Historical Events

1898 - Louisiana adopts new constitution with "grandfather clause" designed to eliminate black voters
1915 - Franklin K. Mathiews first presents idea of "Book Week"
1961 - Russian Mikhail Botvinnik wins World Chess Championship for his third time
1978 - US Commerce Department says hurricane names will no longer be only female
2014 - Voters in Eastern Ukraine vote for self-rule in referendum

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1700 - Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect (Palace of Caserta), born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples (now Italy) (d. 1773)
1910 - Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, British biochemist who developed protein crystallography to study molecular structure, including that of vitamin B12 (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1964), born in Cairo, Egypt (d. 1994)
1956 - Homer Simpson, American fictional patriarchal character, and donut aficionado from the long running animated television show "The Simpsons", born in Springfield
1959 - Ving Rhames [Irving Rameses Rhames], American actor (Mission Impossible), born in New York City
1981 - Lorena Bernal, Argentine Spanish model and actress (Miss Spain 1999), born in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1918 - Abel Hoadley, Australian confectioner (Violet Crumble), dies at 73
1943 - Albert Stoessel, American violinist, conductor, composer, and educator, dies of a heart attack on the podium at 48
1957 - Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
2007 - Mullah Dadullah Akhund, Taliban military leader (b. 1966?)
2020 - Astrid Kirchherr, German photographer, helped establish The Beatles image, dies at 81

More Famous Deaths »



from Today in History | OnThisDay.com https://ift.tt/UNWz6eM
https://ift.tt/ZVucG7j
May 12, 2026 at 09:32AM
https://ift.tt/ZrCwGpM