It's Hug Your Cat Day...and if you do so...gently, please.
Today is Tuesday, May 12, 2020, the 130th day of the year, with 235 days remaining. Only 174 days until presidential elections (if civilization survives).
- Sunrise: 6:02am
- Sunset: 8:11pm ...giving us 14 hours and 8 minutes of daylight. 77% of the waning moon will be visible, rising at 12:59am.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 3:19am/6:06pm
- Low: 10:20am/10:55pm
Special celebrations & commemorations today…
- International Midwives Day
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Day - Australia
- Fibromyalgia Awareness Day - US
- Public Holiday - Kuwait, Jordan
- St. Andrew's Day - Georgia
- St. Joana's Day - Portugal
- International Nurses Day
- Limerick Day
- Hug Your Cat Day
- Native American Rights Day
- National Nutty Fudge Day
- Odometer Day
On this day in…
1588 - King Henry III fled Paris after Henry of Guise triumphantly entered the city.
1780 - Charleston, South Carolina fell to British forces.
1847 - William Clayton invented the odometer.
1881 - Tunisia, in North Africa became a French protectorate.
1926 - The airship Norge became the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.
1926 - In Britain, a general strike by trade unions ended. The strike began on May 3, 1926.
1937 - Britain's King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
1940 - The Nazi conquest of France began with the German army crossing Muese River.
1942 - The Soviet Army launched its first major offensive of World War II and took Kharkov in the eastern Ukraine from the German army.
1943 - The Axis forces in North Africa surrendered during World War II.
1949 - The Soviet Union announced an end to the Berlin Blockade.
1950 - The American Bowling Congress abolished its white males-only membership restriction after 34 years.
1965 - West Germany and Israel exchanged letters establishing diplomatic relations.
1975 - U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez was seized by Cambodian forces in international waters.
1978 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that they would no longer exclusively name hurricanes after women.
1982 - South Africa unveiled a plan that would give voting rights to citizens of Asian and mixed-race descent, but not to blacks.
1984 - South African prisoner Nelson Mandela saw his wife for the first time in 22 years.
1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismissed Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and named Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin as his successor.
2002 - Former U.S. President Carter arrived in Cuba for a visit with Fidel Castro. It was the first time a U.S. head of state, in or out of office, had gone to the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
If today’s your birthday, you share it with…
- Edward Lear 1812 - Poet, illustrator
- Florence Nightingale 1820 - Nurse, contributed to modern nursing procedures, author
- Jules Massenet 1842 - French composer
- Gabriel Urbain Fauré 1845 - French composer, pianist
- Katherine Hepburn 1907 - Actress ("Morning Glory", "On Golden Pond [1981]", "The Rainmaker")
- Howard K. Smith 1914 - Journalist, TV anchorman
- Mary Kay Ash 1915 - U.S. businesswoman and the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics
- Yogi Berra 1925 - Baseball player, manager
- Burt Bacharach 1929 - Composer
- Tom Snyder 1936 - Journalist, television host
- Frank Stella 1936 - Abstract artist, sculptor, painter
- George Carlin 1937 - Comedian, actor
- Millie Perkins 1938 - Actress ("Wall Street", "Ensign Pulver")
- Ian Dury 1942 - Singer (Ian Dury and the Blockheads)
- Steve Winwood 1948 - Musician (Blind Faith, Traffic, Spencer Davis Group)
- Lindsay Crouse 1948 - Actress ("The Juror", "Slap Shot", "Traps")
- Billy Squier 1950 - Singer
- Gabriel Byrne 1950 - Actor ("In Treatment")
- Bruce Boxleitner 1950 - Actor ("Scarecrow and Mrs. King", "The Babe")
- Kix Brooks 1955 - Musician (Brooks and Dunn)
- Kim Greist 1958 - Actress ("Homeward Bound" movies, "Chicago Hope")
- Kevin Bass 1959 - Baseball player
- Ving Rhames 1961 - Actor
- Billy Duffy 1961 - Musician (The Cult)
- Emilio Estevez 1962 - Actor
- Vanessa Williams 1963 - Actress
- Stephen Baldwin 1966 - Actor
- Tony Hawk 1968 - Skateboarder
- Kim Fields 1969 - Actress ("The Facts of Life")
- Samantha Mathis 1970 - Actress
- Jamie Luner 1971 - Actress ("Melrose Place")
- Mackenzie Astin 1973 - Actor
- Jason Biggs 1978 - Actor ("American Pie" movies)
- Malin Akerman 1978 - Actress
- Emily VanCamp 1986 - Actress ("Brothers & Sisters")
- Malcolm David Kelley 1992 - Actor ("Lost")
- Sawyer & Sullivan Sweeten 1995 - twin Actors ("Everybody Loves Raymond")
