Thursday, May 13th
The 133rd day of 2010.
There are 232 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
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On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter's Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca. (Go to article.)
On May 13, 1914, Joe Louis, the American boxer who was world heavyweight champion for a record-setting 12 years, was born. Following his death on April 12, 1981, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On May 13, 1882, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Mississippi River flooding. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1607 An English colony was settled at Jamestown in present-day Virginia.
1842 Composer Arthur Sullivan, who collaborated with William Gilbert in writing 14 comic operas, was born in London.
1846 The United States declared that a state of war existed against Mexico.
1914 Boxing champion Joe Louis was born in Lafayette, Ala.
1917 Three peasant children near Fatima, Portugal, reported seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary.
1940 Winston Churchill told the British House of Commons in his first speech as prime minister, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
1958 Vice President Richard Nixon's limousine was battered by rocks thrown by anti-U.S. demonstrators in Caracas, Venezuela.
1985 Philadelphia police dropped an explosive onto the headquarters of the radical group MOVE; 11 people died in the resulting fire.
2003 The government unveiled a new version of the $20 bill - the first to be colorized in an effort to thwart counterfeiters.
Current Birthdays
Robert Pattinson turns 24 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini Actor Robert Pattinson ("Twilight" movies) turns 24 years old today.
71 Harvey Keitel
Actor
60 Stevie Wonder
Singer, musician
46 Stephen Colbert
TV host ("The Colbert Report")
46 Tom Verica
Actor ("American Dreams")
44 Darius Rucker
Rock singer (Hootie and the Blowfish)
33 Samantha Morton
Actress
32 Barry Zito
Baseball player
23 Hunter Parrish
Actor ("Weeds")
Historic Birthdays
Joe Louis
5/13/1914 - 4/12/1981
American boxer; world champion from 1937 to 1949
(Go to obit.)
55 Henry William Stiegel
5/13/1729 - 1/10/1785
German-born American ironmaster and glassmaker
67 William Petty-Fitzmaurice, 1st marquess of Lansdowne
5/13/1737 - 5/7/1805
British statesman and prime minister (July 1782 - April 1783)
85 Pius IX
5/13/1792 - 2/7/1878
Italian pope (1846-78)
58 Sir Arthur Sullivan
5/13/1842 - 11/22/1900
English composer; wrote operettas with W. S. Gilbert
75 Sir Ronald Ross
5/13/1857 - 9/16/1932
British bacteriologist; won the Nobel prize in 1902
81 Georges Braque
5/13/1882 - 8/31/1963
French Cubist painter
74 Charles Pahud de Mortanges
5/13/1896 - 4/7/1971
Dutch equestrian; won Olympic medals in 1924, 1928 and1932
81 Dame Daphne du Maurier
5/13/1907 - 4/19/1989
English novelist and playwright; wrote "Rebecca"
75 Gil Evans
5/13/1912 - 3/20/1988
Canadian-born composer and arranger
47 Jim Jones
5/13/1931 - 11/18/1978
American cult leader responsible for the Jonestown Massacre in 1978
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SOURCE: The Associated Press
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