It's SUPPORT KALW DAY!
Today is Friday, May 18, 2018, the 138th day of the year with 227 days remaining.
- Sunrise: 5:57am
- Sunset: 8:15pm
...giving us 14 hours and 18 minutes of daylight. 7% of the waxing moon will be visible, rising at 9:06am.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 1:41am/3:53pm
- Low: 8:28am/8:29pm
Special international celebrations today…
- Battle of Las Peidras - Uruguay
- Flag & University Day - Haiti
- International Museum Day
- Revival & Unity Day - Turkmenistan
It’s also…
- Buy A Musical Instrument Day
- Endangered Species Day
- HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
- I Love Reeses Day
- Mother Whistler Day
- NASCAR Day
- National Defense Transportation Day
- National Museum Day
- National Pizza Party Day
- O. Henry Pun-off Day
- Visit Your Relatives Day
On this day in…
1302 - The weaver Peter de Coningk led a massacre of the Flemish oligarchs.
1642 - Montreal, Canada, was founded.
1643 - Queen Anne, the widow of Louis XIII, was granted sole and absolute power as regent by the Paris parliament, overriding the late king's will.
1652 - In Rhode Island, a law was passed that made slavery illegal in North America. It was the first law of its kind.
1792 - Russian troops invaded Poland.
1798 - The first Secretary of theU.S. Navy was appointed. He was Benjamin Stoddert.
1802 - Great Britain declared war on Napoleon's France.
1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed emperor by the French Senate.
1828 - Battle of Las Piedras ended the conflict between Uruguay and Brazil.
1896 - TheU.S. Supreme court upheld the "separate but equal" policy in the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision. The ruling was overturned 58 years later with Brown vs. Board of Education.
1897 - A public reading of Bram Stoker's new novel, "Dracula, or, The Un-dead," was performed in London.
1904 - Brigand Raizuli kidnapped American Ion H. Perdicaris in Morocco.
1917 - TheU.S. Congress passed the Selective Service act, which called up soldiers to fight in World War I.
1926 - Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished while visiting a beach in Venice,CA. She reappeared a month later with the claim that she had been kidnapped.
1931 - Japanese pilot Seiji Yoshihara crashed his plane in the Pacific Ocean while trying to be the first to cross the ocean nonstop. He was picked up seven hours later by a passing ship.
1933 - TheTennessee Valley Authority was created.
1934 - TheU.S. Congress approved an act, known as the "Lindberg Act," that called for the death penalty in interstate kidnapping cases.
1942 - New York ended night baseball games for the duration of World War II.
1944 - Monte Cassino, Europe's oldest Monastic house, was finally captured by the Allies in Italy.
1949 - Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America was incorporated
1951 - The United Nations moved its headquarters to New York City.
1953 - The first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound, Jacqueline Cochran, piloted an F-86 Sabrejet overCalifornia at an average speed of 652.337 miles-per-hour.
1974 - India became the sixth nation to explode an atomic bomb.
1980 - Mt. Saint Helens erupted inWashington state. 57 people were killed and 3 billion in damage was done.
1983 - The U.S. Senate revised immigration laws and gave millions of illegal aliens legal status under an amnesty program.
1994 - Israel's three decades of occupation in the Gaza Strip ended as Israeli troops completed their withdrawal and Palestinian authorities took over.
1998 - TheU.S. federal government and 20 states filed a sweeping antitrust case against Microsoft Corp., saying the computer software company had a "choke hold" on competitors which denied consumer choices by controlling 90% of the software market.
1998 -U.S. federal officials arrested more than 130 people and seized $35 million. This was the end to an investigation of money laundering being done by a dozen Mexican banks and two drug-smuggling cartels.
2012 - Facebook Inc. held its initial public offering and began trading on the NASDAQ. The company was valued at $104 billion making it the largest valuation to date for a newly listed public company.
2014 - Russian President Putin signed a bill to absorb Crimea into the Russian Federation.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- Frank Capra 1897 - Film director ("It's a Wonderful Life")
- Robert Meredith Willson 1902 - Composer, songwriter, conductor, playwright
- Big Joe Turner 1911 - Singer, musician
- Perry Como 1912 - Singer, television personality
- Pierre Balmain 1914 - Fashion designer
- Margot Fonteyn (Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias) 1919 - Ballerina
- Pope John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyla) 1920
- Bill Macy 1922 - Television and stage actor
- Kai Winding 1922 - Trombonist, composer
- Marquita Rivera 1922 - Actress, singer, dancer, known as the "Queen of Latin Rhythm"
- Jack Whitaker 1924 - Sportscaster
- Pernell Roberts 1930 - Actor ("Bonanza," "Trapper John, M.D.")
- Robert Morse 1931 - Actor ("Mad Men," "How to Succeed in Business ...")
- Dwayne Hickman 1934 - Actor
- Brooks Robinson 1937 - Baseball player
- Rodney Dillard 1942 - Musician (The Dillards)
- Albert Hammond 1944 - Singer, songwriter
- Reggie Jackson 1946 - Baseball player
- Joe Bonsall 1948 - Musician (The Oak Ridge Boys)
- Dave Atkins 1949 - Musician, producer
- Candice Azzara 1949 - Actress
- Rick Wakeman 1949 - Musician (Yes)
- Rodney Milburn, Jr. 1950 - Olympic Athlete
- James Stephens 1951 - Actor
- George Strait 1952 - Country musician
- Butch Tavares 1953 - Musician (Tavares)
- Wreckless Eric 1954 - Musician
- Chow Yun-Fat 1955 - Actor
- Michael Cretu 1957 - Musician (Enigma)
- Toyah Willcox 1958 - Singer, actress
- Page Hamilton 1960 - Musician, singer (Helmet)
- Jari Kurri 1960 - Hockey player
- Yannick Noah 1960 - Tennis player
- Martika 1969 - Singer
- Tina Fey 1970 - Actress, comedian ("30 Rock," "Saturday Night Live")
- Special Ed (Edward Archer) 1974 - Musician
- Jack Johnson 1975 - Singer
- Darryl Allen 1980 - Musician (Mista)
- Allen Leech 1981 - Actor ("Downton Abbey")