Almanac

Today is Monday, May 13, the 134th day of 2024 with 232 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus. Evening star is Jupiter.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Pope Innocent XIII in 1655; Pope Pius IX in 1792; musician Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert and Sullivan, in 1842; French cubist painter Georges Braque in 1882; English novelist Daphne du Maurier in 1907; former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis in 1914; musician Mary Wells in 1943; actor/musician Bea Arthur in 1922; cult leader Jim Jones in 1931; actor Harvey Keitel in 1939 (age 85); actor Senta Berger in 1941 (age 83); musician Ritchie Valens in 1941; actor Zoë Wanamaker in 1949 (age 75); musician Stevie Wonder, born Stevland Hardaway Judkins, in 1950 (age 74); basketball Hall of Fame member Dennis Rodman in 1961 (age 63); comedian Stephen Colbert in 1964 (age 60); musician John Richardson (Gin Blossoms) in 1964 (age 60); musician Darius Rucker (Hootie & the Blowfish) in 1966 (age 58); actor Brian Geraghty in 1975 (age 49); actor Samantha Morton in 1977 (age 47); rapper Pusha T, born Terrence Thornton, in 1977 (age 47); musician Mickey Madden (Maroon 5) in 1979 (age 45); actor Iwan Rheon in 1985 (age 39); actor Lena Dunham in 1986 (age 38); actor Robert Pattinson in 1986 (age 38); actor Candice King in 1987 (age 37); actor Hunter Parrish in 1987 (age 37); actor Jake Borelli in 1991 (age 33); actor Tommy Dorfman in 1992 (age 32); actor Debby Ryan in 1993 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 1607, Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America, was founded near the James River in Virginia.

In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico.

In 1912, Britain established its air force -- the Royal Flying Corps.

In 1958, a crowd of protesters -- mostly students -- attacked Vice President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat Nixon, as they arrived in Venezuela. Shouting anti-American slogans, the group broke the windows of Nixon's vehicle and nearly toppled it before the U.S. delegation made an escape unharmed,

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy sent military riot-control units to Birmingham, Ala., stating that the government would do everything in its power preserve order, to protect the lives of its citizens and to uphold the law. Kennedy also directed an executive order be drafted enabling him to order the Alabama National Guard into immediate federal service if violence between black and white people was to once again erupt.

In 1973, Bobby Riggs defeated Margaret Court in the first Battle of the Sexes tennis match.

In 1981, Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca shot and injured Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Later, the pope, from his hospital bed, forgave his assailant.

In 1985, a Philadelphia police helicopter bombed the fortified house of a radical organization, MOVE, to end a 24-hour siege. Eleven people died and the ensuing fire destroyed 53 homes.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Stephen Breyer to succeed Justice Harry A. Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court. Breyer joined the court in August.

In 2009, astronauts on a 14-day servicing mission embarked on the first of five planned spacewalks to repair and update the 19-year-old Hubble Space Telescope. The project included installation of a wide-field camera and a Cosmic Origins Spectograph.

In 2011, in a reported retaliation to the slaying of terrorist chief Osama bin Laden, two suicide bombers killed 80 Pakistani recruits at a training center.

In 2014, in Israel former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was sentenced to six years in prison for taking bribes while he was mayor of Jerusalem.

In 2014, in western Turkey, an explosion and fire in a coal mine killed more than 300 people and injured dozens of others.

In 2019, actor Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty to paying $15,000 in a scheme to get her daughter admitted to college.

A thought for the day: "Clearly, love is love, between a man and a woman, a woman and a man, a woman and a woman, and a man and a man." -- American musician Stevie Wonder