Behold the mighty shrimp...it's National Shrimp Day!
Today is Friday, May 10, 2019, the 130th day of the year, 235 days remaining and a mere 543 days until the next presidential election.
- Sunrise: 6:04am
- Sunset: 8:08pm
...giving us 14 hours and 2 minutes of daylight. 25% of the waxing moon visible, rising at 11:12am.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 3:35am/6:22pm
- Low: 10:34am/11:02pm
Special celebrations & commemorations today…
- Constitution Day - Micronesia
- Dia de la Madre (Mother's Day) - Mexico
- National Receptionist Day - US
- World Lupus Day
- National Public Gardens Day
- National Provider Appreciation Day
- World Migratory Bird Day
- National Shrimp Day
On this day in…
1503 - Christopher Columbus discovered the Cayman Islands.
1768 - The imprisonment of the journalist John Wilkes as an outlaw provoked violence in London. Wilkes was returned to parliament as a member for Middlesex.
1773 - The English Parliament passed the Tea Act, which taxed all tea in theU.S. colonies.
1774 - Louis XVI ascended the throne of France.
1775 - Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold led an attack on the British Fort Ticonderoga and captured it from the British.
1796 - Napoleon Bonaparte won a brilliant victory against the Austrians at Lodi bridge in Italy.
1840 - Mormon leader Joseph Smith moved his band of followers toIllinois to escape the hostilities they had experienced inMissouri.
1865 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union troops near Irvinville,GA.
1869 - Central Pacific and Union Pacific Rail Roads meet in Promontory,UT. A golden spike was driven in at the celebration of the first transcontinental railroad in theU.S.
1872 - Victoria Woodhull became the first woman nominated for theU.S. presidency.
1898 - A vending machine law was enacted in Omaha,NE. It cost $5,000 for a permit.
1908 - The first Mother's Day observance took place during a church service in Grafton,West Virginia.
1933 - The Nazis staged massive public book burnings in Germany.
1940 - Germany invaded Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
1941 - England's House of Commons was destroyed by a German air raid.
1942 -U.S. forces in the Philippines began to surrender to the Japanese.
1943 -U.S. troops invaded Attu in the Aleutian Islands to expel the Japanese.
1960 - The U.S.S. Triton completed the first circumnavigation of the globe under water. The trip started onFebruary 16.
1962 - Marvel Comics published the first issue of "The Incredible Hulk."
1968 - Preliminary Vietnam peace talks began in Paris.
1969 - The National and American Football Leagues announced their plans to merge for the 1970-71 season.
1986 - Navy Lt. Commander Donnie Cochran became the first black pilot to fly with the Blue Angels team.
1994 - Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa’s first black president.
1997 - An earthquake in northeastern Iran killed at least 2,400 people.
1999 - China broke off talks on human rights with theU.S. in response to NATO's accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.
1999 - The Cezanne painting "Still Life With Curtain, Pitcher and Bowl of Fruit" sold for 60.5 million.
2000 - 11,000 residents were evacuated in Los Alamos,NM, due to a fire that was blown into a canyon. The fire had been deliberately set to clear brush.
2001 - Boeing Co. announced that it would be moving its headquarters to Chicago,IL.
2001 - In Ghana, 121 people were killed in a stampede at a soccer game.
2002 - Robert Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole. Hanssen, an FBI agent, had sold U.S. secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
2002 - Taiwan test fired a locally made Sky Bow II surface-to-air missile for the first time. They also fired three U.S.-made Hawk missiles.
2002 - Dr. Pepper announced that it would be introducing a new flavor, Red Fusion, for the first time in 117 years.
2011 - It was announced that Microsoft had closed a deal to purchase the internet phone service Skype for $8.5 billion.
2013 - In New York, NY, crane operators hoisted the final pieces of the spire atop One World Trade Center (formerly called the Freedom Tower).
2016 - NASA announced that it's Kepler mission had verified 1,284 new planets. This was the single largest finding of planets to date.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- John Wilkes Booth 1838
- Fred Astaire (Frederick Austerlitz) 1899 - Film and stage dancer, choreographer, singer, actor
- Dimitri Tiomkin 1899 - Film score composer and conductor
- David O. Selznick 1902 - Film producer ("Gone with the Wind")
- Nancy Walker 1922 - Actress, comedienne
- Pat Summerall 1930 - Sportscaster
- Gary Owens 1936 - Announcer ("Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In")
- Jim Abrahams 1944 - Writer, director ("Airplane")
- Marie-France Pisier 1944 - Actress
- Donovan (Donovan Philips Leitch) 1946
- Sid Vicious 1957 - Musician (Sex Pistols) -Sex Pistols Merchandise
- "Bono" (Paul Hewson) 1960 - Musician (U2)
- Suzan-Lori Parks 1963 - Playwright
- Linda Evangelista 1965 - Model
