Daily History Blog

May 13

Happy Birthday RIP Bea Arthur(Bernice Frankel 1922–2009) ; Harvey Keitel–74 Stevie Wonder(Stevland Judkins)–63 Dennis Rodman–52 Stephen Colbert–49 Brian Geraghty–38 Neil Hopkins–36 Robert Pattinson–27 ; 1958 – Velcro is trademark registered.

May 12

Happy Birthday RIP Wilfrid Hyde-White(1903–1991) Katharine Hepburn(1907-2003) George Carlin(1937-2008) ; Lawrence “Yogi” Berra–88 Burt Bacharach–85 Steve Winwood–65 Billy Squier–63 Gabriel Byrne–63 Emilio Estevez–51 Stephen Baldwin–47 Anthony “Tony” Hawk–45 Kim Fields–44 Jason Biggs–35

May 11

Happy Birthday RIP “Irving Berlin”(Israel Isidor Baline 1888–1989) Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí y Domenech(1904–1989) Martha Graham(1894–1991) ; Frances Fisher–61 “Peter North”(Alden Brown)–56 Martha Quinn–54 Cory Monteith–31 Jonathan Jackson–31 Matt Leinart–30 Matt Giraud–28 ; 1924 – Mercedes-Benz is formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merging their two companies.

May 10

Happy Birthday RIP Fred Astaire(Frederic Austerlitz 1899–1987) “Nancy Walker”(Anna Swoyer 1922–1992) “Sid Vicious”(Simon Ritchie 1957–1979) ; Gary Owens(Altman)–74 Meg Foster–65 Paul Hewson(“Bono”)–53 Jason Brooks–47 Dallas Roberts–43 Odette Annable(Yustman)–28 ; 1908 – The first Mother’s Day observance took place during church services in Grafton, W.Virginia ; 1975 – Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder in Japan.

May 9

Happy Birthday RIP Myron “Mike” Wallace(1918–2012) ; Albert Finney–77 Candice Bergen–67 Billy Joel–64 Tom Petersson–63 John Corbett–52 Chris Diamantopoulos–38 ; 1901 – Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.

May 8

Happy Birthday RIP Harry Truman(1884-1972) ; Don Rickles–87 Cathryn Toni Tennille–73 “Gary Glitter”(Paul Gadd)–69 Philip Bailey–62 Alexander “Alex” Van Halen–60 Melissa Gilbert–49 Enrique Iglesias Preysler–38 Stephen Amell–32 ; 1886 – Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named “Coca-Cola” as a patent medicine.

May 7

Happy Birthday RIP Frank “Gary” Cooper(1901–1961) Robert Hegyes(1951–2012) ; Thelma Houston(Jackson)–67 Nora Kuzma(“Traci Lords”)–45 Ivan Sergei Gaudio–42 Breckin Meyer–39 Alexander Ludwig–21 ; 1847 – The American Medical Association is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; 1946 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with around 20 employees

May 6

Happy Birthday RIP Sigismund Freud(1856–1939) Rodolfo di Valentina d’Antonguolla(Rudy Valentino 1895–1926) George Orson Welles(1915–1985) ; Willie Mays–82 Robert “Bob” Seger–68 Anthony Blair–60 Tom Bergeron–58 George Clooney–52 Gabourey Sidibe–30 Adrianne Palicki–30 ; 1889 – The Paris Exposition opened, featuring the just-completed Eiffel Tower ; 1937 – the hydrogen-filled German dirigible Hindenburg burned and crashed in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 of the 97 people on board.

May 5

Happy Birthday RIP Tammy Wynette(Virginia Pugh 1942–1998) ; Michael Palin–70 Jonathon Rhys-Davies–69 Kurt Loder–68 Brian Williams–54 Kristina Yothers–40 Henry Cavill–30 Adele Adkins–25 ;  1925 –  John T. Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution.

May 4

Happy Birthday RIP Audrey Hepburn(Ruston 1929–1993) Paul Gleason(1939–2006) ; Richard Jenkins–66 Pia Zadora(Schipani)–59 Randy Travis(Traywick)–54 Mary Beth McDonough–52 Ana Gasteyer–46 William “Will” Arnett–43 Michael Pritchard(“Mike Dirnt”)–41 James Lance Bass–34 ; 1959 – The 1st Grammy Awards are held in the Grand Ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Album of the Year was awarded to Henry Mancini.