Tuesday, May 12, 1998
Today's events
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U.S. President Clinton leaves for Berlin.
The Cannes Film Festival opens in France.
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On the horizon
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On Wednesday, May 13, a hearing on whether convicted Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols should pay restitution to bombing survivors and victims' families will be held in Denver.
On Thursday, May 14, the final episode of "Seinfeld" will air on NBC.
On Friday, May 15, the presentation of the annual Daytime Emmy Awards is to be held. For the 18th time, "All My Children" actress Susan Lucci has been nominated for best actress.
On Saturday, May 16, it's the running of the Preakness, the second in horse-racing's Triple Crown.
On Sunday, May 17, the National Basketball Association draft lottery takes place.
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On this day
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In 1780, during the American Revolution, Charles Town (later Charleston), South Carolina, fell to the British after a two-month siege.
In 1804, Robert Baldwin, Canadian statesman, was born. With Louis Lafontaine, he was joint leader of the first and second Liberal administrations in Canada.
In 1809, Sir Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) defeated the French at Oporto, forcing them to retreat from Portugal.
In 1820, Florence Nightingale, English nurse and founder of the modern nursing profession, was born in Italy. She served as a nurse in Turkey and the Crimea during the Crimean War.
In 1870, the Dominion of Canada purchased Manitoba from the Hudson's Bay Company and made it a province.
In 1871, Daniel-Francois-Esprit Auber, French opera composer, died. He developed opera containing spoken as well as sung passages.
In 1884, Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, composer of operas including "The Bartered Bride" and "The Brandenburgers in Bohemia," died.
In 1918, Julius Rosenberg was born. In 1953, he and his wife, Ethel, became the first U.S. civilians to be executed for espionage, despite a worldwide campaign for mercy.
In 1926, Norwegian Roald Amundsen, Italian Umberto Nobile and American Lincoln Ellsworth crossed the North Pole in an airship.
In 1926, Marshal Jozef Pilsudski led a successful military coup against the Polish government.
In 1937, King George VI of England was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London. The BBC televised the coronation procession, its first live outside broadcast.
In 1943, in World War II, all organized Axis resistance in Tunisia ended and the German commander in North Africa, General von Arnim, surrendered.
In 1949, the Russian blockade of Berlin officially ended after 11 months with a food convoy driving into the city.
In 1957, Erich Von Stroheim, film actor and one of the silent screen's greatest directors, died. Films he directed included "Greed" and "The Wedding March."
In 1962, France and independent French-speaking West African states initialed an agreement setting up a West African Monetary Union.
In 1967, John Masefield, English poet and, from 1930, poet laureate, died.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford ordered the U.S. aircraft carrier Coral Sea into the Gulf of Thailand after the Cambodian navy seized the American merchant ship Mayaguez.
In 1981, President Benjamin Sheares of Singapore died in office.
In 1989, retired British pilot Jack Mann was kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists in Beirut. He was the oldest of the Westerners held hostage in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war.
In 1990, three car bombs in Colombia killed 27 people as the country's drug barons appeared to switch to indiscriminate attacks in their war against the government.
In 1991, the moderate Nepali Congress won Nepal's first multiparty elections in 32 years.
In 1992, European Community peace monitors pulled out of Sarajevo, angry at harassment and attacks by combatants in Bosnia's worsening ethnic conflict.
In 1993, Franco Nobili, the head of Italy's biggest state firm IRI, was arrested in Rome after a 15-month corruption probe.
In 1994, a token force of Palestinian police crossed the Jordan River in preparation for the end of 27 years of Israeli military rule in a West Bank enclave around Jericho.
In 1994, the U.S. Senate voted to order President Clinton to seek international agreement on ending the U.N.-mandated arms embargo against the Bosnian Muslims.
In 1997, India and Pakistan agreed to release each other's imprisoned nationals and to set up a telephone hot line to ease tensions.
In 1997, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov signed a peace accord promising to end 400 years of intermittent conflict.
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Newslink
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The Cannes International Film Festival kicks off tonight. Check out the official
Cannes site for sights and sounds.
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Holidays and more
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Composer Burt Bachrach ("Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head") is 69.
Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra is 73.
Actor Bruce Boxleitner ("Scarecrow and Mrs. King") is 47.
Actor Gabriel Byrne ("The Usual Suspects") is 48.
Comedian George Carlin is 61.
Actress Lindsay Crouse ("House of Games") is 50.
Actor Emilio Estevez ("Breakfast Club") is 36.
Actress Kim Fields ("Living Single") is 29.
Actress Kim Greist ("Brazil") is 40.
Actress Katharine Hepburn ("On Golden Pond") is 91.
Actress Millie Perkins ("Knots Landing") is 60.
Journalist Tom Snyder is 62.
Artist Frank Stella ("Empress of India") is 62.
Musician Steve Winwood is 50.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1998, J.P. Morgan
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