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History

Staff
Monday May 13, 2002

Today is Monday, May 13, the 133th day of 2002. There are 232 days left in the year. 

 

Highlight: 

On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter’s Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca. 

 

On this date: 

In 1607, the English colony at Jamestown, Va., was settled.  

In 1842, composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, who collaborated with Sir William Gilbert in writing 14 comic operas, was born in London. 

In 1846, the United States declared that a state of war already existed against Mexico. 

In 1917, three peasant children near Fatima, Portugal, reported seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary. 

In 1918, the first U.S. airmail stamps, featuring a picture of an airplane, were introduced. (On some of the stamps, the airplane was printed upside-down, making them collector’s items.) 

In 1940, in his first speech as prime minister of Britain, Winston Churchill told the House of Commons, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” 

In 1954, President Eisenhower signed into law the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Act. 

In 1954, the musical play “The Pajama Game” opened on Broadway. 

In 1958, Vice President Nixon’s limousine was battered by rocks thrown by anti-U.S. demonstrators in Caracas, Venezuela. 

 

 

“So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked what is the root of money?”  

 

— Ayn Rand, Russian-born author 

(1905-1982). 

 

 

In 1985, a confrontation between Philadelphia authorities and the radical group MOVE ended as police dropped an explosive onto the group’s headquarters; 11 people died in the resulting fire. 

 

Ten years ago: 

A trio of astronauts from the space shuttle Endeavour captured a wayward Intelsat-6 communications satellite during the first-ever three-person spacewalk. President Bush announced a $600 million loan package to help rebuild riot-scarred Los Angeles. 

 

Five years ago: 

At the Oklahoma City bombing trial, prosecutors showed jurors the key to the Ryder truck used to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, alleging Timothy McVeigh left it behind in the same alley he’d picked to stash his getaway car. 

 

Today’s Birthdays: 

Actress Beatrice Arthur is 76. Critic Clive Barnes is 75. Actor Harvey Keitel is 63. Actor Franklin Ajaye is 53. Singer Stevie Wonder is 52. Basketball player Dennis Rodman is 41. Country singer Lari White is 37. Singer Darius Rucker (Hootie and the Blowfish) is 36.