Today in History - May 14
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347 May 14,
Pachomius, Egyptian monastery founder, abbot (Coenobieten), died.
(MC, 5/14/02)
649 May 14, Theodore, Greek
Pope (642-49), excommunicated by Paul II, died.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1264 May 14, The Baron's War
was fought in England. King Henry III was captured by his brother in
law Earl of Leicester Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Lewes in
England.
(HN, 5/14/99)(PC, 1992, p.113)
1509 May 14, In the Battle of
Agnadello, the French defeat the Venetians in Northern Italy.
(HN, 5/14/98)
1525 May 14, A German army
under Philip of Hesse surrounded and slaughtered 5,000 ending a
peasant revolt led by Thomas Muntzer.
(MC, 5/15/02)(PCh, 1992, p.173)
1533 May 14, Margaret of
Valois, queen consort of Navarre, was born.
(HN, 5/14/01)
1607 May 14, Some 104 men and
boys filed ashore from the small sailing ships Susan Constant,
Godspeed, and Discovery, onto what English adventurers came to call
Jamestown Island in Virginia. Capt. John Smith (27) was among the
Englishmen who founded Jamestown.
(HN, 10/3/00)(AP, 5/14/97)(SFEC, 10/15/00,
p.T12)(ON, 2/07, p.7)
1610 May 14, King Henri IV,
Henri de Navarre (56), Bourbon King of France (1572, 89-1610) was
assassinated by a fanatical monk, François Ravillac. Henri IV
was succeeded by 11-year-old Louis XIII, under the eye of Cardinal
Richelieu. Henry’s legacy included straight roads flanked by arbres
d’alignement on both sides.
(SFEM, 3/15/98, p.17)(HN, 5/14/99)(MC,
5/14/02)(Econ, 2/14/04, p.48)
1643 May 14, Louis XIV became
King of France at age 4 upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.
(AP, 5/14/97)
1679 May 14, Peder [Nielsen]
Horrebow, Danish astronomer, was born.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1686 May 14, Gabriel Daniel
Fahrenheit German physicist and instrument maker, was born. He
invented the thermometer. [see May 24]
(HN, 5/14/98)
1726 May 14, Moshe Darshan,
Rabbi, author (Torat Ahsam), died.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1727 May 14, Thomas
Gainsborough (d.1788), English painter, was born (baptized). His
work included “The Blue Boy.”
(HN, 5/14/01)(AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.579)(MC,
5/14/02)
1767 May 14, British government
disbanded the import duty on tea in America.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1771 May 14, Robert Owen,
English factory owner, socialist, was born.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1771 May 14, Thomas Wedgwood,
English physicist, was born. He is acknowledged as the first
photographer.
(HN, 5/14/99)
1787 May 14, Delegates began
gathering in Philadelphia for a convention to draw up the U.S.
Constitution.
(AP, 5/14/97)
1791 May 14, In Mexico a time
capsule was placed atop a bell tower at Mexico City's Metropolitan
Cathedral when the building's topmost stone was laid, 218 years
after construction had begun. Workers restoring the church found it
in October, 2007.
(AP, 1/15/08)
1796 May 14, English physician
Edward Jenner administered the first vaccination against smallpox to
his gardener's son, James Phipps (8). A single blister rose up on
the spot, but James later demonstrated immunity to smallpox. Jenner
actually used vaccinia, a close viral relation to smallpox. [see
July 21, 1721]
(Econ, 11/22/03, p.77)(AP, 5/14/08)
1800 May 14, Friedrich von
Schiller's "Macbeth," premiered in Weimar
(MC, 5/14/02)
1801 May 14, The Pasha of
Tripoli declared war on the US after learning that Pres. Jefferson
had refused to pay a renewed tribute of $225,000. American warships
soon established a blockade.
(ON, 10/06, p.8)
1804 May 14, The Lewis and
Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory left St. Louis.
Explorer William Clark sets off from St. Louis, Missouri, to travel
upriver to wait for Meriwether Lewis. The two will soon depart
together on a journey to reach the Pacific. The trip was retold in a
TV movie by Ken Burns in 1997. [see May 22]
(AP, 5/14/97)(SFC,11/4/97, p.B1)(HN, 5/14/99)
1805 May 14, Johann Peter
Emilius Hartmann, composer, was born.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1832 May 14, Felix
Mendelssohn's "Hebrides," premiered.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1835 May 14, Charles Darwin
reached Coquimbo in Northern Chile.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1842 May 14, 1st edition of
London Illustrated News.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1847 May 14, Fanny Cacilia
Mendelssohn Hensel (41), German pianist, composer and sister of
Felix Mendelssohn, died of a stroke.
(ON, 6/07, p.8)
1853 May 14, Gail Borden
applied for a patent for condensed milk.
(HN, 5/14/98)
1856 May 14, James P. Casey,
editor of the SF Times, shot James King, proprietor of the rival
Evening Bulletin. King died 6 days later. A “Vigilance Committee” of
2,600 later marched up Sacramento St. and broke into the jail where
Casey was held. On May 22 Casey was lynched with his unfortunate
cell mate, gambler Charles Cora.
(SFEC, 3/8/98, BR p.1)(SFC, 6/12/10, p.C3)
1863 May 14, Union General
Nathanial Banks took his army out of Alexandria, Louisiana, and
headed towards Port Hudson along the Mississippi River. The fort was
considered the second most important strategic location on the
river, after Vicksburg.
(HN, 5/14/99)
1863 May 14, Battle of Jackson,
MS.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1867 May 14, Kurt Eisner,
German premier of revolutionary Bavaria (1918-19), was born.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1878 May 14, Vaseline first
sold with the registered trademark for petroleum jelly.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1881 May 14, Rudolph Karstadt
founded his first store in Wismar, Germany. In 1999 Karstadt merged
with Quelle, a mail-order business founded in 1927 by Gustav
Schickedanz. By 2009 the venerable German chain, which
included the famous Berlin department store KaDeWe, faced bankruptcy
after years of erratic management.
(WSJ, 7/17/06,
p.C8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quelle_(company))(AFP, 9/3/10)
1881 May 14, Mary Seacole
(b.1805), Jamaican nurse, died. She is best known for her efforts in
the Crimean War during the 1850s. She borrowed money to make the
4,000-mile (about 6500 km) journey by herself and distinguished
herself treating battlefield wounded, often nursing wounded soldiers
from both sides while under fire.
(AP, 4/19/10)
1885 May 14, Otto Klemperer,
conductor, composer, was born in Breslau, Germany.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1894 May 14, Fire in Boston
bleachers spread to 170 adjoining buildings.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1897 May 14, Sidney Bechet
(d.1951), jazz clarinetist and soprano saxophone player, was born.
(HN, 5/14/01)
1897 May 14, "Stars and Stripes
Forever" by John Phillip Sousa was performed for the first time in
Philadelphia.
(HN, 5/14/01)
1897 May 14, Guglielmo Marconi
made the first communication by wireless telegraph.
(HN, 5/14/98)
1900 May 14, The Olympic games
opened in Paris, held as part of the 1900 World's Fair.
(AP, 5/14/07)
1904 May 14, The first Olympic
games to be held in the United States opened in St. Louis. Some
1,500 athletes competed from 13 countries. The US won 80 of 100 gold
medals. At the Olympics the game of golf was played for the last
time due to lack of general appeal. The 3rd modern Olympics were
held at the St. Louis World’s Fair. A separate competition was held
for “uncivilized tribes” in what was billed as “Anthropology Days.”
(SFC, 7/14/96, Par p.4)(AP, 5/14/97)(WSJ,
7/23/96, p.A6)(PCh, 1992, p.658)(WSJ, 8/11/04, p.B1)
1908 May 14, 1st passenger
flight in an airplane.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1912 May 14, Johan August
Strindberg (b.1849), Swedish novelist, dramatist and essayist, died.
In 1985 Michael Meyer authored a Strindberg biography.
(WUD, 1994 p.1407)(SFC, 8/10/00, p.D2)(MC,
5/14/02)
1913 May 14, Franz Hals museum
opened in Haarlem, Netherlands.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1913 May 14, Walter Johnson
(1887-1946), Washington Senators baseball ace, ended his
record-breaking streak of 56 scoreless innings against the St. Louis
Browns. Johnson’s scoreless inning streak began on April 10, 1913,
and lasted 55 and 2/3 innings pitched. He threw six shutouts in a
row before finally being scored on by the Browns. The Big Trains
streak of 55 2/3 scoreless innings surpassed the Philadelphia
Athletics' Jack Coombs record of 53 scoreless innings achieved in
1910. It would take 55 years before Johnson's streak was broken by
the Los Angeles Dodgers' Don Drysdale.
(www.nationalsdailynews.com/columnists/archive.cfm?blog=mark&tag=The%20Big%20Train)
1913 May 14, New York Governor
William Sulzer approved a state charter for the Rockefeller
Foundation. John D. Rockefeller had given $100 million to the
Rockefeller Foundation. This insulated a large part of Rockefeller's
fortune from inheritance taxes. At this time Rockefeller’s net worth
approached $900 million, about $13 billion in 1998 dollars.
(WSJ, 5/8/98, p.W10)(Econ, 12/16/06, p.68)
1915 May 14, Harry Joseph Chick
Daugherty, trombonist (Spike Jones & City Slickers), was born.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1918 May 14, Sunday baseball
became legal in Wash, DC.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1925 May 14, Patrice Munsel,
soprano (Met Opera, Patrice Munsel Show), was born in Spokane, Wash.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1925 May 14, Henry Rider
Haggard, English writer (Dawn, She), died.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1928 May 14, Ernesto “Che”
Guevara Serna (d.Oct 9, 1967) was born to an aristocratic family in
Misiones province, Argentina. A biography was written in 1997 by Jon
Lee Anderson: “Che Guevara: A Revolutionary of Life.” Ernesto “Che”
Guevara, chief lieutenant in the Cuban revolution and active in
other Latin American revolutionary movements, was born Ernesto
Guevara de la Serna in Rosario, Argentina. “Che” was a nickname
meaning “pal.” He played a leading role alongside Fidel Castro in
the overthrow of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, wrote the
book Guerrilla Warfare in 1960 and, as Cuban Minister of Industries
from 1961-‘65, led the nationalization of industry and agriculture.
He left Cuba in 1965. In 1967 he was tracked down and executed by
the Bolivian army.
(SFC, 6/16/97, p.D3)(HNQ, 12/2/98)(HNQ, 2/10/00)
1931 May 14, Denys
Finch-Hatton, British adventurer and lover to writer Isak Dinesen
(Karen Blixen), died when his plane crashed shortly after take-off
from Kenya’s Voi airport. In 2007 Sara Wheeler authored “Too Close
to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denys_Finch_Hatton)(SFC, 5/14/07,
p.M4)
1932 May 14, There was a "We
Want Beer!" parade in NY.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1933 May 14, Richard P.
Brickner, novelist (The Broken Year), was born.
(HN, 5/14/01)
1935 May 14, A plebiscite in
the Philippines ratified a independence agreement.
(HN, 5/14/98)
1936 May 14, Bobby Darin
(d.1973), singer (Mack the Knife), was born in the Bronx as Walden
Robert Cassotto.
(www.history-of-rock.com/bobby_darin.htm)
1936 May 14, In San Francisco a
fire at the Shamrock Club, 560 Geary St., left 4 people dead as
flames from dancer Betty Blossom’s torches ignited drapes hanging
from the ceiling.
(SSFC, 5/8/11, p.46)
1940 May 14, German
breakthrough at Sedan, France.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1940 May 14, The Netherlands
(Holland) surrendered to Nazi Germany after the bombing of Rotterdam
that left 600-900 dead.
(HN, 5/14/98)(MC, 5/14/02)
1940 May 14, Emma Goldman,
anarchist revolutionary, author (Living My Life), died in Toronto
and was buried in Chicago. In 1974 Carol Bolt wrote a play on the
formative years of Emma titled: “Red Emma: Queen of the Anarchists.”
In 1995 Ms. Bolt wrote a libretto based on the play for an opera
with music by Gary Kulesha. In 1961 Richard Drinnon authored “Rebel
In Paradise: A Biography of Emma Goldman.” In 1971 Alex Shulman
authored “To the Barricades: The Anarchist Life of Emma Goldman.”
(WSJ, 12/11/95, p.A-1)(ON, 4/00, p.5)(MC,
5/14/02)
1941 May 14, French Admiral
Francois Darlan, leader of the armed forces of Vichy France,
broadcast to the citizens that only within the confines of the Third
Reich can France thrive.
(HN, 5/14/99)
1941 May 14, Some 3,600
Parisian Jews were arrested. [see Apr 14]
(MC, 5/14/02)
1942 May 14, Aaron Copland's
"Lincoln Portrait" was first performed by the Cincinnati Symphony
Orchestra, conducted by Andre Kostelanetz, who had commissioned the
work.
(AP, 5/14/98)
1942 May 14, US Congress voted
to establish the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC).
(AP, 5/14/07)
1942 May 14, The British, in
retreat from Burma, reached India.
(HN, 5/14/98)
1943 May 14, Elizabeth Ray,
congressman Wilbur Mills' lover, was born in Marshall, NC.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1943 May 14, Australia’s AHS
Centaur was sunk without warning after it was torpedoed by a
Japanese submarine. Of the 332 people on board, only 64 survived. In
2009 deep-sea searchers found the wreck of the hospital ship off the
city of Brisbane.
(AFP, 12/19/09)
1944 May 14, George Lucas,
writer and director, was born in Modesto, Ca. He is best remembered
for his Star Wars trilogy.
(HN, 5/14/99)(MC, 5/14/02)
1944 May 14, The Latin trio Los
Panchos made its debut at El Teatro Hispano in NYC with Alfredo Gil
(d.1999 at 84), Jesus Navarro (Chucho), and Hernando Aviles.
(SFC, 9/17/99, p.D8)(SFC, 9/30/04, p.E14)
1944 May 14, 91 German bombers
harassed Bristol.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1944 May 14, Gens Rommel,
Speidel and von Stulpnagel plotted to assassinate Hitler.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1945 May 14, A Kamikaze Zero
struck the US aircraft carrier Enterprise.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1945 May 14, US offensive on
Okinawa. Sugar Loaf was conquered.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1948 May 14, US granted Israel
de facto recognition.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1948 May 14, The British
evacuated Israel. The independent state of Israel was proclaimed in
Tel Aviv under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion as British rule in
Palestine came to an end. Ben-Gurion and 36 fellow members of the
Provisional Council of State signed the Declaration of the
Establishment of the State of Israel. 10 of the member’s signatures
were delayed for 10 days because they were cut off by fighting in
Jerusalem.
(SFC, 10/18/96, C8)(AP, 5/14/97) (SFC, 4/24/98,
p.A17)(HN, 5/14/98)(WSJ, 6/1/00, p.A20)(SFC, 10/12/02, p.A21)
1949 May 14, Pres. Truman
signed a bill establishing a rocket test range at Cape Canaveral.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1950 May 14, In Turkey the
Democratic Party won 52% of the votes in its first free elections
and Adnan Menderes (b.1899) became prime minister.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnan_Menderes)
1951 May 14, The Ernie Kovacs
Show, TV Variety “Ernie in Kovacsland,” debuted on NBC.
(MC, 5/14/02)(SFEC, 5/24/98, DB p.37)
1955 May 14, Representatives
from eight Communist bloc countries: Soviet Union, Albania,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland &
Romania, signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland. Andras Hegedues signed
for Hungary.
(AP, 5/14/97)(SFC, 10/26/99, p.B4)(MC, 5/14/02)
1959 May 14, Sidney Bechet,
clarinetist and pioneer jazz composer, died.
(WSJ, 8/24/00,
p.A20)(www.sidneybechet.org/bio.html)
1960 May 14, "At the Drop of a
Hat" closed at John Golden in NYC after 216 performances.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1960 May 14, Some 2-5,000
people marched against the HUAC proceedings at SF City Hall and the
police actions against protestors.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.1)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F3)
1961 May 14, A bus carrying the
1st group of Freedom Riders was bombed and burned in Alabama.
(HN, 5/14/98)(MC, 5/14/02)
1962 May 14, Princess Sophia of
Greece wed Don Juan Carlos of Spain.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1964 May 14, Soviet Premier
Nikita Khrushchev joined United Arab Republic President Gamel Abdel
Nasser in setting off charges, diverting the Nile River from the
site of the Aswan High Dam project.
(AP, 5/14/04)
1965 May 14, Frances Perkins
(83), the first US female cabinet secretary, died. She served as
FDR’s Minister of Labor (1933-45). In 2009 Kirstin Downey authored
“The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Francis Perkins, FDR’s
Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience.”
(Econ, 7/25/09,
p.80)(www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/perkins-frances.cfm)
1966 May 14, Ludwig Meidner
(b.1884), German expressionist artist, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Meidner)
1968 May 14, The Beatles in NYC
announced the formation of their Apple Corp.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps)
1968 May 14, Adm. Husband
Edward Kimmel (b.1882), commandant US Ocean fleet WW II, died in
Connecticut. Some historians, such as submariner Captain Edward L.
"Ned" Beach, later believed Admiral Kimmel and Army Lieutenant
General Walter Short became scapegoats for the failures of their
superiors prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor and that their careers
were effectively and unfairly ruined.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Husband_Kimmel)
1969 May 14, Three companies of
the 101st Airborne Division failed to push North Vietnamese forces
off Hill 937 (Hamburger Hill) in South Vietnam.
(HN, 5/14/01)
1969 May 14, Abortion and
contraception was legalized in Canada.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Canada)
1970 May 14, In West Germany
Andreas Baader, a rabid opponent of the Vietnam War, broke out of
prison with the help of gang members including Ulrike Meinhof.
(WSJ, 4/3/09,
p.A15)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrike_Meinhof)
1971 May 14, Pope Paul VI
(1897-1978), the 262nd pontiff, delivered his Octagesima Adveniens
apostolic letter on the 80th anniversary of the Rerum Novarum
encyclical by Leo XIII. Paul VI was born in Lombardy, Italy, as
Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini.
(SFC, 11/20/96, p.C1)(http://tinyurl.com/65jr23)
1973 May 14, Rowan &
Martin's Laugh-In last aired on NBC-TV.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowan_&_Martin's_Laugh-In)
1973 May 14, US Supreme court
approved equal rights to females in military.
(http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=411&invol=677)
1973 May 14, The United States
launched the 85-ton Skylab 1, its first manned space station with
crew Kerwin, Conrad and Weitz.
(AP,
5/14/97)(www.friends-partners.org/partners/mwade/craft/skylab.htm)
1976 May 14, In Sri Lanka the
Tamil United Liberation Front adopted the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution
declaring the Tamils’ right to statehood.
(Econ, 1/23/10,
p.41)(www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=74&artid=8861)
1977 May 14, Capt. Robert
Nairac (29), an underground British soldier, was abducted from a
border pub by an IRA gang, taken across the border into a Republic
of Ireland forest, and shot through the head. In 2008 the Police
Service of Northern Ireland press office confirmed the arrest of
Kevin Crilly (57), an IRA veteran, on suspicion of involvement in
Nairac's killing. On April 1, 2011, Crilly was acquitted of all
charges against him.
(AP, 5/20/08)(AP, 4/1/11)
1978 May 14, Gerard Barrett of
Australia won the 68th annual San Francisco Bay to Breakers race in
a record 35 min., 17 sec. There were 9,738 official entrants with
some 4,000 unofficial runners. 13 members of the UC Davis track team
tied themselves together and became the first centipede to run in
the race.
(SFC, 5/9/03, p.E5)(SFC, 5/15/09, p.B4)
1980 May 14, President Carter
inaugurated the Department of Health and Human Services.
(AP, 5/14/97)
1980 May 14, Hugh Griffith
(b.1912), Welsh actor, died. His films included Passover Plot, Ben
Hur, and Tom Jones.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Griffith)
1983 May 14, Fyodor Abramov
(b.1920), Russian playwright, died in Leningrad. His plays included
“Brothers and Sisters.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Abramov)(Econ, 10/21/06, p.96)
1983 May 14, In Warsaw, Poland,
Grzegorz Przemyk (19), student and son of Solidarity Grzegorz
activist Barbara Sadowska, died from internal injurious while
in police custody.
(http://files.osa.ceu.hu/holdings/300/8/3/text/47-5-143.shtml)
1987 May 14, The Commerce
Department reported that the U.S. trade deficit had narrowed in
March to $13.6 billion.
(AP, 5/14/97)
1987 May 14, A Colt revolver,
the Peacemaker of 1873, sold at auction for $242,000.
(http://tinyurl.com/ps7vw)
1987 May 14, Actress Rita
Hayworth died in New York at age 68. In 1983 James Hill (d.2001),
producer and former husband (1958-1961), authored “Rita Hayworth: A
Memoir.”
(AP, 5/14/97)(SFC, 1/16/01, p.C4)
1988 May 14, Twenty-seven
people, most of them teen-agers, were killed when their church bus
collided with a pickup truck going the wrong way on a highway near
Carrollton, Ky. The driver of the truck, Larry Mahoney, was
convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment;
he was released in September 1999.
(AP, 5/14/03)
1988 May 14, Peru’s military
was involved in the massacre of at least 26 peasants in the Andean
village of Cayara. A week later the military executed 3 more
peasants, before systematically killing 8 witnesses. In 2005 a
Peruvian judge ordered the arrest of 118 current and retired
military officials for the slayings.
(AP, 7/6/05)
1989 May 14, Moonlighting, TV
Crime Drama, last aired on ABC.
(www.tv.com/moonlighting/show/301/summary.html)
1989 May 14, Peronist candidate
Carlos Saul Menem won Argentina's presidential election. He was a
Muslim who converted to Catholicism, which was previously a
requirement for the presidency. The annual inflation rate was 5000%.
(WSJ, 12/12/95, p.A-15)(Hem., 1/96, p.11)(SFC,
12/24/96, p.A8)(AP, 5/14/99)
1989 May 14, The 2nd day of a
hunger strike for democratic reforms took place in Beijing's
Tiananmen square.
(http://www.tsquare.tv/chronology/)
1990 Apr 14, The hip-hop group
Salt-N-Pepa hit the top #40 on the pop singles chart with
"Expression."
(www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1990/04-14.htm)
1990 May 14, In separate
decrees, Soviet President Gorbachev declared that the republics of
Estonia and Latvia had no legal basis for moving toward
independence.
(AP, 5/14/00)
1991 May 14, President Bush
announced his selection of Robert M. Gates to head the Central
Intelligence Agency.
(AP, 5/14/01)
1991 May 14, Britain's Queen
Elizabeth the Second arrived in Washington to begin a two-week visit
to the United States.
(AP, 5/14/01)
1991 May 14, Jiang Qing (77),
widow of Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung, committed suicide in prison.
(SFC, 12/25/99, p.B4)(AP, 6/4/01)
1991 May 14, Forty-two people
were killed in a train collision in western Japan.
(AP, 5/14/01)
1991 May 14, In South Africa,
Winnie Mandela was sentenced to six years in prison for her part in
the kidnapping and beating of three black youths and the death of a
fourth.
(HN, 5/14/99)
1992 May 14, Former Soviet
President Mikhail S. Gorbachev addressed members of the U.S.
Congress, appealing to them to pass a bill aiding the people of the
former Soviet Union.
(AP, 5/14/97)
1992 May 14, A US press
briefing on Serajevo by State Department spokeswoman Margaret
Tutweiler indicated concerns of ethnic cleansing by Serb forces.
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A14)
1992 May 14, Lyle Alzado (43),
former football player, died in Portland, Ore.
(AP, 5/14/97)
1993 May 14, President Clinton
told a news conference his threat of military force to halt the war
in the former Yugoslavia was "still on the table" despite opposition
from European allies.
(AP, 5/14/98)
1994 May 14, The West Bank town
of Jericho saw its first full day of Palestinian self-rule following
the withdrawal of Israeli troops, an event celebrated by
Palestinians.
(AP, 5/14/99)
1995 May 14, Myrlie
Evers-Williams was sworn in to head the NAACP, pledging to lead the
civil rights group away from its recent troubles and restore it as a
political and social force.
(AP, 5/14/00)
1995 May 14, The 11th
reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choikyi Nyima, was
announced by the exiled Dalai Lama. Gedhun Choekyi (5) disappeared
days after his designation. Six months later China declared
Gyaincain Norbu (Gyaltsen Norbu) (5) as the 11th Panchen Lama.
(SFC, 5/8/97, p.C2)(SFC, 6/19/99, p.A11)(SFC,
8/12/11, p.A2)
1996 May 14, A jury in Pontiac,
Mich., acquitted Dr. Jack Kevorkian of assisted-suicide charges, his
third legal victory in two years. The judge dismissed murder charges
in the same case.
(AP, 5/14/97)(SFC, 4/14/99, p.A3)
1996 May 14, The Mt. Pleasant
Baptist Church in Tigrett, Tenn., burned down. Arson was suspected
and investigations by the FBI and ATF were later begun.
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A16)
1996 May 14, The US Energy
Dept. announced that it would import 20 tons of nuclear waste from
research reactors in 41 nations to prevent the weapons grade
material from being used for bombs.
(WSJ, 5/14/96, p.A-1)
1996 May 14, The Voice of
America turned on its newest radio transmitter in Kuwait. It was 12
times more powerful than any broadcast station in the US and was
directed at Iraq and Iran.
(WSJ, 5/28/96, p. A-18)
1996 May 14, In France Renault
outlined a plan to become majority owned by private investors after
more than 5 decades of state control.
(WSJ, 1/2/97, p.R2)
1996 May 14, Leftist and
regional Indian political parties formed a powerful coalition and
settled on H.D. Deve Gowda, chief minister of the southern state of
Karnataka, as the candidate for prime minister.
(SFC, 5/15/96, A-10)
1996 May 14, Turkmenistan and
Iran opened a rail link.
(WSJ, 5/14/96, p.A-1)
1997 May 14, Baseball's Exec
Council suspended NY Yankee owner George Steinbrenner.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1997 May 14, Jurors at the
Timothy McVeigh trial in Denver saw chilling black-and-white
surveillance pictures of a Ryder truck moving toward the Oklahoma
City federal building minutes before a bomb blew the place apart.
(AP, 5/14/98)
1997 May 14, Negotiators agreed
on a pact to create a Russia-NATO advisory council. NATO agreed not
to base nuclear weapons or substantial combat forces in countries
that were recently under Moscow’s control.
(SFC, 5/15/97, p.A1)
1997 May 14, There was an
explosion at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Wash. state.
Plutonium and other hazardous chemicals were released and emergency
response procedures broke down almost completely.
(SFC, 7/26/97, p.A8)
1997 May 14, Margaret Lesher
(64), inheritor of the Lesher media empire, was reported missing by
her new husband, T.C. Thorstenson (39), at Bartlett Lake near
Phoenix and was found drowned.
(SFEM, 9/14/97, p.12,33)
1997 May 14, Harry Blackstone
Jr. (62), magician, died of cancer.
(http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Harry_Blackstone_Jr.)
1997 May 14, In Vietnam the
Supreme People’s Court sentenced 8 state police officials to death
after convicting them of drug smuggling.
(SFC, 5/15/97, p.A13)
1997 May 14, Princess
Caradja-Kretzulesco (76), descendant of Prince Dracula, died. Prior
to hear death Princess Kretzulesco stepped inside the second-hand
book-shop of Ottomar Berbig in Berlin to look for rare books, and
ever since the two because inseparable. On her deathbed the princess
rewarded Ottomar Berbig’s various services with a title: Ottomar -
Prince Kretzulesco.
(http://dpsinfo.com/dps/cnames.html)(www.cesnur.org/2002/dracula/01.htm)
1998 May 14, The Associated
Press commemorated its 150th anniversary.
(AP, 5/14/99)
1998 May 14, The last episode
of the hit sitcom “Seinfeld” was shown after nine years on NBC TV.
Commercials paid $2M for 30 seconds.
(SFC, 4/22/98, p.C1)(AP, 5/14/99)(MC, 5/14/02)
1998 May 14, A US district
judge ruled that all California pot clubs were in violation of
federal law.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.A19)
1998 May 14, In Wisconsin
abortion clinics across the state closed as a sweeping ban against
“partial birth” abortions went into effect following last month’s
bill signed by Gov. Tommy Thompson.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.A3)
1998 May 14, Frank Sinatra,
singer and actor, died of a heart attack in LA at age 82. Shortly
thereafter Brian Gunn published "Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean,
Sammy, Peter, Joey & the Last Great Show Biz Party," a biography
of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and
Joey Bishop. In Dec the FBI released a 1,300 page Sinatra file that
had been put together over a 40-year period. In 2000 Tom and Phil
Kuntz edited "The Sinatra Files." In 2005 Anthony Summers and Robbyn
Swan authored “Sinatra: The Life.”
(SFC, 5/16/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 7/5/98, BR p.5)(WSJ,
6/13/00, p.B1)(Econ, 7/16/05, p.82)
1998 May 14, Australia, Canada,
Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and the US all
imposed penalties on India for its nuclear testing. Pakistan was
pressured to refrain from testing its own nuclear weapons.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.A15)
1998 May 14, In Indonesia
widespread rioting, shooting, looting and demonstrations continued
for a 3rd day. At least 230 people were killed in the riots, with
over 175 dead from a fire at the 5-story Yogya Plaza shopping center
in East Jakarta.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.A1)
1998 May 14, Palestinians
marked the 50th anniversary of the creation of Israel with 2 minutes
of silence and several hours of violence that left 9 dead. They
refer to the creation of Israel as the “Nakba” or “Catastrophe.”
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.A14)(SFC, 5/16/98, p.A10)
1999 May 14, His previous calls
rebuffed, President Clinton finally got through to Chinese President
Jiang Zemin; Clinton expressed hope the two countries could repair
the damage to their relations since the U.S. bombing of the Chinese
Embassy in Belgrade.
(AP, 5/14/00)
1999 May 14, The US Senate
approved a Republican plan to require background checks at gunshows
48-47.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A3)
1999 May 14, San Francisco and
Oakland vied in the Great Green Sweep, an effort to sweep the cities
clean.
(SFEC, 5/16/99, p.D1)
1999 May 14, In San Francisco
Julie Christine Day (24) of Walnut Creek was last seen leaving the
Bubble Lounge on Montgomery St. Her body was found a week later in a
shallow grave in China Basin. In 2009 Jehad Baqleh, a former taxi
driver convicted of her murder, was determined to be legally insane.
(SFC, 5/21/99, p.A15)
1999 May 14, San Francisco
police arrested Kevin Keating (38), head of the "Yuppie Eradication
Project," on suspicion of property destruction in the Mission.
Keating held the pre-WW I Ukrainian anarchist Nestor Makhno as
his idol.
(SFC, 6/7/99, p.A13)
1999 May 14, In Burundi 5
soldiers were sentenced to death for the 1993 murder of Pres.
Melchior Ndadaye.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A14)
1999 May 14, In Colombia
Matthew Aaron Burtchell, a US helicopter technician, was kidnapped
by armed men by Yopal, provincial capital of Casanare.
(SFC, 5/17/99, p.A10)
1999 May 14, Cuba and Russia
agreed on a joint venture to complete a nuclear reactor at the
Juragua power station in Cuba.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A14)
1999 May 14, In Guinea-Bissau
Malan Bacai Sanha (52), former head of parliament, was declared the
3rd president.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A14)
1999 May 14, In Indonesia the
ruling Golkar Party chose Pres. Habibie as its candidate for
presidential elections. Polls showed his support at 7%.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A10)
1999 May 14, In Kosovo
paramilitary fighters looted homes and killed 41 ethnic Albanian
civilians in the village of Cuska. In 2002 Fred Abrahams and Eric
Stover authored “A Village Destroyed, May 14, 1999: War Crimes in
Kosovo.” In 2010 9 men, suspected in the killings in Cuska, were
detained and indicted by Serbian police.
(AP,
3/13/10)(www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9685.php)(Reuters, 9/11/10)
1999 May 14, In Macedonia
Hillary Clinton announced a $21 million aid package to support
Kosovo refugees and the Macedonian people who have helped take them
in.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A10)
1999 May 14, In South Africa
the ruling African National Congress signed a peace pact with the
arch-rival Inkatha Freedom Party.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A14)
1999 May 14, In Uganda Pres.
Museveni offered amnesty to rebel leader Joseph Kony, head of the
Sudanese backed Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Members of the LRA
were included in the offer.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A11)
2000 May 14, In Washington DC
tens of thousands took part in the Million Mom March for tougher gun
laws.
(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A1)
2000 May 14, Ethiopia claimed a
major victory against Eritrea and claimed that 8 divisions had been
destroyed over the last 2 days. Eritrea said 25,000 Ethiopian
soldiers were killed or wounded.
(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A14)
2000 May 14, In Ethiopia
elections were held and 7 people were reported killed when
government forces threw a grenade into a crowd of protestors and
fired into another in the southern region of Hadiya.
(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A14)
2000 May 14, Thousands of
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza demonstrated and violence
erupted with at least one person killed.
(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A1)
2000 May 14, In Tokyo, Japan,
former prime minister Keizo Obuchi (62) died.
(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A12)(AP, 5/14/01)
2000 May 14, In Sierra Leone
rebels handed over 139 UN peacekeepers to Liberia while officials in
Freetown secured the release of 18 others. Meanwhile fighting
continued for control of Masiaka town 30 miles east of Freetown.
(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A12)
2000 May 14, In Zimbabwe
elections were set for June 24-25, but the opposition objected
because voting districts were not yet established and a May 29
deadline for candidates was thought too soon.
(SFC, 5/17/00, p.A18)
2001 May 14, The Supreme Court
ruled 8-to-0 that there is no exception in federal law for people to
use marijuana to ease their pain from cancer, AIDS or other
illnesses.
(SFC, 5/15/01, p.A1)(AP, 5/14/02)
2001 May 14, Promising to be a
"determined adversary" toward gun violence, President Bush announced
plans to mobilize federal and local prosecutors who would focus
exclusively on gun-related crimes.
(AP, 5/14/02)
2001 May 14, The FBI found in
Baltimore another batch of undisclosed records on Timothy McVeigh.
(SFC, 5/15/01, p.A1)
2001 May 14, Tom Green (52), a
bigamist with 5 wives and 29 children, went on trial in SLC for
bigamy. Green was convicted May 18 of 4 counts of bigamy and one
count of failure to pay child support. Green was sentenced to 5
years in prison and ordered to pay $78,000 to the state for
fraudulent welfare checks. In 2002 Green was convicted of child rape
for impregnating one wife at age 13. Green was released from prison
in 2007.
(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A3)(SFC, 5/19/01, p.A7)(SFC,
8/25/01, p.A3)(SFC, 6/25/02, p.A2)(SFC, 8/8/07, p.A5)
2001 May 14, The European
Commission announced that it would establish diplomatic ties with
North Korea.
(WSJ, 5/15/01, p.A1)
2001 May 14, It was reported
that bookstores in Indonesia had pulled leftist titles under
vigilante pressures.
(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A10)
2001 May 14, Israeli forces
gunned down 5 Palestinian police officers (18-29) at a checkpoint in
Beitunia, a suburb of Ramallah. Israel later admitted that the men
killed were mistaken for members of Force 17.
(SFC, 5/15/01, p.A9)(SFC, 5/17/01, p.A10)
2001 May 14, Panama agreed to
suspend a 66% increase in bus fares for 7 months following protests
and riots in which over 100 people were injured.
(WSJ, 5/15/01, p.A1)
2001 May 14, In the Philippines
midterm elections were held for half the Senate and the entire House
of Representatives and 17,600 municipal and provincial posts.
(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A9)
2002 May 14, Former Pres.
Carter addressed the Cuban people and said the US should end its
embargo and that Cuba should become more democratic.
(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A1)
2002 May 14, In Colombia
leftist rebels attacked army-backed right-wing paramilitaries at
Alto de Minas and left at least 80 people dead 180 miles NW of
Bogota.
(WSJ, 5/17/02, p.A1)(SFC, 5/18/02, p.A13)
2002 May 14, An uprising in
Kisangani, Congo, left 163 people dead. Three top commanders:
Barnard Biamungu, commander of the RCD's fifth brigade; Laurent
Nkunda, seventh brigade commander; and Gabriel Amisi, assistant
chief of staff for logistics were identified as part of the Rally
for Democracy, the Rwandan-backed rebel group responsible for the
massacre.
(SFC, 6/1/02, p.A11)(AP, 8/19/02)
2002 May 14, In Kashmir 3
Islamic militant attacked an Indian army base and killed 34
civilians and soldiers in Kaluchak. India held Pakistan responsible.
(SFC, 5/14/02, p.A13)(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A11)(WSJ,
5/16/02, p.A1)
2002 May 14, Nato agreed with
Russia on an new framework that would include Russia on a handful of
agreed-on issues.
(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A1)
2002 May 14, In Sierra Leone UN
sponsored voting for the presidency and parliament took place for
the 1st time since the war ended in 2000. Pres. Kabbah posted a
strong lead.
(WSJ, 5/14/02, p.A1)(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A14)(WSJ,
5/16/02, p.A1)(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.A18)
2002 May 14, The UN Security
Council revamped its sanctions against Iraq in order to ease the
delivery of civilian goods and tighten controls on military items.
(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A12)
2003 May 14, Pres. Bush met for
the first time with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun; both
leaders said they were united in seeking a Korean peninsula free of
nuclear weapons.
(AP, 5/14/04)
2003 May 14, In Texas Victoria
County Sheriff's deputies found 17 people dead in and around a
tractor-trailer rig at a South Texas truck stop. Another died at
hospital. The victims were illegal immigrants. In 2006 a Texas jury
convicted 3 US citizens for the suffocation of 19 smuggled
immigrants in an airtight truck. In 2007 truck driver Tyrone
Williams (36) was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the
smuggling. In 2008 the last of 14 people indicted in the smuggling
pleaded guilty. In 2010 Octavio Torres-Ortega was sentenced to 14
years in prison for his role in the smuggling operation. In 2011
Williams was resentenced to nearly 34 years after a federal appeals
court overturned the multiple life sentences he had received.
(WSJ, 5/15/03, p.A1)(WSJ, 2/9/06, p.A1)(SFC,
1/19/07, p.A3)(SFC, 4/15/08, p.A3)(SFC, 6/8/10, p.A5)(SFC, 1/25/11,
p.A6)
2003 May 14, Dave DeBusschere
(62), basketball Hall-of-Famer, died in New York.
(AP, 5/14/04)
2003 May 14, Robert Stack (84),
the tough-guy hero of TV's "Untouchables" (1959-1963), died. His
film debut was in 1939 with "First Love."
(AP, 5/15/03)
2003 May 14, Dame Wendy Hiller
(90), actress, died in Beaconsfield, England.
{Britain}
(AP, 5/14/04)(www.imdb.com/name/nm0384908/)
2003 May 14, In Argentina
Carlos Menem withdrew from the presidential elections making Nestor
Kirchner, governor of Santa Cruz province, the new president-elect.
(SFC, 5/15/03, p.A12)
2003 May 14, A Belgian attorney
filed suit against US Gen. Tommy Franks and Col. Brian P. McCoy for
war crimes in the war in Iraq. The use of some 1,500 cluster bombs
in Iraq was part of the suit.
(SFC, 5/15/03, p.A6)
2003 May 14, In Chechnya a
female suicide attacker killed 18 people at a funeral service in an
apparent attempt on the life of the Moscow-backed chief
administrator (Akhmad Kadyrov).
(AP, 5/14/04)
2003 May 14, In Iraq villagers
pulled body after body from a mass grave in Mahaweel, exhuming the
remains of up to 3,000 people they suspect were killed during the
1991 Shiite revolt against Saddam Hussein's regime.
(AP, 5/14/03)
2003 May 14, An Israeli
helicopter fired a missile into a crowd in a refugee camp in the
Gaza Strip, wounding 30 people and killed three Palestinian
policemen, after 10 Israeli soldiers were wounded nearby in a mortar
attack.
(AP, 5/13/03)
2003 May 14, In Italy Premier
Silvio Berlusconi inaugurated the ambitious $4 billion "Moses"
project to ease the flooding in Venice. Construction soon began on a
breakwater for Venice to prevent high tides from entering its
lagoon.
(AP, 5/15/03)(Econ, 9/27/03, p.80)
2004 May 14, The Pentagon
announced that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top US commander in
Iraq, had banned virtually all coercive interrogation practices on
Iraqi prisoners.
(SFC, 5/15/04, p.A1)
2004 May 14, Anna Lee (91),
whose nearly 70-year acting career in movies and television spanned
from her breakthrough role in "How Green Was My Valley" to an
extended run on "General Hospital," died of pneumonia.
(AP, 5/17/04)
2004 May 14, Algerian officials
reported that 13 of the countries 48 provinces were infested with
swarms of desert locusts.
(ST, 5/14/04, p.A1)
2004 May 14, A Brazilian
domestic airliner crashed near the Amazon city of Manaus, killing
all 30 passengers and three crew members.
(AP, 5/15/04)
2004 May 14, Britain's Daily
Mirror newspaper published a front-page apology after photographs
purportedly showing British forces abusing Iraqi prisoners turned
out to be fake.
(AP, 5/14/05)
2004 May 14, In Copenhagen,
Denmark, Australian Mary Donaldson married Danish Crown Prince
Frederik, becoming Crown Princess Mary.
(AP, 5/14/04)
2004 May 14, In Iraq 4 people
were detained in Salaheddin province for the killing of American
Nicholas Berg, whose decapitation was captured on videotape. The
informant who tipped off authorities was killed by unidentified
gunmen the day after the arrests.
(AP, 5/21/04)
2004 May 14, British troops
engaged in a battle near the town of at Al Majar Al Kabir. In 2008
lawyers released evidence that they said shows British soldiers may
have tortured and executed up to 20 Iraqis after the battle.
(AP, 2/22/08)
2004 May 14, Heavy fighting
raged in the Rafah refugee camp, killing two Israeli soldiers and a
Palestinian man.
(AP, 5/14/04)
2004 May 14, It was reported
that drought in Peru had forced water restrictions in Lima.
(ST, 5/14/04, p.A3)
2004 May 14, Poland's new PM
Marek Belka, who had urged patience for free-market reforms and his
country's mission in Iraq, lost a parliamentary confidence vote.
(AP, 5/14/04)
2004 May 14, In South Korea the
Constitutional Court ruled to dismiss the impeachment case against
Pres. Roh. It agreed that Roh violated election rules when he spoke
in favor of the Uri party at a news conference.
(AP, 5/14/04)(SFC, 5/14/04, p.A5)
2005 May 14, The retired
aircraft carrier USS America sank to the bottom of the Atlantic
Ocean following a series of explosions over 25 days.
(AP, 5/21/05)
2005 May 14, In Brazil more
than 12,000 landless farmers who have marched nearly 125 miles to
protest the slow pace of land reform reached the outskirts of
Brasilia.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 14, Congo's
legislature adopted a constitution that reduces the required age for
presidential candidates, a change that would allow President Joseph
Kabila to stand in the country's next elections.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 14, A magnitude 6.9
undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia's Sumatra island.
(AP, 5/14/05)
2005 May 14, In Iraq insurgents
staged a series of attacks, killing at least 9 people. The US
military wrapped up Operation Matador, a major offensive in a remote
desert region near the Syrian border.
(AP, 5/14/05)(AP, 5/14/06)
2005 May 14, In Indian Kashmir
suspected Muslim rebels shot dead the brother of an ex-militant who
became a moderate separatist leader.
(AFP, 5/14/05)
2005 May 14, In western Nepal
government soldiers rescued about 600 students who were abducted
from their classrooms in a series of bold strikes by communist
rebels.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 14, Russian security
forces and police killed six suspected militants, including two
female suicide bombers, who had holed up in an apartment in
Cherkessk. Russian forces in Chechnya killed 4 rebels including
former separatist vice president Vakha Arsanov.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 14, Warlords began
withdrawing thousands of militia fighters from the Somali capital in
a bid to restore order after more than 15 years of anarchy and civil
war.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 14, A surprise
election victory for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP), marred by a record-low voter turnout, gave a limited
endorsement of President Chen Shui-bian's policy of standing up to
China.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 13, Turkish soldiers
killed 9 Kurdish rebels in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast.
Automatic weapons, plastic explosives, grenades, and a
rocket-propelled grenade launcher were seized in the operation. A
Syrian citizen was among those killed.
(AP, 5/14/05)
2005 May 14, Thousands of
terrified Uzbeks waiting to flee across the border into Kyrgyzstan
stormed government buildings, torched police cars and attacked
border guards in a 2nd day of violence spawned by an uprising
against the iron-fisted rule of US-allied Pres. Islam Karimov.
(AP, 5/14/05)
2006 May 14, Mexican President
Vicente Fox telephoned President Bush to express his concern about
the border between the two nations, a day before Bush's planned Oval
Office speech on immigration.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2006 May 14, Maine's governor
declared a state of emergency in the southern most county, and the
governors of Massachusetts and New Hampshire also declared states of
emergency as a 3-day deluge turned streets into rivers across
New England, flooding homes up to their door knobs, forcing dozens
of schools to close because the buses couldn't get through, and
threatening dams and communities as rivers rise.
(AP, 5/15/06)
2006 May 14, Aras Baskauskas, a
24-year-old yoga instructor from Santa Monica, Calif., won
"Survivor: Panama, Exile Island," the 12th edition of the CBS
reality show.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2006 May 14, Lew Anderson
(b.1922), who captivated young baby boomers as the Howdy Doody
Show's final Clarabell the Clown, died in Hawthorne, NY. Anderson
broke the clown's silence in the show's final episode in 1960. With
trembling lips and a visible tear in his eye, he spoke the show's
final words: "Goodbye, kids."
(AP, 5/17/06)
2006 May 14, Marsha
Spicer (41) was raped and murdered in Lafayette County,
Missouri. On July 31, 2008, Richard D. Davis (44) was found guilty
of murder in her videotaped sexual torture and slaying. In
June 2008 Davis was convicted in the kidnapping and rape of Michelle
Huff-Ricci (36), whose body was found in June, 2006. On Oct 10 Davis
was sentenced to death.
(http://mylifeofcrime.wordpress.com/2006/05/27/marsha-spicer-murder-51406/)(SFC,
8/1/08, p.A4)(AP, 10/10/08)
2006 May 14, Stanley Kunitz
(b.1905), former US poet laureate (2000), died at his home in
Manhattan.
(SFC, 5/16/06, p.B5)(Econ, 5/27/06, p.83)
2006 May 14, A Bangladesh court
sentenced 10 Islamic militants to life imprisonment and three others
to 20 years in jail for their roles in deadly blasts across
Bangladesh last year.
(AFP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 14, Rene Preval was
sworn in as Haiti's president for the second time in a decade.
Prisoners rioted at Haiti's main prison, with gunfire heard within
its walls and scores of inmates massing on the roof and holding what
appeared to be two dead bodies.
(AP, 5/14/06)(AP, 5/14/07)
2006 May 14, In Iraq 2 suicide
car bombings killed 14 Iraqis and injured at least six near a main
checkpoint leading to Baghdad's international airport. 5 roadside
bombings in Baghdad killed 12 people with some 55 injured. Six
Shiite shrines were damaged in a series of blasts around the Baqouba
area northeast of the capital. US forces, planes and helicopters
attacked an insurgent haven in Youssifiyah, killing 25 insurgents.
Insurgents shot down a US helicopter south of Baghdad and killed two
soldiers, bringing the weekend death toll of American service
members to seven.
(AP, 5/14/06)(AP, 5/15/06)
2006 May 14, Israeli troops
raided a village in the West Bank, killing 5 Palestinians, including
a militant Israel blamed for several suicide bombings that have
killed dozens of Israelis.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 14, In northwestern
Pakistan suspected Islamic militants stormed a roadside security
post in a tribal region and shot dead an officer.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 14, Exiled former
Pakistan prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif met in
London and agreed to a “charter of democracy” and to join in
opposition to the rule of Pres. Musharraf.
(Econ, 5/20/06, p.46)
2006 May 14, Officials said a
searing heatwave in central Pakistan has killed at least 84 people
with temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in
the past week.
(AFP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 14, The armed Basque
group ETA stated publicly for the first time since a ceasefire
declaration in March that it still demands self-determination for
the Basque Country.
(AFP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 14, Syria detained
Michel Kilo (66), a prominent writer and democracy campaigner,
who has long been one of the government's most outspoken critics.
(AP, 5/15/06)
2006 May 14, Vietnam’s state
media said the US had clinched a bilateral market access deal with
Vietnam that will help clear the path to its former wartime enemy
joining the World Trade Organization.
(AFP, 5/14/06)
2007 May 14, Pres. Bush ordered
up new rules aimed at increasing automobile fuel efficiency and the
use of alternative fuels.
(WSJ, 5/15/07, p.A1)
2007 May 14, The trial of
suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla opened in Miami. Padilla
and two co-defendants were convicted in August, 2007, of terrorism
conspiracy; Padilla was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2007 May 14, The cost of
first-class US letters went up 2 cents to 41 cents.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, Endemol, the
brains behind reality television shows like "Big Brother", fell into
the hands of a consortium led by Italy's Mediaset which is looking
to branch out of the saturated Italian television market.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, Charles Y. Lazarus
(b.1914), the last of four generations to run the iconic Federated
Dept. store in Columbus, Ohio, died in Columbus.
(WSJ, 5/19/07,
p.A6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Lazarus)
2007 May 14, Algerian troops,
stepping up assaults on al Qaeda's north African wing after suicide
bombings last month, killed 13 Islamist fighters east of Algiers.
(Reuters, 5/15/07)
2007 May 14, An Australian
teenager was awarded record damages including a lifetime income
after a court found that his life had been ruined by bullying at
primary school. Australian authorities said they want to shoot more
than 3,000 kangaroos on the fringes of Canberra, noting the animals
were growing in population and eating through the grassy habitats of
endangered species.
(AFP, 5/14/07)(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, Pope Benedict XVI
returned to Rome after telling Brazilians a growing rich-poor gap is
to be lamented, but that the solution isn’t Marxism.
(WSJ, 5/15/07, p.A1)
2007 May 14, In the Central
African Republic the president's office said several former armed
rebels have surrendered to the authorities over the past few days in
the troubled north.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, A Chinese rocket
blasted a Nigerian communications satellite into orbit, marking an
expansion of China's commercial launching services for foreign space
hardware.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, In Colombia
judicial authorities ordered the arrest of 20 politicians and
business leaders, including five congressmen, on criminal conspiracy
charges for signing a 2001 pact with illegal right-wing militias. In
the biggest shake-up in years of the security forces, Colombia's
police chief and the head of police intelligence were forced to
retire as the government alleged that police illegally tapped calls
of opposition political figures, journalists and members of the
government for the past two years.
(AP, 5/15/07)
2007 May 14, Gangs torched
houses and fought in East Timor, injuring around 14 people, as
violence broke out following the nation's presidential elections.
(AP, 5/15/07)
2007 May 14, EU foreign
ministers gave the green light for a 40-million euro aid package to
the African Union peacekeeping force in the troubled Sudanese
province of Darfur.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, EU foreign
ministers decided to drop a visa ban against four Uzbek officials,
while extending other sanctions against the Central Asian nation
imposed after a crackdown on an uprising in 2005.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, German-based
DaimlerChrysler said it will sell almost all of money-losing
Chrysler to Cerberus, a private equity firm, for $7.4 billion,
backing out of a troubled 1998 takeover aimed at creating a global
automotive powerhouse. John Snow, former US treasury secretary,
served as chairman of Cerberus.
(AP, 5/14/07)(Econ, 5/19/07, p.67)
2007 May 14, In India Dr.
Binayak Sen (b.1950), a human rights activist, was arrested for
conspiring with Naxalites in Chhattisgarh state. He was charged with
carrying messages to the Maoist insurgents.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binayak_Sen)(Econ,
5/31/08, p.48)(Econ, 1/29/11, p.41)
2007 May 14, In western India a
gas tanker, truck and bus collided, sparking a fire that engulfed
the three vehicles and killed at least 30 people.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, Iraqi and US
forces also exchanged fire with gunmen near Youssifiyah during the
house-to-house search operation for 3 missing American soldiers,
killing two suspected insurgents and injuring four others. Gunmen
opened fire on a police checkpoint in Baqouba killing three
policemen and two civilians. Mortar rounds struck an outdoor market
in Baghdad killing 3 people. In Suwayrah police dragged two
unidentified, bullet-riddled bodies of a man and a women in their
40s from the Tigris River. A roadside bomb near the southern city of
Basra also killed one Danish soldier and wounded five. 2 US soldiers
on a foot patrol southeast of Baghdad were shot to death. Five US
troops were killed in attacks in Baghdad and surrounding areas,
while another soldier died of non-combat related causes.
(AP, 5/14/07)(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, Lebanon's prime
minister asked the UN Security Council to impose an international
tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former
premier Rafik Hariri.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, Malaysia’s PM
Badawi hosted Singapore’s Premier Lee Hsein Lloong for a 2-day talk
on economic cooperation.
(WSJ, 5/14/07, p.A8)
2007 May 14, In Mexico City
gunmen fatally shot Jose Nemesio Lugo, Mexico’s new federal
narcotics intelligence chief, as he was on his way to work at the
Attorney General's Office.
(AP, 5/14/07)(SFC, 5/25/07, p.A1)
2007 May 14, Nearly 60 former
heads of state, including three ex-American presidents, demanded
that Myanmar's military regime release Nobel peace laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi from house arrest.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, In southern
Nigeria's Rivers State unidentified gunmen snatched a Nigerian
working for Italian oil giant Agip.
(AFP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, In Pakistan
militants opened fire on a group of US, Afghan and Pakistani
military officials meeting near the Afghan border, killing one
American and a Pakistani soldier. In 2011 it was reported that a
Pakistani soldier had opened fire with an automatic rifle, pumping
multiple rounds from just 5 or 10 yards away into American officer,
Maj. Larry J. Bauguess Jr., (36) killing him almost instantly.
Separately Karachi storefronts were shuttered and the streets of the
commercial hub emptied of cars on as residents angry over a weekend
of deadly political violence honored a general strike called amid
growing discontent over President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's ouster of
the chief justice.
(AP, 5/14/07)(http://tinyurl.com/3hyzgoo)
2007 May 14, The Palestinian
interior minister resigned, accusing Hamas and Fatah leaders of
thwarting his efforts to halt new violence that is threatening the
survival of the Palestinian coalition government.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, Filipinos braved
the threat of violence to choose local and congressional
representatives in elections. Wahab Akbar, governor of Basilan, was
elected congressman from Basilan. His 1st wife, Jum, was elected to
become governor of Basilan. His 2nd wife Cherrylyn was already mayor
of Isabela City.
(AP, 5/14/07)(SSFC, 9/9/07, p.F1)
2007 May 14, In South Africa
deputies and experts attending the Pan African Parliament called for
Western countries to help reverse the environmental damage to the
continent that they had helped create.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, In Russia 10
people were found dead after a fire swept through a cafe in Orsk
near the border with Kazakhstan. Prosecutors indicated they suspect
arson.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, Taiwanese
President Chen Shui-bian named his sixth premier in seven years amid
paralysis in the island's relations with rival China and gridlock in
its deeply divided legislature. The World Health Organization
rejected Taiwan's bid for membership after Chinese officials accused
the island of trying to strengthen its claim to sovereignty.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, In Tunisia Sfax
port officials said the Tunisian coastguard had rescued 35 African
would-be immigrants who were trying to sail to Italy from the Libyan
coast. More than 1,000 people have landed on Spanish or Italian
territory since May 10.
(AFP, 5/14/07)
2008 May 14, A triptych by
Francis Bacon (1909-1992), titled “Triptych 1976,” sold for $86.3
million in NYC, a record for contemporary art auctions.
(Econ, 5/17/08, p.79)
2008 May 14, The US House
passed a veto-proof, $290 billion farm bill that included $40
billion in subsidies to commodity farmers. The Senate was also
expected to pass the bill by a veto-proof margin.
(SFC, 5/15/08, p.A1)(WSJ, 5/15/08, p.A1)
2008 May 14, US Interior Sec.
Dirk Kempthorne said the government will list the polar bear as
threatened under the Endangered Species Act, making it the 1st
animal to win protection due to global warming.
(SFC, 5/15/08, p.A1)
2008 May 14, US federal
prosecutors said Willbros Group Inc., a Houston-based oil services
company, agreed to pay $32.3 million in criminal and civil penalties
to settle charges that it bribed officials in Nigeria and Ecuador to
get contracts between 2003-2005.
(WSJ, 5/15/08, p.B2)
2008 May 14, Sen. Obama won the
support of John Edwards, former North Carolina Senator and
presidential candidate.
(WSJ, 5/15/08, p.A1)
2008 May 14, In California UC
regents announced a 7.4% tuition increase and CSU voted for a 10%
increase. These marked the 6th increases in 7 years.
(SFC, 5/15/08, p.A1)
2008 May 14, Marc Dann (46),
Ohio’s attorney general, resigned under threat of impeachment due to
an extramarital affair with an employee.
(SFC, 5/15/08, p.A7)
2008 May 14, In Georgia Gov.
Sonny Perdue signed a new law allowing permitted gun owners to carry
concealed weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol, aboard public
transportation and in parks.
(SFC, 5/15/08, p.A3)
2008 May 14, Plaxo, an online
address book and social networking service, reported it had signed
an agreement to be acquired by Comcast. It was founded by Napster
co-founder Sean Parker, Minh Nguyen and two Stanford engineering
students, Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring and was based in Mountain
View, Ca.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaxo)
2008 May 14, In Austria
investigators discovered the bodies of five people after a man
turned up at a Vienna police station saying he had killed his wife
and daughter.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 14, In eastern
Bangladesh 8 people died and one person was critically injured when
two trains collided at a station.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 14, In Brazil a
reporter and photographer for O Dia were abducted with their driver
and held for nearly eight hours in the western Rio de Janeiro
shantytown where they had been working undercover investigating
paramilitaries. O Dia said it contacted state security officials
immediately after the incident, but did not report it publicly until
Jun 1 to protect its journalists.
(AP, 6/2/08)
2008 May 14, China’s Xinhua
News Agency said that 2,000 troops had been sent to work on the
Zipingku Dam, upriver from Dujiangyan in Sichuan province as the
death toll from the May 12 earthquake approached 15,000.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 14, Colombian police
seized US$25 million (euro16 million) in properties from a
paramilitary warlord extradited to the U.S. on drug-trafficking
charges.
(AP, 5/15/08)
2008 May 14, In the Dominican
Republic 3 people, including a former congressman, were shot and
killed in Villa Vasquez ahead of May 16 elections.
(WSJ, 5/16/08, p.A8)
2008 May 14, A French court
handed down jail sentences to seven men convicted of running a
network that recruited poor young Muslims in Paris to fight in the
Iraqi insurgency.
(AFP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 14, In India a poor
worker and his 4-year-old daughter were crushed to death by a bus
after the conductor pushed them off for not having sufficient fare
for the journey. Angry passengers set the bus on fire near
Jharsuguda, Orissa state. The bus conductor was arrested and charged
with unintentional murder.
(AP, 5/15/08)
2008 May 14, Iran raided the
homes of top Baha’i leaders and threw six of them in the notorious
Evin prison north of Tehran. A 7th Bahai leader was detained March
5. A government spokesman said the arrests aimed to defend Iran's
national security and had "nothing to do with ideological issues."
In 2010 Iran cut the jail terms imposed on the seven from 20 to 10
years.
(AP, 5/22/08)(AFP, 9/18/10)
2008 May 14, Iraq’s PM Nouri
al-Maliki visited the northern city of Mosul to supervise a military
offensive against al-Qaida in Iraq in its last major stronghold. In
Sadr City skirmishes left five dead and 22 wounded. In western
Baghdad a car bomb detonated next to a convoy carrying a lawmaker
from the mostly-Sunni Islamic Party, Ayad al-Samarrie, but he was
not hurt. One civilian was killed and 6 others wounded, including
four guards. A suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded at least
35 at the funeral of a Sunni school principal west of Baghdad. A
girl strapped with explosives killed an Iraqi officer. 2 militants
were killed and a third was wounded by an air-to-ground Hellfire
missile as they placed a roadside bomb on a road between Sadr City
and the northern Sunni district of Azamiyah. In Sadr City one person
was killed when another Hellfire missile hit a group of militants
also attempting to plant a bomb.
(AP, 5/14/08)(AP, 5/15/08)(WSJ, 5/15/08, p.A1)
2008 May 14, In Israel
President Bush said that 60 years of Israel's existence is cause for
optimism for democratic change throughout the Middle East, opening a
trip divided between ceremonial duties and a new push for
Israeli-Palestinian peace. A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in a
shopping center in Ashkelon, southern Israeli, wounding at least 14
people.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 14, In Kenya an
international aid worker said officials backed by armed police are
forcing some 9,000 Kenyans displaced by postelection violence to
leave a refugee camp in Kitale.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 14, In Mexico 2 police
officers were shot and killed in Torreon, Coahuila state, when they
tried to stop gunmen from kidnapping a family. Assailants opened
fire and threw grenades at a police station in Guamuchil in the
northern state of Sinaloa.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 14, The annual meeting
of the African Development Bank (AfDB) opened in Mozambique with the
organization’s head warning that rising growth rates are having
little impact on poverty levels.
(AFP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 14, Experts said the
1.5 million people left destitute by Myanmar's cyclone are in
increasing danger of disease and starvation, but the ruling junta
said no to a Thai request to admit more aid workers. The Red Cross
said the death toll could reach nearly 128,000. Another powerful
storm headed toward Myanmar's cyclone-devastated delta and the UN
warned that inadequate relief efforts could lead to a second wave of
deaths among the estimated 2 million survivors.
(AP, 5/14/08)(WSJ, 5/15/08, p.A1)
2008 May 14, In Pakistan a
number of foreign militants were killed when 2 missiles hit a house
in the village of Damadola in the Bajaur tribal region. The US
missile strike killed al-Qaida operative Abu Suleiman al Jaziery and
at least 14 others. Some of the dead were civilians. Authorities
freed militants and started to pull troops from a tribal region in a
bid to make peace with Islamic fighters. Suspected Islamic militants
soon killed a Pakistani soldier in revenge for the US missile strike
near the Afghan border.
(Reuters, 5/15/08)(WSJ, 5/15/08, p.A1)(AP,
5/16/08)(WSJ, 5/20/08, p.A14)
2008 May 14, In Spain a
booby-trapped van exploded outside a civil guard barracks in the
restive Basque country, killing one guard and wounding four others.
The government blamed the attack on separatist group ETA.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 14, In Sudan clashes
erupted in Abyei between the northern-based national army and former
guerrillas from the south. Arab Misseriya nomads, some armed by the
northerners, and the southern Ngok Dinka, protected by the SPLM,
held a historic animosity in the area over land and water. The UN
mission (UNMIS) there did little more than protect the local UN
base.
(Econ, 5/24/08, p.66)(Econ, 11/22/08, p.33)
2008 May 14, A Swiss pilot
strapped on a jet-powered wing and leaped from a plane for the first
public demonstration of the homemade device, turning figure eights
and soaring high above the Alps.
(AP, 5/15/08)
2009 May 14, It was disclosed
that the US Treasury Department has agreed to extend billions in
bailout funds to six major life insurers, following a months-long
quest by some in the sector for government help in shoring up
capital positions in the wake of major investment losses.
(AP, 5/15/09)
2009 May 14, Federal
authorities in Detroit charged 74 members and associates of the
Highwaymen Motorcycle Club with attempted murder, cocaine and
steroid distribution and other crimes.
(SFC, 5/15/09, p.A7)
2009 May 14, Chrysler LLC said
in a bankruptcy court filing that it wants to eliminate roughly a
quarter of its 3,200 US dealerships by early next month, because the
network is antiquated and has too many stores competing with each
other.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, Scientists
reported that ginger, long used as a folk remedy for stomach aches,
limits nausea caused by chemotherapy used in cancer treatments.
(SFC, 5/15/09, p.A14)
2009 May 14, The World Health
Organization (WHO) said the number of confirmed cases of the new
Influenza A (H1N1) flu has climbed to 6,497, including 65 deaths.
(Reuters, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, In southern
Afghanistan overnight fighting between Afghan police and insurgents
left 11 militants dead in Kandahar province. A British pilot was
injured after his jet crashed following takeoff in the same region.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner pledged increased financial
support for police and health care following a meeting with
President Hamid Karzai. A suicide car bomber struck a police station
in Kandahar province's Spinboldak district, leaving only the bomber
dead and 5 others wounded.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, In Australia a
court suspended a government program to kill 7,000 kangaroos on
federal land near the Australian capital, halting efforts to thin a
mushrooming population of the beloved marsupials that authorities
say are threatening endangered species.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, Bangladesh's high
court moved to plug a gaping hole in the country's laws by
introducing a first-ever ban on sexual harassment. Bangladeshi
police arrested 250 border guards accused of spreading violence
across the country during a mutiny that started at a military base
in Dhaka.
(AFP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, Britain’s PM
Gordon Brown suspended former agriculture and environment minister
Elliot Morley over embarrassing expenses claim revelations. It had
emerged that Morley claimed over 16,000 pounds for a home loan 18
months after it was paid off. Hours earlier the opposition
Conservatives announced that Andrew MacKay, a lawmaker, had resigned
as an aide to leader David Cameron after it emerged he and his wife,
also a Conservative MP, had claimed expenses for two home loans at
the same time.
(AFP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, A British
parliamentary report into human trafficking said more than 5,000
mostly women and children have been smuggled into Britain to work as
sex slaves and beggars.
(AFP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, The OECD ruled to
keep Britain’s Cayman Islands on its list of un-cooperative tax
havens.
(Econ, 5/23/09, p.41)
2009 May 14, Egyptian security
forces arrested 14 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood in dawn
raids at their homes.
(AFP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, A French rocket
carrying the largest space telescope ever was launched into space on
a mission that European scientists hope will help unravel the
mystery of the universe's creation. The Ariane-5 rocket was loaded
with the Herschel space telescope and the Planck spacecraft,
carrying a payload of 5.3 tons (4.81 metric tons) when it launched
from the city of Kourou near the jungles of French Guiana.
(AP, 5/15/09)
2009 May 14, A small plane
crashed into a yard in Guatemala City, reportedly killing six people
on board and setting a home on fire near the airport.
(AP, 5/15/09)
2009 May 14, In India
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, the 10-year-old child star of "Slumdog
Millionaire," was awakened by a policeman wielding a bamboo stick
and ordered out of his home. Minutes later it was bulldozed along
with dozens of other shanties in the Mumbai slum he calls home.
(AP, 5/15/09)
2009 May 14, Iraq's Trade
Minister Falah al-Sudani submitted his resignation following
allegations of widespread corruption in his department. PM Nouri
al-Maliki delayed accepting it to allow parliament to review the
allegations. Acceptance was announced on May 25.
(AP, 5/25/09)
2009 May 14, Pope Benedict XVI
greeted tens of thousands of adoring followers in Nazareth with a
message of reconciliation, urging Christians and Muslims to overcome
recent strife and "reject the destructive power of hatred and
prejudice."
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, Japan’s Sony Corp.
reported its first annual net loss in 14 years and forecast a bigger
loss this year, saying the pressure from sliding sales, competition
in gadget prices and a strong yen was expected to continue.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, Jordan's king
pressed Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately commit to the
establishment of a Palestinian state, as he pursues a sweeping
resolution of the Muslim world's conflicts with Israel.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi was charged with breaking the terms of her
house arrest and faces up to five years in jail after John Yettaw,
an American intruder, sneaked into her lakeside home.
(AP, 5/14/09)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.44)
2009 May 14, Pakistan said
artillery batteries shelled suspected hideouts in Swat and the
neighboring district of Lower Dir, with the military claiming to
have killed 54 militants in the last 24 hours. Nine soldiers were
reported killed. Residents said that armed Taliban have mined roads
and dug trenches around up to 200,000 civilians encircled by
Pakistani troops.
(AFP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, Russia said it was
proposing a new version of a key European arms-control treaty it
suspended more than a year ago, and could once again honor the
agreement if the US and its NATO allies accept the changes.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, In Spain a new
study said the air in Madrid and Barcelona is laced with at least
five drugs, including trace amounts of amphetamines, opiates,
cannabinoids and lysergic acid, a relative of LSD. The tests were
done in areas where drugs were likely to be consumed.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 14, In Sri Lanka
doctors and aides abandoned the only hospital in the war zone amid
unrelenting shell attacks. The military said thousands of civilians
braved rebel gunfire and fled across the front lines.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2010 May 14, In New Jersey 34
alleged members and associates of the Lucchese crime family were
indicted in connection with an illegal gambling operation.
(SFC, 5/15/10, p.A4)
2010 May 14, In Tennessee truck
driver Bruce Mendenhall (59) was convicted in the June 2007 death of
a woman at a Nashville truck stop. Authorities said he preyed on
prostitutes at truck stops. Mendenhall has also been charged with
killing women in Lebanon, Ten., Indianapolis and Birmingham, Ala.
(SFC, 5/15/10, p.A4)
2010 May 14, The space shuttle
Atlantis blasted off from Cape Canaveral for its final voyage with a
crew of 6 heading to the Int’l. space station.
(SFC, 5/15/10, p.A5)
2010 May 14, In eastern
Afghanistan hundreds of protesters brandished sticks, threw stones
and burned an American flag as they accused NATO forces of killing
civilians in an overnight raid, but the alliance said eight
insurgents were killed in the attack. NATO said at least nine
insurgents were killed the previous night during a pursuit of
suspected militants in the Tarnak Wa Jaldak district of eastern
Zabul province. An American service member died in an insurgent
attack in the east. A suicide bomber in Gardez jumped in front of a
vehicle in a convoy of the governor of eastern Paktiya province, who
narrowly escaped the attack. A civilian was killed and four other
people injured. Afghan and coalition forces conducted sweeps across
Afghanistan that left at least 30 militants dead, while insurgents
in the east killed five security guards in an ambush on a convoy. 8
militants were killed and two others wounded in a joint raid by
Afghan and coalition forces in Nangahar province.
(AP, 5/14/10)(AP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 14, In Algeria a
moderate earthquake killed two people and injured 43 others.
(AFP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 14, The Algerian army
killed three armed Islamic militants in the east of the country.
Several weapons, including two semi-automatic rifles, were seized in
the operation.
(AFP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 14, In Australia the
body of Nona Belomesoff (18) was found in an isolated bushland area.
Christopher James Dannevig (20) was charged with her murder. He had
allegedly set up a fake identity on Facebook and enticed Belomesoff
to a nature reserve in Sydney's southwest on May 12.
(AFP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 14, British lawmaker
Stephen Timms (54), a member of Parliament for the constituency of
East Ham and the former financial secretary to the Treasury, was
stabbed by Roshonara Choudhry (21) during an advice session with his
constituents. His injuries were not life-threatening and the women
was arrested. Choudhry was convicted on Nov 2 of trying to murder
Timms in retaliation for his support for the Iraq conflict. The next
day she was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.
(AP, 5/15/10)(AP, 11/2/10)(AP, 11/3/10)
2010 May 14, In eastern Central
African Republic villagers at Guerekindo killed two Ugandan rebels
of the Lord's Resistance Army in a self-defense initiative.
(AFP, 5/17/10)
2010 May 14, China’s state-run
Xinhua News Agency said four robbers were sentenced to death as part
of a 27-member gang who robbed a dozen tombs near the capital of the
central province of Hunan in 2008 and 2009. The other robbers got
prison terms.
(AP, 5/14/10)
2010 May 14, In China Internet
service was restored to Xinjiang province, 10 months after it was
blocked following deadly rioting in Urumqi, the regional capital.
(SFC, 5/15/10, p.A2)
2010 May 14, Four African
countries (Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda) signed a new treaty
on the equitable sharing of the Nile waters despite strong
opposition from Egypt and Sudan, who have the lion's share of the
river waters. The new agreement, the Nile Basin Cooperative
Framework, is to replace a 1959 accord between Egypt and Sudan that
gives them control of more than 90 percent of the water flow.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit warned at the weekend
that Cairo's water rights were a "red line" and threatened legal
action if a partial deal is reached.
(AFP, 5/14/10)
2010 May 14, In Hungary Gabor
Vona, the leader of Hungary's nationalist Jobbik party, wore a
banned black vest while taking his oath of office. The Hungarian
Guard was disbanded last year and its black outfits banned, although
the group has continued its activities.
(AP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 14, In central India a
bus carrying wedding guests hit a high-tension electricity line,
killing 28 people on board, mostly women and children, who were on
their way back from the ceremony in the Mandla district of Madhya
Pradesh state.
(Reuters, 5/14/10)
2010 May 14, Iraq’s election
commission said a full recount of votes for Baghdad province from
the parliamentary elections showed no fraud or major irregularities
and is unlikely to change the vote's final results. Al-Qaida in
Iraq's new leader warned Shiites that "dark days soaked with blood"
lie ahead and that a new campaign of attacks was under way. The
Iraqi insurgent umbrella group, the Islamic State of Iraq, named
al-Nasser Lideen Allah Abu Suleiman as its new minister of war,
replacing the Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri, killed in a US-Iraqi
military strike on a safe house in April. Within hours of the
warning, a car bomb exploded outside a Shiite mosque south of
Baghdad just after Friday prayers, wounding 20 worshippers.
(AP, 5/14/10)
2010 May 14, In Indian Kashmir
4 policemen and 2 civilians were injured in a grenade attack by
suspected Muslim militants, minutes after protesters and police
clashed.
(AFP, 5/14/10)
2010 May 14, An Indonesian
official said police have foiled a plot to assassinate the president
and other top officials, massacre foreigners in Mumbai-style
terrorist attacks and declare an Islamic state.
(AP, 5/14/10)
2010 May 14, In Kyrgyzstan
gunfire erupted as hundreds of interim government backers fought
supporters of deposed Pres. Kurmanbek Bakiyev for control over
regional government buildings. At least one person was killed and
more than 60 injured in the worst violence since last month's
forceful government change.
(AP, 5/14/10)
2010 May 14, Greece and Turkey
held a joint cabinet meeting in Athens in a new effort to overcome
old grudges and economic cooperation amidst the Greek debt crises. A
powerful bomb exploded inside a courthouse in the northern city of
Thessaloniki, sending smoke billowing in the building and wounding
one person.
(AP, 5/14/10)(SFC, 5/15/10, p.A2)
2010 May 14, In Mexico gunmen
killed six men and wounded two more in a drive-by shooting near a
kindergarten in Loma Blanca, a small town outside the border city of
Ciudad Juarez.
(AP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 14, In southern
Nigeria gunmen sporting military uniforms kidnapped four Lebanese
road construction workers in an attack that left a soldier and a
gang member dead in Abia state. The 4 workers were freed on May 22.
(AP, 5/15/10)(AFP, 5/22/10)
2010 May 14, Russia’s Itar-Tass
news agency quoted a senior Russian arms trader as saying Russia has
signed deals with Syria under which it will sell it warplanes,
anti-tank weapons and air defense systems. Federal Service for
Military-Technical Cooperation chief Mikhail Dmitriyev said Russia
will sell MiG-29 fighter jets, Pantsyr short-range air defense
systems and armored vehicles. He didn't give any numbers or provide
any further details.
(Reuters, 5/14/10)(AP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 14, In central Somalia
3 gunmen killed a World Food Program contracted driver in what is
believed to be clan-related violence.
(AP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 14, In South Africa
Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert (70), anti-apartheid activist, died. The
former South African legislator helped chart a way out of apartheid
by leading fellow whites into talks with exiled black leaders.
(AP, 5/14/10)
2010 May 14, In Spain Judge
Baltasar Garzon (54), the crusading judge who indicted Augusto
Pinochet and Osama bin Laden, was suspended for allegedly
overstepping his jurisdiction in a probe of one of Spain's biggest
cases, atrocities committed during and after the nation's ruinous
civil war. Human rights groups called Garzon's suspension a sad day
for the Spanish justice system.
(AP, 5/14/10)
2010 May 14, In Sudan
government troops killed 108 fighters from the rebel Justice and
Equality Movement in the Jebel Moon area of western Darfur.
Government forces also battled JEM rebels near Nyala in south Darfur
where 27 police and 33 rebels were killed. Forces loyal to a
renegade south Sudanese general clashed with government troops for
the fourth time in two weeks, leaving at least five soldiers dead.
(AP, 5/15/10)(Reuters, 5/14/10)
2010 May 14, In Sweden the home
of cartoonist Lars Vilks, who once drew a cartoon of the Prophet
Muhammad as a dog, was hit by a suspected arson attack.
(AP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 14, Thai troops fired
bullets at anti-government protesters and explosions thundered in
the heart of Bangkok. An army push to clear the streets and end a
two-month political standoff sparked clashes that left 5 people dead
and dozens wounded. Demonstrators the next day accused the
government snipers of picking people off with head shots.
(AFP, 5/14/10)(AP, 5/15/10)
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