to Hitler

● 1943 - The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the ENIAC.

● 1943 - RAF raid smashes German dams; An audacious raid into the industrial heartland of Germany uses revolutionary bombs to flood the Ruhr valley.

● 1944 - Allied air raid on Surabaja, Java

● 1944 - Chinese/US arm forces take Myitkyina Airport, Burma

● 1944 - General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th

● 1944 - Operation Straightline: Allies land in Netherlands New-Guinea

● 1945 - 2 US P-47 Thunderbolts bomb Kiushu

● 1946 - KVP Labor/Communists win 1st post-WW2 Dutch parliamentary elections

● 1946 - President Truman seizes control of nation's railroads to delay a strike

● 1947 - The Conservative Baptist Association of America (CBAA) was formally established at Atlantic City, NJ, as a breakaway movement from within the American Baptist Convention.

● 1948 - Israel liberates Acre, Nebi Yusha & Telel-Kadi

● 1948 - Soviet Union recognized Israel

● 1949 - British government recognizes Republic of Ireland

● 1954 - In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously "separate but equal" public education to be unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.

● 1955 - Eden takes to the airwaves; Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden presents the largest-scale election broadcast ever seen on television.

● 1955 - Dutch Government of Drees resigns

● 1956 - The first synthetic mica (synthamica) was offered for sale in Caldwell Township, NJ.

● 1957 - Prayer Pilgrimage, biggest civil rights demonstration to date (District of Columbia)

● 1958 - Emergency crisis proclaimed in Algeria

● 1960 - 1st atomic reactor system to be patented, JW Flora, Canoga Park CA

● 1961 - Fidel Castro offers to trade Bay of Pigs prisoners to U.S. for bulldozers.

● 1962 - Marin County withdraws from BART district {They avoid an additional 1% "temporary" sales tax, that is still in place. Santa Clara and San Mateo counties which remain part of BART have yet to see any benefit from paying this tax.}

● 1963 - US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site

● 1967 - Six-Day War: President Abdul Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.

● 1968 - "Catonsville Nine," including Phil and Dan Berrigan, break into Catonsville, Maryland draft board center and burn over 600 draft files.

● 1968 - European Space Research Organization launches 1st satellite

● 1968 - US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site

● 1969 - Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.

● 1970 - 100 protesters stage a "die-in" in downtown Seattle to protest shipment through Seattle of Army nerve gas being transported from Okinawa to the Umatilla Army Depot in eastern Oregon.

● 1970 - Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.

● 1971 - Washington State bans sex discrimination

● 1972 - Netherlands & China People's Republic exchange ambassadors

● 1973 - US performs 3 nuclear tests at Rifle CO

● 1973 - Watergate scandal: Hearings begin in the United States Senate and are televised.

● 1974 - Field Marshall Cinque, Leader of the Symbionese Liberation Army, and five other SLA members assassinated by Los Angeles police. "Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the working masses."

● 1974 - Thirty-three people are killed by terrorist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland.

● 1976 - Earthquake in Uzbekistan: 1000's killed

● 1977 - Menahem Begin's Likoed-party wins election in Israel

● 1978 - Charlie Chaplin's stolen body found; The coffin containing the body of Charlie Chaplin - missing since his grave was pillaged nearly two months ago - is found.

● 1979 - -12ºF (-11ºC), on top of Mauna Kea HI (state record)

● 1980 - Rioting erupted in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood after an all-white jury in Tampa acquitted four former Miami police officers of fatally beating black insurance executive Arthur McDuffie. - 18 killed, 300 injured

● 1980 - General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.

● 1980 - Peru: Terrorist group Shining Path attacked a voting poll in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho starting the Internal conflict in Peru.

● 1983 - Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

● 1987 - U.S.S. Stark hit by Iraqi missiles; 37 sailors die. U.S. only issues a mild protest over the "accident," as Iraq and its leader, Saddam Hussein, were considered a good ally and valuable arms customer by the Reagan administration. Stark's officers were found negligent on 14 June. U.S. ships were escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers to the Gulf, reflagging them for the U.S.

● 1989 - Nelson Mandela receives a BA degree from University of South Africa

● 1990 - European court rules pension rights for both men & women

● 1992 - In a referendum, 82% of Switzerland voters vote in favor of alternative service for conscientious objectors.

● 1992 - In Thailand, the so-called Black May begins. Thai police and protestors start attacking one another. By midnight, the current Thai government declares a state of emergency, and military troops open fire.

● 1992 - Orchestra leader Lawrence Welk died at age 89.

● 1993 - Intel's new Pentium processor is unveiled

● 1994 - Bakili Muluzi's UDF wins Malawi presidents/parliamentary election holding first elections.

● 1994 - Israel officially pulls last soldiers out of Palestinian areas of Gaza and Jericho, ending 27 years of illegal occupation. The agreement, however, leaves Israel with complete control over water and other infrastructure necessary for genuine autonomy.

● 1995 - After 18 years as the mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac takes office as President of France.

● 1996 - U.S. President Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. Megan's Law was named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, who was raped and killed in 1994.

● 1997 - Rebel leader Kabila declared himself president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire.

● 1999 - Labor Party leader Ehud Barak unseated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israeli elections.

● 2000 - Thomas E. Blanton Jr. and David Luker surrendered to police in Birmingham, AL. The two former Ku Klux Klan members were arrested on charges from the bombing of a church in 1963 that killed four young black girls. (They were later convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Cherry died in 2004.)

● 2000 - Austria, the U.S. and six other countries agreed on the broad outline of a plan that would compensate Nazi-Era forced labor. {Talk about too little too late, this is absurd.}

● 2000 - First Britons reach North Pole unaided; Two Royal Marine commandos are the first Britons to reach the geographical North Pole braving severe weather conditions.

● 2001 - The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp based on Charles M. Schulz's "Peanuts" comic strip.

● 2003 - A top Vatican official confirmed that Pope John Paul II was suffering from Parkinson's disease.

● 2004 - Massachusetts becomes the first state in the United States to legalize Same-sex marriage

● 2005 - Los Angeles Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa trounced Mayor James Hahn to be elected the city's first Hispanic mayor in more than a century.

● 2006 - The U.S. aircraft carrier Oriskany was sunk about 24 miles off Pensacola Beach. It was the first vessel sunk under a Navy program to dispose of old warships by turning them into diving attractions. It was the largest man-made reef at the time of the sinking.

BIRTHS

● 1155 - Jien, Japanese poet and historian (d. 1225)

● 1443 - Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England

● 1490 - Albert, Prussian duke (1525-68) and last grand master of the Teutonic Knights (1510-1525) (d. 1568)

● 1551 - Martin Delrio, Flemish theologian and occultist (d. 1601)

● 1628 - Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria, Regent of the Tyrol (d. 1662)

● 1682 - Bartholomew Roberts, AKA Black Bart, notorious Welsh pirate (d. 1722)

● 1706 - Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (d. 1780)

● 1718 - Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English diplomat and politician (d. 1778)

● 1743 - Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (d. 1784)

● 1749 - Edward Jenner, English medical researcher (d. 1823)

● 1758 - John St Aubyn, British fossil collector (d. 1839)

● 1768 - Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales (d. 1821)

● 1768 - Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, English general (d. 1854)

● 1794 - Anna Brownell Jameson, British writer (d. 1860)

● 1821 - Sebastian Kneipp, German naturopathist (d. 1897)

● 1836 - Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian chess player (d. 1900)

● 1836 - Virginie Loveling, Belgian writer and poet (d. 1923)

● 1844 - Julius Wellhausen, German biblical scholar (d. 1918)

● 1866 - Erik Satie, French composer (d. 1925)

● 1868 - Horace Elgin Dodge, American automobile manufacturer (d. 1920)

● 1873 - Henri Barbusse, French novelist and journalist (d. 1935)

● 1873 - Dorothy Richardson, English writer (d. 1957)

● 1879 - Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (d. 1926)

● 1886 - Alfonso XIII of Spain (d. 1941)

● 1888 - Tich Freeman, English cricketer (d. 1965)

● 1897 - Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)

● 1898 - Alfred Joseph Casson, Canadian painter (d. 1992)

● 1900 - Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranian Muslim cleric (d. 1989)

● 1901 - Werner Egk, German composer (d. 1983)

● 1903 - Cool Papa Bell, baseball player (d. 1991)

● 1904 - Jean Gabin, French actor (d. 1976)

● 1906 - Zinka Milanov, Croatian soprano (d. 1989)

● 1909 - Karl Schafer, Austrian ice skater; won Olympic gold medal winner in 1932 and 1936 (d. 1976)

● 1911 - Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish-born supermodel (d. 1992)

● 1911 - Maureen O'Sullivan, Irish actress (d. 1998)

● 1914 - Stewart Alsop, American journalist (d. 1974)

● 1916 - Robin Maugham, English novelist, playwright and travel writer (d. 1981)

● 1918 - Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano (d. 2005)

● 1919 - Merle Miller, American biographer (d. 1986)

● 1921 - Dennis Brain, English French horn player (d. 1957)

● 1921 - Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (d. 1998)

● 1924 - Robin Howard, English balletomane; promoted modern dance in Britain (d. 1989)

● 1931 - Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader (d. 1997)

● 1935 - Dennis Potter, English writer (d. 1994)

● 1936 - Dennis Hopper, American actor and director

● 1937 - Hazel R. O'Leary, United States Secretary of Energy

● 1938 - Pervis Jackson, R&B singer (The Spinners)

● 1938 - Jason Bernard, American actor (d. 1996)

● 1939 - Gary Paulsen, American author

● 1940 - Peter Gerety, Actor

● 1940 - Alan Kay, American computer scientist

● 1941 - Ben Nelson, U.S. senator, D-Neb.

● 1941 - David Cope, American composer, teacher, and author

● 1942 - Taj Mahal, American singer and guitarist

● 1943 - Vicky Moscholiou, Greek singer (d. 2005)

● 1944 - Jesse Winchester, Singer, songwriter

● 1945 - Tony Roche, Australian tennis player

● 1946 - Udo Lindenberg, German musician

● 1946 - F. Paul Wilson, American novelist

● 1949 - Bill Bruford, English drummer and songwriter (Yes)

● 1950 - Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian politician

● 1952 - Howard Hampton, leader of the New Democratic Party of Ontario

● 1953 - Kathleen Sullivan, TV personality

● 1955 - Bill Paxton, American actor and film director

● 1956 - Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer and Hall of Fame member

● 1956 - Bob Saget, American actor ("Full House")

● 1956 - Dave Sim, Canadian cartoonist

● 1957 - Pascual Pérez, Major league pitcher

● 1958 - Paul Di'Anno, English singer (Iron Maiden)

● 1959 - Jim Nantz, American broadcaster

● 1961 - Enya, Irish singer and songwriter {One of the few A Proud Liberal would instantly get a divorce for.}

● 1962 - Craig Ferguson, Scottish actor, comedian, and talk show host (The Late Late Show)

● 1962 - Lise Lyng Falkenberg, Danish writer

● 1963 - Page McConnell, American musician and songwriter (Phish)

● 1964 - Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (d. 1999)

● 1965 - O'Dell, R&B musician (Mint Condition)

● 1965 - Paige Turco, Actress ("The Agency")

● 1965 - Trent Reznor, American singer, songwriter and producer (Nine Inch Nails)

● 1966 - Hill Harper, Actor ("CSI:NY")

● 1967 - Nancy Daus, professional wrestling valet

● 1969 - Thom Filicia, American television personality (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy)

● 1969 - Alan Doyle, Canadian folk musician (Great Big Sea)

● 1970 - Darnell Van Rensalier, R&B singer (Shai)

● 1970 - Jordan Knight, lead singer of New Kids on the Block

● 1970 - Matt Lindland, Mixed Martial Arts Fighter

● 1971 - Shaun Hart, Australian footballer

● 1971 - Princess Máxima of the Netherlands

● 1973 - Josh Homme, American musician, singer and songwriter

● 1973 - Matthew McGrory, American actor, World Record holder

● 1974 - Andrea Corr, Irish singer (The Corrs)

● 1974 - Wiki González, baseball player

● 1974 - Eddie Lewis, American football (soccer) player

● 1974 - Sendhil Ramamurthy, American actor

● 1975 - Sasha Alexander, American television actress

● 1975 - Cheick Kongo, martial artist

● 1975 - Jonti Picking, British cartoonist

● 1975 - Laura Voutilainen, Finnish singer

● 1975 - Kostas Sommer, Greek actor

● 1975 - Alex Wright, German professional wrestler

● 1976 - Kandi Burruss, R&B singer

● 1976 - José Guillén, baseball player

● 1976 - Lee-Hom Wang, American-born Taiwanese musician, singer, songwriter, and composer

● 1978 - Paddy Kenny, Sheffield United and Ireland goalkeeper

● 1979 - Wayne Thomas, English footballer

● 1980 - Davor Džalto, Artist, art historian and philosopher

● 1981 - Beñat Albizuri, Spanish cyclist

● 1981 - R.J. Helton, American Idol finalist

● 1981 - Shiri Maimon, Israeli Singer

● 1981 - Leon Osman, English footballer

● 1981 - Giannis Taralidis, Greek footballer

● 1982 - Tony Parker, French-American basketball player

● 1983 - Channing Frye, American basketball player

● 1983 - Nicky Hofs, Dutch footballer

● 1984 - Christine Robinson, Canadian water polo player

● 1984 - Christian Bolaños, Costa Rican footballer

● 1985 - Dan Wilson, American professional Motocross and Arenacross rider

● 1986 - Tahj Mowry, American actor

● 1988 - Nikki Reed, American actress ("The O.C.")

DEATHS

● 1189 - Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (b. 1159)

● 1336 - Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (b. 1288)

● 1365 - Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1328)

● 1395 - Constantine Dragas, Serbian ruler of a semi-independent realm

● 1464 - Thomas de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros, English politician (executed) (b. 1427)

● 1510 - Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (b. 1445)

● 1521 - Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, English politician

● 1536 - George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, English diplomat

● 1575 - Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1504)

● 1626 - Juan Pujol, Catalan composer (b. 1570)

● 1643 - Giovanni Picchi, Italian composer

● 1727 - Catherine I of Russia

● 1729 - Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (b. 1675)

● 1765 - Alexis Claude Clairault, French mathematician (b. 1713)

● 1797 - Michel-Jean Sedaine, French dramatist (b. 1719)

● 1801 - William Heberden, English physician (b. 1710)

● 1809 - Leopold Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (b. 1722)

● 1822 - Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, French-Russian statesman (b. 1766)

● 1829 - John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1745)

● 1838 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat (b. 1754)

● 1839 - Archibald Alison, Scottish author (b. 1757)

● 1868 - Isami Kondo, Shinsengumi Commander (b. 1834)

● 1875 - John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States (b. 1821)

● 1879 - Asa Packer, Railroad magnate and founder of Lehigh Valley Railroad (b. 1805)

● 1886 - John Deere, American blacksmith and manufacturer (b. 1804)

● 1888 - Giacomo Zanella, Italian poet (b. 1820)

● 1916 - Boris Borisovich Galitzine, Russian physicist (b. 1862)

● 1917 - Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, ruler of Sarawak (b. 1829)

● 1919 - Guido von List, German occult author (b. 1848)

● 1935 - Paul Dukas, French composer (b. 1865)

● 1936 - Panagis Tsaldaris, twice Greek prime minister (b. 1868)

● 1947 - George William Forbes, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)

● 1963 - John Wilce, physician and former head football coach at the Ohio State University (b. 1888)

● 1974 - Ernest Nash, German born archaeologist

● 1985 - Abe Burrows, songwriter, composer, and writer (b. 1910)

● 1987 - Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)

● 1992 - Lawrence Welk, American musician (b. 1903)

● 1995 - Hector "Toe" Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and NHL coach (b. 1912)

● 1996 - Kevin Gilbert, American singer, composer and instrumentalist (b. 1966)

● 1996 - Scott Brayton, American race car driver (b. 1959)

● 1999 - Bruce Fairbairn, Canadian record producer and musician (b. 1949)

● 2000 - Donald Coggan, 101st Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909)

● 2001 - Frank G. Slaughter, American novelist and physician (b. 1908)

● 2002 - Dave Berg, American cartoonist (b. 1920)

● 2002 - Sharon Sheeley, American songwriter (b. 1940)

● 2002 - Davey Boy Smith, English professional wrestler (b. 1962)

● 2002 - Ladislao Kubala, Hungarian-Spanish footballer (b. 1927)

● 2003 - Frank "Pop" Ivy, American and Canadian football coach (b. 1916)

● 2004 - Jørgen Nash, Danish artist (b. 1920)

● 2004 - Tony Randall, American actor (b. 1920)

● 2004 - Ezzedine Salim, leader of Iraqi Governing Council (b. 1943)

● 2005 - Frank Gorshin, American actor (b. 1934)

● 2006 - Cy Feuer, American playwright (b. 1911)

● 2006 - Eric Forth, British Member of Parliament (b. 1944)

● 2006 - Captain Nichola Goddard, Canadian soldier (b. 1980)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Adrian of Alexandria
● St. Cathan
● St. Dietmar
● St. Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, patron of jewelers
● St. Heradius
● St. Madern
● St. Maiduif
● St. Montanus
● St. Pamphamer
● St. Pamphalon
● St. Paschal Baylon or Pascal Baylon
● St. Restituta
● St. Solochon
● St. Thethmar
● St. Victor

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for May 4 (Civil Date: May 17)
● Virgin Martyr Pelagia of Tarsus in Asia Minor.
● Hieromartyr Silvanus, Bishop of Gaza.
● Hieromartyr Albian (Olbian), Bishop of Anea in Asia Minor.
● Hieromartyr Erasmus, Bishop of Formia in Campania.
● Translation of the Relics of Righteous Lazarus and St. Mary Magdalene, Equal-to-the-Apostles.
● Martyrs Aphrodisius, Leontius, Anthony, Valerian, Macrobius, and others, monks of Palestine.
● St. Nicephorus, abbot of Medikion.
● St. Nicephorus of Mt. Athos.
● St. Athanasius, Bishop of Corinth.
● The Alfanov brothers: Sts. Nicetas, Cyril, Nicephorus, Clement, and Isaac of Novgorod, founders of the Sikolnitzki Monastery.

● Greek Calendar:
● St. Hilary the Wonderworker of the desert.

● Bahá'í Faith — Feast of 'Azaamat (Grandeur) — First day of the fourth month of the Bahá'í Calendar.

● Día das Letras Galegas ("Galician Literature Day") — holiday in Galicia, honouring the Galician language.

● Norwegian Constitution Day or Syttende Mai.(1814)

● International Day Against Homophobia aka IDAHO.

● Cuba : Agrarian Reform/Peasant Day

● This Holiday is only applicable on a given "day of the week"
● US : Armed Forces Day - ( Saturday )


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

Quotes of the Day taken from The Best Liberal Quotes Ever: Why the Left Is Right Compiled by William P. Martin ©2004

Permanent Backlink to Post