Today in History - May 13
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384 May 13,
Servatius (Aravatius), bishop of Tongeren (Belgium), died at age 65.
(MC, 5/13/02)
535 May 13, St Agapitus I began
his reign as Catholic Pope
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
609 May 13, Pope Boniface I turned
Roman Pantheon into Catholic church.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1110 May 13, Crusaders marched
into Beirut causing a bloodbath.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1494 May 13, Columbus found the
natives on Jamaica hostile and left for Cuba.
(http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/v2.htm)
1497 May 13, Pope Alexander VI
excommunicated Girolamo Savonarola for heresy. In Florence the
Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) had led the Feb 7
burning of musical instruments, books and priceless works of art. He
preached against corruption in the Church and civil government.
(Hem., 4/97, p.53)(WUD, 1994,
p.1672)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola)
1559 May 13, Excavated corpse of
heretic David Jorisz was burned in Basel.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1568 May 13, Mary Queen of Scots
was defeated by English at battle of Langside.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1607 May 13, English colonists
landed near the James River in Virginia. They went shore the next day
and founded a colony named Jamestown. In 1996 archeologist discovered
the original Jamestown Fort and the remains of one settler, a young
white male who died a violent death. In 2003 David A. Price authored
"Love and Hate in Jamestown."
(SFC, 9/13/96, p.A2)(AP, 5/13/97)(HN, 5/24/98)(WSJ,
11/25/03, p.D8)(AP, 5/13/07)
1619 May 13, Johan van
Oldenbarnevelt (b.1547), Dutch lands advocate, was beheaded.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1637 May 13, Cardinal Richelieu of
France created the table knife.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1643 May 13, Battle at Grantham:
English parliamentary armies beat royalists.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1648 May 13, Margaret Jones of
Plymouth was found guilty of witchcraft and was sentenced to be hanged
by the neck.
(HN, 5/13/99)
1717 May 13, Maria Theresa was
born in Vienna. She later became Archduchess of Austria, a Queen of
Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and a Holy Roman Empress.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria)
1729 May 13, Henry William
Stiegel, early American glassmaker, was born.
(HN, 5/13/98)
1730 May 13, Marquess of
Rockingham, British Prime Minister from 1765 to 1766 and 1782, was
born.
(HN, 5/13/99)
1732 May 13, Theodor Schwarzkopf
(72), composer, died.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1761 May 13, Adrian Loosjes Pzn
(1818, Dutch publisher, writer (Mauritius Lijnslager), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1767 May 13, Mozart's opera
"Apollo et Hyacinthus," premiered in Salzburg.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1776 May 13, Rodrigo Ferreira da
Costa, composer, was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1777 May 13, University library at
Vienna opened.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1779 May 13, The War of
Bavarian Succession ended.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)(HN, 5/13/98)
1781 May 13, British Gen. William
Phillips died of a fever Petersburg, Va., as his forces confronted the
American army under Lafayette. Phillips had commanded the artillery
battery whose fire had killed Lafayette’s father at the Battle of
Minden (1759).
(ON, 2/09, p.5)
1787 May 13, Arthur Phillip set
sail from Portsmouth, Great Britain, with 11 ships of criminals to
Australia. By year’s end some 50,000 British convict servants were
transported to the American colonies in commutation of death sentences.
After the American Revolution, Britain continued dumping convicts in
the US illegally into 1787. Australia eventually replaced America for
this purpose. Penal transports continued until 1853, which left a
remarkable legacy: an almost totally unexplored continent settled
largely by convicted felons.
(HNQ,
1/24/99)(www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?dID=35)
1792 May 13, Giovanni-Maria
Mastaia-Ferretti, later Pope Pius IX, "Pio Nono" (1846-78), was born at
Sinigaglia.
(PTA, 1980, p.510)(MC, 5/13/02)
1795 May 13, Joshua Ratoon Sands
(d.1883), Commander (Union Navy), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1812 May 13, Johann Matthias
Sperger (62), composer, died.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1820 May 13, The opera "Die
Jearsbraut" was completed.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1828 May 13, US passed the
Tariff of Abominations.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1835 May 13, John Nash, British
town planner, architect (Regent's Park), died.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1840 May 13, Alphonse Daudet,
writer, was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1842 May 13, Composer Sir Arthur
Sullivan was born in London. He collaborated with Sir William Gilbert
in writing 14 comic operas that included "HMS Pinafore."
(AP, 5/13/99)(HN, 5/13/99)
1846 May 13, The US under Pres.
Polk declared that a state of war already existed against Mexico, 2
months after fighting began. This was in response to an incident where
the Mexican cavalry surrounded a scouting party of American dragoons.
$10 million was appropriated for war expenses by Congress. 50, 000
volunteers responded to the war effort and Gen. Taylor used his forces
to capture the Mexican town of Monterey [in California] and then moved
south to defeat Santa Anna's armies at the Battle of Buena Vista.
(WCG, p.59)(HFA, '96, p.48)(SS, Internet,
5/13/97)(AP, 5/13/98)
1856 May 13, Peter Henry Emerson,
1st to promote photography as an independent art, was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1857 May 13, Ronald Ross,
bacteriologist, was born.
(HN, 5/13/01)
1861 May 13, Britain declared its
neutrality in the American Civil War.
(HN, 5/13/98)
1864 May 13, Battle of Resaca
commenced as Union General Sherman fought towards Atlanta.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)(HN, 5/13/98)
1867 May 13, Frank Brangwyn,
painter, muralist, cartoonist (Willam Morris), was born in Wales.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1868 May 13, Paolo Gallico,
composer, was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1874 May 13, Pope Pius IX
issued the encyclical "On the Greek-Ruthenian rite."
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1877 May 13, Cesar Franck's
"Lesson Eolides," premiered.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1882 May 13, Georges Braque
(d.1963, French cubist painter, was born in Argenteuil, near Paris. He
said of his work that: “The aim is not to reconstitute an anecdotal
fact, but to constitute a pictorial fact.” He was shot in the head
during WW I and had his head drilled to relieve the pressure. His
“Billiard Tables” series was painted between 1944 and 1949.
(V.D.-H.K.p.359-360)(AHD, 1971, p.160)(WSJ, 5/7/97,
p.A16)(MC, 5/13/02)
1884 May 13, The Institute
for Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) was founded.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1884 May 13, Cyrus Hall McCormick
(b.1809), the Reaper King, died. His last words were “work, work, work.”
(SFC, 1/11/03, p.D6)(MC, 5/13/02)
1888 May 13, DeWolf Hopper
1st recited "Casey at the Bat."
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1888 May 13, Slavery was abolished
in Brazil. Some 4 million slaves had been imported, the most of any
nation in the western hemisphere.
(WSJ, 8/6/96, p.A1)(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)(HN,
5/13/98)
1900 May 13, Jos Panhuysen, author
(Pornographer), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1903 May 13, The Dewey Memorial in
Union Square, San Francisco, was dedicated by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt.
Robert Aitken sculpted the 12-foot statue of Victory that stood atop an
83-foot column. Alma deBretteville, later Alma Spreckels, had posed as
the model.
(SSFC, 5/11/03, p.D1)
1907 May 13, Daphne du Maurier
(d.1989), author (Rebecca), was born in England.
(HN, 5/13/01)(WSJ, 8/2/08, p.W4)
1909 May 13, A. Kopff
discovered asteroid #681, Gorgo.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1911 May 13, NY Giant Fred
Merkle was 1st to get 6 RBIs in an inning (1st).
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1912 May 13, Gil Evans, jazz
pianist and composer, was born.
(HN, 5/13/01)
1912 May 13, The Royal
Flying Corps was established in England. It was the predecessor of the
Royal Air Force.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)(HN, 5/13/99)
1913 May 13, The first 4
engine aircraft was built & flown by Igor Sikorsky of Russia.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)(HN, 5/13/98)
1914 May 13, Joe Louis, world
heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949, was born in Lafayette,
Ala. His boxing record was 63-3 with 49 knock-outs.
(AP, 5/13/97)(HN, 5/13/99)
1916 May 13, The 1st US
observance of Indian (Native American) Day. [see Sep 27]
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1916 May 13, Sholem Aleichem
(b.1859), Yiddish writer (Fiddler on the Roof), died in NY. He was born
as Solomon Rabinowitz (1859) in Russia. His work included “Tevye the
Dairyman,” a series of stories published from 1894-1914.
(www.britannica.com)(WSJ, 9/22/07, p.W6)
1917 May 13, Ernest Bloch
(1880-1959), Swiss composer, premiered his work "Schelomo."
(WUD, 1994 p.159)(MC, 5/13/02)
1917 May 13, Three peasant
children near Fatima, Portugal, reported seeing a vision of the Virgin
Mary. Francisco and Jacinta Marto and Lucia de Santos (d.2005) later
reported appearances on 5 more occasions. Dos Santos was said by
believers to be the main recipient of prophecies from the Virgin about
key 20th century events. The Vatican said the 1st secret foretold the
end of World War I and that the 2nd predicted the spread and collapse
of Communism and the conversion of Russia. In 2000 the Vatican
disclosed that the so-called 3rd Secret of Fatima was a vision of an
attempt to kill a pope. It was reportedly associated to the May 13,
1981, assassination attempt. In 2000 the Vatican unveiled the 62-line
handwritten account of Lucia de Jesus dos Santos.
(AP, 5/13/97)(SFEC, 5/14/00, p.A2)(SFC, 6/27/00,
p.A12)
1918 May 13, The first US airmail
stamps, featuring a picture of an airplane, were introduced. On some of
the initial stamps the airplane was printed upside down; the "inverted
Jenny," as it came to be called, became a collector's item. One sheet
of 100 stamps got by inspectors.
(SSFC, 11/12/06, p.A2)(AP, 5/13/08)
1930 May 13, A farmer was killed
by hail in Lubbock, Texas. It was the only known fatality due to hail.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1927 May 13, Clive Barnes, drama
critic (NY Times, NY Post), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1927 May 13, Herbert Ross,
director, choreographer (Footloose), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1927 May 13, "Black Friday" on
Berlin Stock Exchange.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1930 May 13, A farmer was killed
in a hailstorm near Lubbock, Texas. His death became the only US death
officially attributed to hail.
(SFC, 5/13/09, p.D8)
1930 May 13, Fridtjof Nansen (68),
Norwegian Arctic explorer (1893-1896), died in Oslo.
(ON, 7/05, p.5)
1931 May 13, Jim Jones (d.1978),
leader of religious community in Jonestown, Guyana, was born in Crete,
Ind. In 1978 he led 900 of his followers to mass suicide.
(V.D.-H.K.p.312)(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.A18)
1931 May 13, C. Jackson
discovered asteroid #1194, Aletta.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1934 May 13, A great dustbowl
storm occurred. [see Apr 14, 1935]
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1934 May 13, C. Jackson
discovered asteroid #1320, Impala.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1935 May 13, David T. Wilkinson
(d.2002), physicist, was born in Hillsdale, Mich. He became the driving
force behind the 1989 Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite. It provided
evidence for the “Big Bang” that spawned the universe 10-20 billion
years ago.
(SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A14)(SFC, 9/16/02, p.A20)
1937 May 13, Judith Somogi,
conductor, was born in NYC.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1937 May 13, Roger [Joseph]
Zelazny, sci-fi author (6 Hugos, Chronicles of Amber), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1939 May 13, Harvey Keitel, actor
(Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1939 May 13, The SS St Louis
departed Hamburg with some 937 passengers including over 900 Jewish
refugees. They sought refuge in Cuba, but only 22 were allowed to
disembark there. No country in the Americas would take them. It
returned to Germany where a number of the Jews were later murdered.
[see May 27, June 4 and June 16]
(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.+Con.+Res.+185:)(WSJ,
11/3/98, p.A20)
1940 May 13, Bruce Chatwin, travel
writer (Patagonia), was born.
(HN, 5/13/01)
1940 May 13, The completed
Maryhill Museum in Washington state opened on founder Sam Hill’s
(d.1931), birthday. Much of the art collection was donated by Alma de
Bretteville Spreckels, wife of the California sugar magnate.
(AM, 9/01, p.10)
1940 May 13, Igor Sikorsky made
the 1st free flight of his new VS-300 helicopter, the world’s first
fully functional helicopter.
(ON, 3/06,
p.5)(www.firstflight.org/shrine/igor_sikorsky.cfm)
1940 May 13, In his first speech
as prime minister of Britain, Winston Churchill told the House of
Commons, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
(AP, 5/13/97)(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1940 May 13, British bombed a
factory at Breda, Netherlands.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1940 May 13, Dutch Queen
Wilhelmina fled to England.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1941 May 13, Ritchie Valens,
singer (Donna, La Bamba), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1941 May 13, Martin Bormann was
named head of Nazi Party Chancellery in Germany.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1942 May 13, Pitcher Jim
Tobin belted 3 HRs in a game.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1942 May 13, A helicopter made its
1st cross-country flight.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1944 May 13, Allied forces in
Italy broke through the German Gustav Line into the Liri Valley.
(HN, 5/13/99)
1945 May 13, US troops conquered
Dakeshi, Okinawa.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1945 May 13, The Baya, US
submarine SS-318 under the command of Capt. Benjamin C. Jarvis (d.2008
at age 91), sank a Japanese tanker and left 2 other ships severely
disable off of French Indochina. Capt. Jarvis received a Navy Cross for
his action.
(SFC, 3/22/08, p.B5)(www.ussbaya.com/history.html)
1946 May 13, US condemned 58 camp
guards of Mauthausen concentration camp to death.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1947 May 13, The US Senate
approved the Taft-Hartley Act limiting the power of unions. [see Jun 4]
(MC, 5/13/02)
1949 May 13, The 1st
British-produced jet bomber, Canberra, made its 1st test flight.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1950 May 13, Steveland Morris
Hardaway (AKA Stevie Wonder) was born prematurely, in Saginaw, Mi., as
Steveland Judkins. Too much oxygen in the incubator caused the baby to
become permanently blind. At the age of ten, Little Stevie Wonder, as
he was called by Berry Gordy at Motown, was discovered singing and
playing the harmonica. He had many hits during his teens including
"Fingertips" and as an adult he has earned an Oscar and at least 16
Grammy Awards. He has stood up for civil rights and campaigned against
cancer, AIDS, drunk driving and the plight of Ethiopians.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonder)
1950 May 13, Diner's Club
issued its 1st credit cards.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1952 May 13, Minor-league
pitcher Ron Necciai struck out 27 in 9-innings.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1952 May 13, Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru became premier of India.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1954 May 13, The musical play "The
Pajama Game" opened on Broadway for 1063 performances.
(AP, 5/13/97)
1954 May 13, Robin Roberts
gave up a HR then retired the next 27 men in a row.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1954 May 13, President Eisenhower
signed into law the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Act.
(AP, 5/13/97)
1954 May 13, Labour Party won
British municipal elections.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1955 May 13, Mickey Mantle
hit 3 consecutive HRs of at least 463'.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1957 May 13, Jean Peters (d.2000
at 73), actress, married Howard Hughes (51) in Tonopah, Nev.
(SFC, 10/21/00, p.A24)
1958 May 13, Stan Musial
made hit # 3000.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1958 May 13, Vice President
Nixon's limousine was battered by rocks thrown by anti-U.S.
demonstrators in Caracas, Venezuela. Nixon’s eight-nation South America
goodwill tour encountered violent demonstrations, particularly in Peru
and Venezuela, spurring President Dwight Eisenhower to order the
movement of US forces into Caribbean bases.
(AP, 5/13/97)(HNQ, 6/14/99)
1958 May 13, French troops took
control of Algiers as French settlers rioted against the French army.
(HN, 5/13/98)(MC, 5/13/02)
1960 May 13, Phillies lost
their 3rd consecutive 1-0 game
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1960 May 13, Bill Mandel was
brought before a HUAC committee at SF City Hall concerning his
broadcasts at KPFA radio and KQED TV about press and periodicals of the
Soviet Union. His TV show was cancelled but he continued broadcasting
at KPFA. There was a protest over the hearing and 64 people were
arrested as police turned on fire hoses to quell the disturbance. The
event led Frank Cieciorka (1939-2008) to create his woodcut of a fist
that became an icon of the 1960s.
(SFEC, 7/26/98, p.D1,4)(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.1)(SSFC,
6/9/02, p.F3)(SFC, 11/29/08, p.B5)
1960 May 13, The 1st US
launch of the Delta satellite launching vehicle failed.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1961 May 13, Dennis Rodman, NBA
forward (Chicago Bulls), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1961 May 13, Gary Cooper (60), 2
time Academy award winning actor (High Noon), died.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1962 May 13, Franz Kline (b.1910),
American painter of abstract expressionist style, died of a heart
attack in NYC. He was known for dramatic, easy-to-recognize pictures of
big black slashes against snowy backgrounds. His early work was
as a cartoonist and bar decorator. His portraits sketches of patrons
still line the walls of the Minetta Tavern in Greenwich Village, N.Y.
Kline’s hot brush stroke was parodied in Roy Lichtenstein’s pixilated
"Brushstroke" series, where RL provided a cool version of Kline’s hot
stroke.
(WSJ, 12/16/94,
A-12)(www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_77.html)
1965 May 13, Rolling Stones
recorded "Satisfaction,"
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1965 May 13, Several Arab nations
broke ties with West Germany after it established diplomatic relations
with Israel.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1966 May 13, Rolling Stones
released "Paint it Black."
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1966 May 13, Federal education
funding was denied to 12 school districts in the South because of
violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1967 May 13, NY Yankee
Mickey Mantle hit career HR #500 off Stu Miller.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1967 May 13, An octagonal
boxing ring was tested to avoid corner injuries.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1968 May 13, Peace talks between
the U.S. and North Vietnam began in Paris.
(WUD, 1994, p.1687)(HN, 5/13/98)
1968 May 13, In France a general
strike and monster demonstration took place in Paris. Some 1,000,000
French demonstrated in support of student protesters.
(http://marxists.anu.edu.au/history/etol/writers/frank/1968/may1968/chronology.htm)
1969 May 13, In Malaysia deadly
race riots took place in Kuala Lumpur.
(Econ, 5/16/09, p.49)
1969 May 13, Paul Wild,
Swiss astronomer, discovered asteroid #1775, Zimmerwald.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1775_Zimmerwald)
1972 May 13, Milwaukee
Brewers beat Minn. Twins, 4-3, in 22 innings. The game had started the
evening of May 12.
(www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN197205120.shtml)
1972 May 13, There was a burglary
at the Chilean Embassy in Washington DC. Two members of Pres. Nixon's
secret White House team, known as the plumbers, were involved. Nixon
later blamed the robbery on White House counsel John Dean.
(SFC, 2/26/99, p.A4)
1972 May 13, Dan Blocker (b.1928),
actor (Hoss-Bonanza), died.
(www.imdb.com/name/nm0088779/)
1972 May 13, In Osaka,
Japan, 118 died in a nightclub atop the 7-story Sennichi dept store.
(http://shippai.jst.go.jp/en/Detail?fn=0&id=CD1000133)
1973 May 13, Tennis hustler
Bobby Riggs (1918-1995) beat Margaret Smith Court (b.1942) in a
Mother's Day match in California.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Court)
1976 May 13, In game 6 the NY Nets
beat the Denver Nuggets in 9th & final American Basketball
Association (ABA) championship, 4 games to 2.
(www.remembertheaba.com/New-York-Nets.html)
1978 May 13, The last season of
"Columbo," begun in 1971, ended on NBC TV.
(http://tviv.org/Columbo)
1978 May 13, Henry Rono
(b.1952) of Kenya, running for Washington State Univ., set an NCAA
record for 3,000 meter steeplechase (8:05.4).
(www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund39.html)
1978 May 13, Joie Chitwood
(1912-1988), Texas-born race car driver, set a world record when he
drove a Chevette 5.6 miles on just 2 wheels.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joie_Chitwood)
1979 May 13, In Tehran, Iran, the
Shah and his family, who had fled in January, were sentenced to death.
(http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1979-5/1979-05-13-ABC-8.html)
1980 May 13, Ray Knight
(b.1952) of the Cincinnati Reds, following an 0-for-15 slump, hit 2
home runs in the 5th inning vs. NY Mets.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Knight)
1981 May 13, John Paul II was shot
and seriously wounded in St. Peter's Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet
Ali Agca. The shots hit the pope’s hand and penetrated his abdomen.
John Paul forgave Agca 4 days later. In 2006 an Italian report said the
Soviet Union was behind the attempted assassination.
(TMC, 1994, p.1981)(AP, 5/13/97)(SFC, 6/14/00,
p.A12)(AP, 3/2/06)
1982 May 13, Soyuz T-5 was
launched at Baikonur. Berezovoi & Lebedev spent the next 211 days
in space.
(http://space.kursknet.ru/cosmos/english/machines/st5.sht)
1985 May 13, Police in
Philadelphia dropped a bomb on the headquarters of the radical group
MOVE. A fire resulted that killed 11 people, 5 of them children. Ramona
Africa and her 13 year old son were the only two people to escape the
inferno at 6221 Osage St. Africa was charged with rioting and
conspiracy, was convicted and served 7 years in state prison. No
charges have ever been filed against any city officials or employee.
The lawsuit was re-opened in 1996. On Jun 24, 1996, a jury in
Philadelphia awarded $1.5 mil to the survivors of the MOVE cult.
(SFC, 4/3/96, p.A-4)(USAT, 6/25/96, p.3A)(AP,
5/13/97)
1987 May 13, President Reagan said
his personal diary confirmed that he'd talked with Saudi Arabia's King
Fahd about Saudi help for the Nicaraguan Contras at a time when
Congress banned military aid, but Reagan said he did not solicit secret
contributions.
(AP, 5/13/97)
1987 May 13, The Fijian army under
Col. Sitiveni Rabuka staged the 1st of two coups this and overthrew the
country’s first Indian-dominated government. A 2nd coup followed on Sep
28. Sitiveni Rabuka later served as the prime minister (1992-1999). UN
peacekeeping operations had caused a 10-ford increase in military size
since independence in 1970.
(SFC, 5/18/99, p.C12)(Econ, 4/24/04,
p.88)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitiveni_Rabuka)(WSJ, 9/29/07, p.A6)
1988 May 13, The U.S. Senate voted
83-6 to order the U.S. military to enter the war against illegal drug
trafficking, approving a plan to give the Navy the power to stop drug
boats on the high seas and make arrests.
(AP, 5/13/98)
1988 May 13, Chet Baker (b1929),
jazz trumpet player, died in Amsterdam after "falling" from a hotel
window. A documentary on his life: "Let’s Get Lost," produced and
directed by Bruce Weber, was released in [1987] 1989. Baker played with
Gerry Mulligan in a pianoless quartet that brought him fame as a
leading member of the West Coast "cool school." Baker’s personal memoir
"As Though I Had Wings" was written in the late 70s and published in
1997. In 2000 J. De Valk authored "Chet Baker: His Life and Music." In
2002 James Gavin authored the biography "Deep in a Dream."
(SFEM, 10/1/00, p.4)(WSJ, 5/16/02,
p.D7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chet_Baker)
1989 May 13, In unusually strong
language, President Bush called on the people of Panama and the
country's defense forces to overthrow their military leader, Gen.
Manuel Antonio Noriega.
(AP, 5/13/99)
1989 May 13, Trinidad &
Tobago tied the US 1-1, in 3rd round of 1990 world soccer cup.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1989 May 13, Some 2,000
students began a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989)
1991 May 13, The album "Michael
Jackson: The Magic & the Madness" went on sale.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1991 May 13, Apple released
Macintosh System 7.0.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1991 May 13, South African black
activist Winnie Mandela and two co-defendants were convicted of
abducting four young black men and keeping them at her Soweto home.
After an appeal, Mrs. Mandela was ordered to pay a fine.
(AP, 5/13/01)
1992 May 13, President Bush
announced a $600 million loan package to help rebuild riot-scarred Los
Angeles.
(AP, 5/13/02)
1992 May 13, A trio of astronauts
from the space shuttle Endeavour captured a wayward Intelsat-6
communications satellite during the first-ever three-person spacewalk.
(AP, 5/13/97)
1993 May 13, The House Ways and
Means Committee gave final approval to President Clinton's
deficit-cutting package, containing a tax increase of $246 billion over
five years.
(AP, 5/13/98)
1993 May 13, In suburban Paris, a
masked man armed with dynamite took a roomful of nursery school
children hostage, demanding $18.5 million. The man was shot to death by
police two days later.
(AP, 5/13/98)
1994 May 13, President Clinton
nominated federal appeals Judge Stephen G. Breyer to the U.S. Supreme
Court to replace retiring Justice Harry A. Blackmun.
(AP, 5/13/99)
1995 May 13, Army Capt. Lawrence
Rockwood was convicted at his court-martial in Fort Drum, N.Y., of
conducting an unauthorized investigation of reported human rights
abuses at a Haitian prison. Rockwood was dismissed from the military
the next day.
(AP, 5/13/05)
1996 May 13, The Supreme Court
unanimously struck down Rhode Island's ban on ads that list or refer to
liquor prices, saying the law violated free-speech rights.
(AP, 5/13/97)
1996 May 13, Recovery workers in
the Florida Everglades retrieved the flight data recorder from ValuJet
Flight 592.
(AP, 5/13/97)
1996 May 13, Bopp van Dessel,
Shell’s former head of environmental studies reported in a taped
interview that the company broke its own rules and inter-national
standards in Nigeria and caused widespread pollution. He resigned from
his post in protest in late 1994.
(SFC, 5/13/96, p.C-12)
1996 May 13, The US winter wheat
harvest was expected to be 12% smaller than last year, making it the
smallest since 1978.
(WSJ, 5/13/96, p.A-1)
1996 May 13, A tornado killed more
than 600 people in Bangladesh. A severe storm in north Bangladesh
killed at least 447 and injured more than 50,000 in the district of
Tangail. Winds had surged to 125 mph.
(SFC, 5/15/96, A-8)(AP, 5/13/97)
1996 May 13, In Belgrade thousands
of workers took to the streets demanding jobs and back pay and chanted
support for the Central Bank governor, who is at odds with the
government leadership. IMF funds are on delay because Milosevic wants
the IMF to recognize Serbia as the sole successor of the old federation.
(SFC, 5/14/96, A-8)
1996 May 13, Britain’s last
Polaris submarine, the HMS Repulse, came home for good. The Polaris
subs have been replaced by the US Trident nuclear subs.
(SFC, 5/14/96, A-9)
1996 May 13, In Turkey torture
rehabilitation centers set up by the country’s Human Rights Foundation
were declared illegal by the government.
(SFC, 5/14/96, A-10)
1997 May 13, At the Oklahoma City
bombing trial, prosecutors showed jurors the key to the Ryder truck
used to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, alleging Timothy
McVeigh left it behind in the same alley he picked to stash his getaway
car.
(AP, 5/13/98)
1997 May 13, In Burundi an
outbreak of Typhus was reported. Some 20,000 cases in 3 northwest
provinces were reported by March, mostly in Hutu regroupment camps set
up by the Tutsi-led military.
(WSJ, 5/13/97, p.A1)
1997 May 13, In the Congo rebel
troops reached Wendji and Mbandaka and proceeded to kill Hutu refugees.
Estimates of deaths varied from 550-2000.
(WSJ, 6/6/97, p.A11)(SFC, 9/23/97, p.A11)
1997 May 13, From Ethiopia it was
reported that 6 teenage girls had committed suicide over the last 9
months in order to avoid traditional marriages to elderly cousins as
old as 80.
(SFC, 5/13/97, p.A13)
1997 May 13, The pension crises in
Poland was described. One-fifth of the GDP was being used for pensions
and the state social security office, ZUS, was feared to be facing
bankruptcy without quick reforms.
(SFC, 5/13/97, p.A13)
1998 May 13, Pres. Clinton
traveled to Germany to meet with Chancellor Kohl and commemorate the
50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift.
(WSJ, 5/12/98, p.A1)
1998 May 13, President Clinton
ordered harsh sanctions against an unapologetic India, which undertook
a second round of nuclear tests despite global criticism. It was later
reported that the number and size of the weapons were exaggerated.
(SFC, 5/13/98, p.A1)(SFC, 9/16/98, p.A1) (AP,
5/13/99)
1998 May 13, Federal regulators
approved a plan to store nuclear bomb waste in the New Mexico at the
Waste isolation Pilot Project (WIPP).
(SFC, 5/14/98, p.A3)
1998 May 13, Thousands of yellow
cab drivers went on a one day strike in NYC.
(SFC, 5/14/98, p.A3)
1998 May 13, India set off 2 more
nuclear explosions in defiance of int’l. condemnations.
(SFC, 5/14/98, p.A1)
1998 May 13, In Indonesia student
riots continued and at least 10 student activists were badly wounded.
Pres. Suharto planned to return home early and said he was willing to
step down if he is no longer trusted to lead the country.
(SFC, 5/14/98, p.A14)
1998 May 13, Israeli jets raided
Lebanon and killed 3 men and wounded 21 in an attack on the radical
Palestinian group, Fatah, the Uprising. As many as 10 men were killed
in a Bekaa Valley training camp for Palestinian guerrillas.
(SFC, 5/13/98, p.A13)(SFC, 5/14/98, p.C2)
1998 May 13, In Israel a 6th Arab
victim of stabbing died in Jerusalem. A serial stabber in the Orthodox
Edah Heredit community had stabbed 5 victims since Feb., all of whom
survived. A religious court of the community, which rejects the
official state of Israel, ruled that its followers should inform police
whatever they know about the attacks.
(SFEC, 5/24/98, p.A17)
1998 May 13, In Mexico impeachment
procedures began for Jorge Carrillo Olea, governor of Morelos state.
(SFEC, 5/17/98, p.A22)
1998 May 13, In Moscow a wall of
the Jewish Lubavitch Marina Roshcha synagogue was destroyed by a bomb.
It was another sign of rising anti-Semitism.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.D3)
1999 May 13, The GOP leadership
agreed to approve background checks for all buyers at gun shows
following angry calls from constituents.
(WSJ, 5/14/99, p.A1)
1999 May 13, Meg Greenfield (68),
Pulitzer Prize-winning editor and columnist, died in Washington.
(AP, 5/13/04)
1999 May 13, Ecuador and Peru
signed a treaty settling their 50-year border dispute over a 50 mile
stretch in the Amazon jungle.
(WSJ, 5/14/99, p.A1)
1999 May 13, In Guatemala Roberto
Belarino Gonzalez (40), ass't. sec. gen'l. for the opposition
Democratic Front for the New Guatemala (FDNG), was shot and killed as
he left his home.
(SFC, 5/14/99, p.D5)
1999 May 13, In Italy the
Parliament chose Treasury Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (78) as the new
president.
(SFC, 5/14/99, p.A15)
1999 May 13, In Lebanon a roadside
bomb killed a child, 2 women and a pro-Israeli militia officer. The
bomb was believed to have been detonated by Hezbollah guerrillas.
Separately Israeli planes killed 2 men as they struck back for an
overnight attack by guerrillas on Israeli-occupied territory that left
1 civilian dead and 4 injured.
(SFC, 5/14/99, p.A15)
1999 May 13, In Russia the lower
house opened impeachment proceedings against Pres. Yeltsin. Charges
included instigating the 1991 Soviet collapse; improper use of force
against hard-line lawmakers in 1993; launching the 1994-1996 war in
Chechnya; ruining the military; and imposing economic policies that
impoverished the country.
(SFC, 5/14/99, p.A1,18)
1999 May 13, In Yugoslavia 120
troops were withdrawn from Kosovo in front of cameras and reporters.
(SFC, 5/14/99, p.A14)
2000 May 13, In the Netherlands a
fireworks depot exploded in Enschede and 20 people were killed with 589
injured. An estimated 100 tons of fireworks exploded and flattened some
400 houses.
(SFEC, 5/14/00, p.A12)(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A13)
2000 May 13, In Russia Pres. Putin
divided Russia’s 89 regions into 7 federal districts headed by a
Kremlin representative.
(WSJ, 5/15/00, p.A1)
2000 May 13, In Yugoslavia Bosko
Perosevic (43), head of the Vojvodina provincial government, was shot
and killed at a trade fair. Milivoje Gutovic (50), an off-duty security
guard, was arrested for the murder. Pres. Milosevic later blamed the
student organization Otpor and the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement
party.
(SFC, 5/14/00, p.C13)(SFEC, 5/15/00, p.A12)
2001 May 13, Jason Miller (62),
actor-playwright died in Scranton, Pa.
(AP, 5/13/02)
2001 May 13, Israeli helicopters
rocketed Palestinian police compounds in the Gaza Strip. Navy ships
fired shells at the Palestinian navy office in the Nusseiraqt refugee
camp.
(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A9)
2001 May 13, In India author R.K.
Narayan died at age 94. His work included 34 novels and hundreds of
short stories.
(SFC, 5/14/01, p.B2)
2001 May 13, In Italy Silvio
Berlusconi’s House of Freedoms coalition led the left-of-center Olive
Tree coalition in parliamentary elections. Berlusconi opposed a federal
Europe and stood as a proponent of free trade and low taxes.
(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A1)(SFC, 5/15/01, p.A9)
2001 May 13, The center-right won
Italy's parliamentary elections, setting the stage for the return to
power of media magnate Silvio Berlusconi.
(AP, 5/13/02)
2001 May 13, Pakistan refused to
give refugee status to tens of thousands of Afghans living in the
northwest part of the country. An estimated 50,000 Afghans were on the
move inside Afghanistan.
(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A12)
2001 May 13, In Spain Basque
Nationalists won the regional elections.
(WSJ, 5/11/01, p.A1)(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A9)
2002 May 13, President Bush signed
a $190 billion farm bill guaranteeing higher subsidies to growers in
Midwestern and Southern states. The Farm Security and Rural Investment
Act increased federal payments by some $83 billion over the next 10
years and was passed to help farmers cope with low commodity prices.
(WSJ, 5/9/02, p.A1)(SFC, 5/14/02, p.A5)(AP,
5/13/03)(Econ, 3/26/05, p.34)
2002 May 13, President Bush
announced that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin would sign a
treaty to shrink their countries' nuclear arsenals by two-thirds to
1,700-2,200 active warheads at the end of 10 years.
(SFC, 5/14/02, p.A1)(AP, 5/13/03)
2002 May 13, In Baltimore Dontee
Stokes (26), a former altar boy, shot and seriously wounded Rev.
Maurice Blackwell (56), who had sexually abused him from age 9 to 13.
Stokes was acquitted of murder, but was sentenced to 18 months of home
detention on gun charges. In 2005 Blackwell was convicted of molesting
Stokes.
(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A3)(AP, 5/13/03)(SFC, 2/18/05, p.A7)
2002 May 13, In Cuba former US
Pres. Carter challenged US government conservatives to prove charges
that Cuba has developed biological weapons and shared such technology
with renegade states.
(SFC, 5/14/02, p.A9)
2002 May 13, In India the
government that a heat wave had left 50 people dead in the Andhra
Pradesh state.
(SFC, 5/14/02, p.A13)
2002 May 13, In Liberia rebels
attacked Arthington and threatened to move on Monrovia unless Pres.
Charles Taylor is arrested and tried.
(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A14)
2002 May 13, In Mexico 2 police
officers were killed in a shootout with suspected ERP rebels at a water
treatment plant in Buena Vista de Cuellar, Guerrero state.
(SFC, 5/14/02, p.A13)
2003 May 13, The US government
unveiled a new $20 bill with color added to help thwart counterfeiters.
$130 million of counterfeit US money was estimated to be circulating
globally. It began circulating in October.
(USAT, 5/13/03, p.1B)(SFC, 10/10/03, p.A1)
2003 May 13, A judge ruled that
Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols should stand trial in
state court on 160 counts of first-degree murder. Nichols was later
found guilty on 161 counts; the 161st count was for the fetus of a
pregnant victim. Nichols was sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2003 May 13, L. Paul Bremer, the
new US administrator in Iraq, reportedly authorized troops to shoot
looters on sight. Rumsfeld said muscle would be used to stop looting.
(SFC, 5/14/03, p.A3)(WSJ, 5/15/03, p.A1)
2003 May 13, Kathleen
Aiello-Loreck (49), a mother of 3 from Antioch, Ca., was killed during
a lunchtime stroll along the Contra Costa Canal Regional Trail in
Concord. The next day John Kahler (32), who lived nearby, threw himself
off the Golden Gate Bridge. On Sep 22 police in Indiana arrested Robert
Ward Frazier (39) for the murder based on DNA evidence. On June 21,
2006, a jury convicted Frazier of murder, rape and sodomy. A judge
sentenced Frazier to death on Dec 15, 2006.
(SFC, 5/21/03, p.A15)(SFC, 9/26/03, p.A1)(SFC,
6/22/06, p.B1)(SFC, 12/16/06, p.B3)
2003 May 13, Algerian army
commandos freed 17 European tourists kidnapped in the Sahara Desert by
an al-Qaeda-linked terror group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and
Combat. 9 captors were killed and 15 hostages remained.
(AP, 5/14/03)(Econ, 9/3/05, p.44)
2003 May 13, It was reported that
coca production in Bolivia was on the rise due in part to a failed
US-supported crop-substitution program.
(WSJ, 5/13/03, p.A1)
2003 May 13, In eastern China a
gas explosion ripped through a coal mine, killing at least 63 miners
and leaving 23 others missing 1,500 feet underground.
(AP, 5/14/03)
2003 May 13, South Korea's
military deployed soldiers and trucks to the world's third-busiest port
to alleviate a crippling five-day truckers' strike.
(AP, 5/13/03)
2004 May 13, The last episode of
"Frasier" aired on TV following an 11-year run.
(SFC, 5/15/04, p.E3)
2004 May 13, During a campaign
swing in West Virginia, President Bush said he felt "disgraced" by the
images of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners but reminded his
listeners that actions of a handful of Americans should not sully the
nation's military.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2004 May 13, Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld visited the Abu Ghraib prison camp in Iraq, where he
insisted the Pentagon did not try to cover up abuses there.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2004 May 13, The SpaceShipOne
rocket climbed to 211,400 feet, becoming the 1st privately funded
vehicle to reach the edge of space.
(ST, 5/14/04, p.A12)
2004 May 13, It was reported that
scientists had recorded as much as a 10% drop in the amount of sunshine
reaching Earth since the 1950s, likely due to atmospheric pollution.
(SFC, 5/13/04, p.A1)
2004 May 13, Floyd Kalber (79), TV
anchorman, died in Burr Ridge, Ill.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2004 May 13, Colombia's outlawed
right-wing paramilitary groups agreed to move into a special zone as
they negotiate eventual demobilization.
(AP, 5/13/04)
2004 May 13, France and Germany
declared an intention to formulate a joint industrial policy aimed at
creating a framework for mergers and joint ventures.
(Econ, 5/22/04, p.55)
2004 May 13, India's opposition
Congress Party led by Sonia Gandhi (57) captured the most seats in
parliamentary elections, a stunning defeat for PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Congress won 145 of 543 seats.
(AP, 5/12/04)(Econ, 4/4/09, p.45)
2004 May 13, Israeli forces pulled
out of Gaza City after Egyptian intermediaries helped return body parts
of Israeli soldiers. At least 12 Palestinians were killed as the army
left behind a swath of destruction.
(AP, 5/13/04)(SFC, 5/14/04, p.A6)
2004 May 13, Libya agreed to halt
military trade with North Korea, Syria and Iran.
(WSJ, 5/14/04, p.A1)
2005 May 13, The Pentagon proposed
the most sweeping changes to its network of military bases in modern
history.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2005 May 13, Michael Ross (45), a
serial killer who fought to hasten his own execution and was forced to
prove he wasn't out of his mind, was put to death in Connecticut in New
England's first execution in 45 years.
(AP, 5/13/05)(SFC, 5/14/05, p.A4)
2005 May 13, Afghan police and
demonstrators clashed, killing at least 4 people, as protests over
allegations that interrogators at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay
desecrated Islam's holy book spread to more cities.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2005 May 13, Canada said it would
go ahead with plans to send military advisors to Sudan's Darfur region
despite Khartoum's insistence that it did not want the troops to enter
the country.
(Reuters, 5/13/05)
2005 May 13, A senior Chinese
official met with President Fidel Castro during a visit aimed at
cementing political and economic ties between the two communist nations.
(AP, 5/14/05)
2005 May 13, East Timor finished
talks in Sydney, Australia, that managed to overcome 2 main sticking
points on their maritime border and revenue from the Greater Sunrise
gasfield. They agreed to defer the boundary issue for 50 years along
with a 50% revenue split.
(Econ, 5/21/05, p.46)
2005 May 13, John Jairo Velasquez,
the man who directed hit teams for drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, said
that Alberto Santofimio Botero, a former top politician, was behind the
1989 assassination of Colombia’s leading presidential candidate Luis
Carlos Galan.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2005 May 13, In India's southern
Andhra Pradesh state police shot dead six opposition party supporters,
sparking a riot in which hundreds of political activists stoned to
death a policeman and burned cars and trucks.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2005 May 13, Indonesia reported
that researchers had found a strain of bird flu in pigs on Java, and
feared the virus could spread to humans.
(SSFC, 5/15/05, p.A14)
2005 May 13, Iraq announced it has
renewed its state of emergency for another 30 days following two weeks
of insurgent-led violence that killed hundreds of people.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2005 May 13, Hezbollah shelled
Israeli positions in the disputed Chebaa Farms near the border, and the
Israeli army returned fire in the heaviest exchange in months between
Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla force.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2005 May 13, Pres. Fox praised the
dedication of Mexicans working in the US, saying they're willing to
take jobs that "even blacks" won't do. Pres. Fox apologized for his
comments a few days later saying he regretted any hurt feelings his
statements may have caused.
(AP, 5/17/05)(SFC, 5/17/05, p.A3)
2005 May 13, Russia struck a
landmark deal to repay up to $15 billion it owes to the West, sealing
its rapid transformation from economic basket case to emerging markets
powerhouse. The deal crowns Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin's drive to
use Russia's growing oil wealth to reduce the $43 billion it owes to
the Club's other 18 members.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2005 May 13, The 2 main rebel
groups fighting in Sudan's Darfur region announced they were willing to
resume stalled peace talks, dropping their previous conditions for new
negotiations.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2005 May 13, In southern Thailand
a roadside bomb exploded near a passing military truck, killing two
Thai marines and seriously wounding eight others.
(AP, 5/13/05)
2005 May 13, In Andijan,
Uzbekistan, soldiers opened fire on thousands of protesters after
demonstrators stormed a jail to free 23 local businessmen accused of
Islamic extremism. The next day Pres. Karimov said 10 soldiers were
killed in the clash. An estimated 700-1000 demonstrators were killed.
The Uzbek government put the death toll at 187.
(AP, 5/13/05)(SSFC, 5/15/05, p.A10)(Econ, 10/1/05,
p.39)
2005 May 13, Pope Benedict XVI
appointed SF Archbishop William Levada (68) as the new prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s top arbiter
of questions of faith and morals.
(SFC, 5/14/05, p.A1)
2006 May 13, Former Presidents
George Bush and Bill Clinton helped Tulane University celebrate its
"miracle" commencement, nine months after Hurricane Katrina put
two-thirds of the campus under water and scattered students to more
than 600 schools nationwide.
(AP, 5/13/07)
2006 May 13, The US government
filed a motion to intervene and seek dismissal of a lawsuit by a civil
liberties group against AT&T Inc. over a federal program to monitor
U.S. communications.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, In Boston, Mass.,
unbeaten Ricky Hatton of England dethroned World Boxing Association
welterweight champion Luis Collazo, lifting the title with a 12-round
unanimous decision in his welterweight debut.
(AFP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, In Algeria security
forces found 28 bodies, most of them children, in a secluded cave used
as a hideout by an Algerian Islamic militant group.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, The presidents of
Brazil and Bolivia said they patched things up after days of
accusations and threats.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, One of Brazil's most
notorious gangs staged dozens of attacks on police before dawn, setting
off gunbattles in three cities that killed at least 30 people,
officials said. 74 of 140 prison uprisings were reported across Sao
Paulo state. Authorities blamed the violence on the prison-based gang,
First Command of the Capital (PCC), which formed in the aftermath of
the 1992 massacre at Carandiru Penitentiary. It was later reported that
a recording of Congressional talks to transfer gang leaders to a remote
prison had been leaked to the PCC.
(AP, 5/13/06)(SFC, 5/16/06, p.A7)(SFC, 5/23/06,
p.A6)(Econ, 5/20/06, p.39)
2006 May 13, In central China a
shaft collapsed in an iron mine, trapping eight miners 420 feet
underground at the Dalongshan Iron Mine near Anqing City.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, An international
charity said rich countries are not giving enough money to help fight a
humanitarian crisis in Congo, where more than 1,000 people die daily
from violence, hunger and disease.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, More than 11,000
people marched through Paris to protest a bill that would stiffen rules
for immigrants in France and give authorities power to choose who can
enter.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, PM Ferenc Gyurcsany
announced a plan to stabilize Hungary's economy involving massive
public sector layoffs, in an effort to get the country into the
eurozone by 2010.
(AFP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, In southern Hungary a
model airplane crashed into a crowd at an air show killing two
spectators.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, In central India 4
special police were killed and five people were injured when hundreds
of Maoist rebels stormed a relief centre sheltering those fleeing
guerrilla violence.
(AFP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, In Indonesia a summit
of 8 large Muslim countries largely skirted a diplomatic nuclear crisis
engulfing its member Iran but agreed that members should cooperate to
develop atomic energy.
(AFP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, In central Indonesia
a landslide at a sand pit killed 11 workers, burying their bodies
beneath tons of mud and debris.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, In the
Indian-controlled portion of disputed Kashmir suspected Islamic
militants hurled a grenade at a Hindu political rally, killing two
people and wounding at least 35.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, In southeastern Iran
armed bandits stopped four cars and killed 12 passengers on the road
between the cities of Kerman and Bam.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, Gunmen killed Ahmed
Midhat al-Mahmoud (22), the son of Iraq's top judge, along with two of
his bodyguards and dumped their bodies in Baghdad. Other attacks
outside Baghdad killed five Iraqis and a US soldier. The bodies of
three other Iraqis who had been kidnapped and tortured were found in
the capital. In Mosul suspected insurgents shot and killed Idrees
Shihatha, a local tribal sheik, as he drove his car. In another part of
Mosul, a drive-by shooting killed four Iraqis and wounded one.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, In Iraq 2 British
soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb as they patrolled in an armored
vehicle near the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, The Kenyan government
banned smoking in public places in order to protect non-smokers from
the harmful effects of tobacco.
(AFP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, Myanmar's ruling
military acknowledged that its army is targeting the Karen ethnic
minority, saying the offensive is necessary to suppress bombings and
other anti-government attacks.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, Nepal's communist
rebel chief put forth a peace plan that seeks the release of political
prisoners, the dissolution of parliament and the constitution and the
restructuring of the national army.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, A fishing trawler
sank off New Zealand's South Island, killing three people on board and
leaving three missing in treacherous seas.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, In Saroki, Pakistan
thousands of people gathered for the funeral of Amir Cheema (28), a
Pakistani student found dead in a German jail while awaiting trial for
an alleged assault over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Cheema was
found dead from suicide in his cell at the Moabit prison in Berlin on
May 3.
(AFP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, Poland’s general
unemployment was running at 18% with youth unemployment at 40%.
(Econ, 5/13/06, Survey p.3)
2006 May 13, Puerto Rican
lawmakers approved the first key pieces of legislation aimed at
resolving a budget crisis that has kept more than 100,000 public
employees out of work since May 1.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, In Somalia Islamic
militia and secular fighters pounded each other with heavy artillery
and mortar fire as the death toll rose to 142 in seven days of fighting
for control of a neighborhood north of the Mogadishu.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, Thousands of
activists held a candlelit vigil urging US troops to withdraw from
South Korea, a week after violent clashes left 210 injured.
(AFP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, Spanish police and
rescue vessels intercepted six boats carrying over 460 sub-Saharan
illegal migrants off the coast of the Canary Island of Tenerife.
Officials said as many as 1,000 immigrants may have drowned on this
route over just the last 6 months.
(AP, 5/13/06)(Econ, 5/13/06, p.61)
2006 May 13, In Sudan 6 people
were killed when demonstrators opposed to a peace deal the Sudanese
government signed with Darfur rebels clashed with police in the
war-torn region.
(AFP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, Tamil rebels
threatened to resume war if they are denied access to the sea and
claimed government naval forces killed eight Tamil civilians in an
attack in northern Sri Lanka.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 13, A bomb exploded
outside a garage in eastern Turkey, killing three children.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, The United Arab
Emirates and South Korea signed a series of accords, including a
memorandum of understanding on stockpiling Emirati oil in South Korea,
on the second day of a visit by the South Korean president.
(AFP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, Pope Benedict XVI
named a new bishop for Vietnam, a country that lacks ties with the
Vatican but has the second highest number of Catholics in Southeast
Asia.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2007 May 13, President Bush made a
pilgrimage to the site of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia to mark
the 400th anniversary of its founding.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2007 May 13, The US said it is
willing to talk to Iran if discussions deal only with Iraq, where the
Bush administration says Tehran is undermining the Baghdad government
and exporting deadly roadside bombs. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman
said that Tehran has agreed to a formal request from the US to talk
about security in Iraq. Vice President Dick Cheney held talks with
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak toward the end of a regional tour,
focusing on ways to stem chaos in Iraq and on Iran's impact on security
in the Gulf.
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 13, A mother humpback
whale and her calf were spotted in the Sacramento River. They reached
close to Sacramento before turning around back to SF Bay as thousands
watched media marked their wayward progress. On May 29 the pair reached
SF Bay and the next day were spotted outside the Golden Gate.
(SFC, 5/31/07, p.B1)
2007 May 13, In Afghanistan 9
policemen lost their lives in fresh attacks. Pakistani and Afghan
forces exchanged fire at their rugged border in their most serious
skirmish in years. Pakistan claimed it killed six Afghan soldiers, but
Afghanistan said just two Afghan civilians were killed.
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 13, Al Qaeda-linked
Algerian rebels facing stepped up assaults by the army set off a bomb
killing three soldiers including an officer east of Algiers.
(Reuters, 5/14/07)
2007 May 13, Australia’s PM John
Howard said the Australian government has banned the country's cricket
team from touring Zimbabwe in September because he does not want to
support the regime of a "grubby dictator."
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 13, Canada won hockey's
world championship with a 4-2 victory over Finland.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2007 May 13, Pope Benedict XVI
held an inaugural mass for the 5th conference of bishops from Latin
America and the Caribbean. This brought together 166 bishops to discuss
the church's situation in the region, home to nearly half of the
world's 1.1 billion Catholics.
(Econ, 5/5/07, p.47)(AFP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 13, German pharmaceutical
giant Merck KGaA announced that it had signed an agreement to sell its
generic drugs division to the US group Mylan Laboratories for 4.9
billion euros (6.6 billion dollars).
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 13, Icelandic PM Geir
Haarde's centre-right Independence Party came out on top in weekend
general elections but it was unclear if his coalition government will
stay in power.
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 13, Iran confirmed that
it has detained Haleh Esfandiari, a prominent Iranian-American
academic. A hardline newspaper accused her of spying for the United
States and Israel and trying to start a revolution inside Iran.
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 13, A suicide truck
bomber crashed into the offices of a Kurdish political party, killing
at least 50 people, including the police chief, and wounding scores.
Another bombing at a market in Baghdad killing at least 17 people and
wounding 46. Iraqi gunmen drove into the Diyala capital of Baqouba,
pulled two handcuffed men out of the trunk and shot them to death, one
in view of a bustling market and the other near a movie theater. Three
other civilians also were killed execution-style in a market in the
city center. Five civilians were killed execution style on the streets
of Baquoba by gunmen who appeared to be accusing them of collaborating
with the US-led coalition. Gunmen apparently disguised as Iraqi
soldiers broke into the house of a Sunni family at the Shiite-dominated
al-Wihda district, killing two men and wounding four others, included a
6-year-old child. In all at least 126 people were killed.
(AP, 5/13/07)(AP, 5/14/07)(SFC, 5/14/07, p.A1)
2007 May 13, A Jamaican newspaper
reported that Scotland Yard investigators have concluded that Pakistan
cricket coach Bob Woolmer died of natural causes and was not strangled
as local police have said.
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 13, Nigeria's central
labor union called for a two-day mass protest against last month's
elections, which have been roundly criticized by both local and foreign
observers for fraud. In southern Nigeria at least 30 people were killed
when three vehicles burst into flames after colliding on a road.
(AFP, 5/13/07)(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 13, Pro-government and
opposition groups blamed each other for Pakistan's worst political
violence in years, as new riots broke out and the toll from street
battles in Karachi rose to 41 dead and over 150 wounded.
(AP, 5/13/07)(WSJ, 5/14/07, p.A1)
2007 May 13, Fighting between
Palestinian faction of Hamas and Fatah left 4 people dead in the Gaza
Strip.
(SFC, 5/14/07, p.A7)
2007 May 13, A Serbian
ultranationalist resigned as parliament speaker after only five days in
the post, averting immediate fears that the country was returning to
its warmongering past.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 13, Tamil Tiger rebels
attacked a group of Sri Lankan soldiers who had crossed into insurgent
territory in the north, sparking a battle that left 7 guerrillas and a
soldier dead.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 13, One of Switzerland's
central bankers said further increases in Swiss interest rates are
still on the cards, while also praising the management of the euro
currency.
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 13, A Syrian court
sentenced four pro-democracy campaigners, including one of Syria's most
respected writers, to prison terms as part of President's Bashar
Assad's latest crack down on dissent.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 13, Hundreds of thousands
of Turks streamed into this port city of Izmir in an enormous show of
opposition to the pro-Islamic ruling party, saying it threatened to
destroy the country's modern foundations.
(AP, 5/13/07)
2008 May 13, Hillary Clinton won
with 67 percent of the vote in the West Virginia primary.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 13, A research company
said more US homeowners fell behind on mortgage payments last month,
driving the number of homes facing foreclosure up 65 percent versus the
same month last year and contributing to a deepening slide in home
values.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 13, In California
Assemblywoman Karen Bass (54) became the 67th speaker of the Assembly,
the 1st African American woman speaker of the state Assembly.
(SFC, 5/14/08, p.B3)
2008 May 13, Timothy Kooyman (24),
a homeless man in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca., was arrested on animal cruelty
charges. In 2009 additional charges of using scissors to cut off feline
tails was added to counts of soaking cats in gas and torching them.
Kooyman pleaded insanity.
(www.animalshelter.org/forum/Serial_Cat_Torturer,_Timothy_Kooyman/m_1804/tm.htm)
(SFC, 2/27/09, p.B4)
2008 May 13, In Florida
investigators searched for one or more arsonists behind a string of
wildfires that had destroyed or damaged over 160 homes along the
Atlantic coast.
(SFC, 5/14/08, p.A4)
2008 May 13, EarthLink said it is
pulling out of its high-speed Internet network in Philadelphia, and
that it would shut down the operation on June 12.
(SFC, 5/14/08, p.C3)
2008 May 13, Microsoft Corp.
introduced its WorldWide Telescope, bringing the free Web-based program
for zooming around the universe to a broad audience.
(AP, 5/13/08)(SFC, 5/13/08, p.A1)
2008 May 13, Hewlett-Packard Co.
said it is buying Electronic Data Systems Corp. for $12.6 billion. The
deal will create the second largest technology services provider behind
IBM.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 13, John Philip Law
(b.1937), film star, died. He played the blind angel opposite Jane
Fonda in “Barbarella” (1968).
(SFC, 5/16/08, p.B11)
2008 May 13, International and
Afghan troops forged ahead with an offensive against the Taliban near
the Pakistan border. Helmand governor Gulab Mangal insisted 150 rebels
had been killed in Garmser in the past week.
(AFP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 13, Two major Australian
banks agreed to a proposed merger which would create the nation's
biggest financial services group worth around 66 billion dollars (62
billion US). St George, the country's fifth-largest bank, said it had
agreed to an 18.6 billion dollar offer from Westpac Banking
Corporation, Australia's third-largest bank by market capitalization.
(AFP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 13, In Brazil renowned
rain forest defender Marina Silva resigned as the environment minister,
saying she lacked the necessary political support to protect the
Amazon. A government study said Blacks will outnumber whites in Brazil
this year for the first time since slavery was abolished, but the
income gap between the two groups may take another 50 years to bridge.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 13, In Canada a
helicopter with three people on board appeared to hover as if looking
for a landing spot before it crashed onto a street and burst into
flames in Cranbrook, British Columbia. A pedestrian Kenyan exchange
student, was killed along with the 3 in the helicopter.
(Reuters, 5/14/08)
2008 May 13, Colombia extradited
14 top paramilitary warlords, many of them wanted on drug-trafficking
charges, to the United States, saying they failed to comply with the
peace pact under which they demobilized. They included Ramiro Vanoy
Murillo and Francisco Javier Zuluaga. In October Murillo (60) and
Zuluaga (38) pleaded guilty to cocaine conspiracy charges and faced at
least 2 decades in prison.
(AP, 5/13/08)(SFC, 10/10/08, p.A4)
2008 May 13, In India 8 bombs
ripped through bustling streets in Jaipur, killing 63 people and
injuring 216. Evidence pointed increasingly towards Indian Islamists
backed by a Bangladeshi militant group as being behind the blasts. The
Indian Majuhideen claimed responsibility.
(Reuters, 5/14/08)(AP, 5/16/08)(Econ, 5/17/08, p.54)
2008 May 13, In Iraq a Sunni
grammar school principal who was shot and killed in Abu Minasir, a
village west of Baghdad. A US soldier was killed when a roadside bomb
exploded next to his vehicle in northwest Baghdad.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 13, Italy's new PM Silvio
Berlusconi adopted a conciliatory tone with a pledge to reach out to
the left-wing opposition and to turn the country around economically.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 13, In Kuwait Sheik Saad
Al Abdullah Al Sabah (b.1930), who ruled here for just nine days in
2006 before being removed for ill health, died.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 13, The Lebanese army
expanded its troop deployment to several tense areas around the
country, saying its soldiers would use force if needed to impose order
after clashes between the US-backed government and Hezbollah-led
opposition.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 13, In Malawi police
arrested former security and political leaders over allegations they
wanted to overthrow the government of Pres. Bingu Mutharika.
(WSJ, 5/14/08, p.A13)
2008 May 13, In Mexico more than
2,700 soldiers and federal agents were sent to Sinaloa state as part of
a crackdown on drug-related violence.
(AP, 5/15/08)
2008 May 13, In Nigeria
unidentified gunmen in the restive south hijacked an oil-services
vessel carrying 11 crew members demanding about $250,000 for their
release. The crew members were released on June 25.
(AP, 5/14/08)(AFP, 6/26/08)
2008 May 13, In Qatar the 6th Doha
Interfaith Dialogue Conference opened. More than a dozen rabbis,
including two from Israel, were in attendance. This conservative Muslim
sheikdom recently opened the Doha International Centre for Interfaith
Dialogue, one of the Gulf's first scholarly centers dedicated to
interfaith dialogue.
(AP, 5/16/08)
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