Today is Tuesday, the 21st of May of 2019, the 141st day of 2019. There are 224 days left in the year. 31 days until summer begins, and 532 days until presidential elections Tuesday November 3, 2020...
(1 year 5 months and 13 days from today)
The sun rises at 5:55 am
and sunset will be at 8:19 pm.
Today we will have 14 hours and 24 minutes of daylight.
Solar noon will be at 1:07 pm.
A low pollen count today
rising to medium numbers the rest of the week.
The first high tide was at 1:09 am
and the next high tide will be at 3:23 pm.
The first low tide will be at 7:59 am
and the next low tide at 7:55 pm.
The Moon is 92.5%; a Waning Gibbous
Moon Direction: 201.80° SSW↑
Moon Altitude: 26.31°
Moon Distance: 242486 mi
Next New Moon: Jun 3, 2019 3:01 am
Next Full Moon: Jun 17, 2019 1:30 am
Next Moonset: Today 8:16 am
Today is…
American Red Cross Founder's Day
National Strawberries and Cream Day
National Waiters and Waitresses Day
as it was on this day in 2011 – Family Radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on this date.
Today is also…
Circassian Day of Mourning (Circassians)
Day of Patriots and Military (Hungary)
Independence Day, celebrates the Montenegrin independence referendum in 2006, celebrated until the next day. (Montenegro)
Saint Helena Day, celebrates the discovery of Saint Helena in 1502. (Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha)
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (International)
Anti-Terrorism Day (India)
In 1991, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated during national elections by a suicide bomber.
If today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You share this special day with…
1471 – Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (d. 1528)
1827 – William P. Sprague, American banker and politician (d. 1899)
1898 – Armand Hammer, American physician and businessman, founded Occidental Petroleum (d. 1990)
1901 – Sam Jaffe, American film producer and agent (d. 2000)
1903 – Manly Wade Wellman, American author (d. 1986)
1904 – Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (d. 1981)
1904 – Fats Waller, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1943)
1917 – Raymond Burr, Canadian-American actor and director (d. 1993)
1924 – Peggy Cass, American actress, comedian, and game show panelist (d. 1999)
1928 – Tom Donahue, American radio host and producer (d. 1975)
1930 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2015)
1933 – Maurice André, French trumpet player (d. 2012)
1948 – Leo Sayer, English-Australian singer-songwriter and musician
1951 – Al Franken, American actor, screenwriter, and politician
1952 – Mr. T, American actor and wrestler
1954 – Marc Ribot, American guitarist and composer
1959 – Nick Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1960 – Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d. 1994)
1972 – The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (d. 1997)
1974 – Havoc, American rapper and producer
…and on this day in history…
1703 – Daniel Defoe is imprisoned on charges of seditious libel.
1851 – Slavery is abolished in Colombia, South America.
1881 – The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C.
In 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis monoplane at Le Bourget Field near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33 1/2 hours.
On May 21, 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean as she landed in bad weather in a pasture in Derry in Northern Ireland, about 15 hours after leaving Newfoundland.
1934 – Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint all of its citizens.
In 1945, actors Humphrey Bogart, 45, and Lauren Bacall, 20, were married at Malabar Farm in Lucas, Ohio (it was his fourth marriage, her first, and would last until Bogart's death in 1957).
In 1972, Michelangelo's Pieta, on display in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, was damaged by a hammer-wielding mentally disturbed Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth who shouted he was Jesus Christ.
In 1979, former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the slayings of Mayor George Moscone (mahs-KOH'-nee) and openly gay Supervisor Harvey Milk; outrage over the verdict sparked the White Night riots. (White was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison; he ended up serving five years and committed suicide in 1985.)
1991 – Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
1992 – After 30 seasons Johnny Carson hosted his penultimate episode and last featuring guests (Robin Williams and Bette Midler) of The Tonight Show.
2001 – French Taubira law is enacted, officially recognizing the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.
2005 – The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka opens at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey.