May 14
May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (135th in leap years). There are 231 days remaining.
Events
- 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England.
- 1483 - Coronation of Charles VIII the Kind.
- 1509 - Battle of Agnadello: In northern Italy, French forces defeat Venitians.
- 1643 - Four year-old Louix XIV becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.
- 1787 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin to meet to write a new Constitution for the United States.
- 1796 - Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination.
- 1804 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs from Camp Dubois and begin their historic journey by traveling up the Missouri River.
- 1870 - The first game of rugby in New Zealand is played in Nelson between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club.
- 1889 - children's cruelty charity NSPCC launched in London
- 1900 - The 1900 Summer Olympics open in Paris, France
- 1913 - New York Governor William Sulzer approves the charter for the Rockefeller Foundation which begins operations with a $100,000,000 donation from John D. Rockefeller.
- 1914 - The Hellenic Holocaust starts, according to an official document from Talaat Bey (Minister of the Interior) to the prefect of Smyrna.
- 1927 - Cap Arcona's launching , Blohm & Voss shipyard, in Hamburg.
- 1935 - Filipinos ratify an independence agreement.
- 1939 - Lina Medina, becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at age 5
- 1940 - World War II: The Dutch city of Rotterdam is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
- 1940 - World War II: The Netherlands surrender to Germany.
- 1948 - Israel declares itself to be an independent state and a provisional government is established.
- 1948 - The murder of a three-year-old girl in Blackburn, England leads to the fingerprinting of more than 40,000 men in the city in an attempt to find the murderer.
- 1955 - Cold War: Eight communist bloc countries including the Soviet Union sign a mutual-defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.
- 1961 - American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders bus is fire-bombed near Anniston, Alabama and the civil rights protestors are beaten by an angry mob.
- 1970 - The Red Army Faction is established in Germany.
- 1973 - Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.
- 1995 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama proclaims 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the eleventh reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.
- 1997 - The Star Alliance is formed between Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways International and United Airlines.
- 1998 - After nine years on the air, the series finale of the television sitcom Seinfeld aires on NBC.
- 2004 - Marriage of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark and Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen
Births
- 1316 - Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1378)
- 1710 - King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (d. 1771)
- 1727 - Thomas Gainsborough, artist (d. 1788)
- 1771 - Robert Owen, social reformer
- 1867 - Kurt Eisner, politician and publicist (d. 1919)
- 1869 - Friedrich Karl Kleine, physician (d. 1951)
- 1884 - Claude Dornier, aircraft designer (d. 1969)
- 1885 - Otto Klemperer, conductor (d. 1973)
- 1897 - Sidney Bechet, jazz musician (d. 1959)
- 1907 - Ayub Khan, Pakistani President
- 1912 - Ben Hogan, golfer (d. 1997)
- 1917 - Lou Harrison, composer (d. 2003)
- 1922 - Franjo Tudjman, president of Croatia (d. 1999)
- 1929 - Gump Worsley, Hockey Hall of Famer
- 1931 - Alvin Lucier, composer
- 1934 - Siân Phillips, actress
- 1936 - Bobby Darin, singer (d. 1973)
- 1942 - Byron Dorgan, politician
- 1943 - Jack Bruce, bass guitarist
- 1943 - Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, president of Iceland
- 1944 - George Lucas, film director and producer
- 1952 - David Byrne, singer, songwriter, guitarist
- 1952 - Robert Zemeckis, director
- 1961 - Tim Roth, actor
- 1964 - Eric Peterson, singer
- 1965 - Eoin Colfer, writer
Deaths
- 964 - Pope John XII
- 1610 - King Henry IV of France
- 1847 - Fanny Mendelssohn, composer and pianist
- 1906 - Carl Schurz, German revolutionist and American statesman (b. 1829)
- 1912 - August Strindberg, author
- 1925 - H. Rider Haggard, author
- 1931 - David Belasco, writer
- 1957 - Marie Vassilieff, artist
- 1959 - Sidney Bechet, jazz musician (b. 1897)
- 1969 - Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer
- 1978 - Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia
- 1987 - Rita Hayworth, actress
- 1997 - Harry Blackstone Jr., magician
- 1998 - Frank Sinatra, singer, actor
- 2000 - Obuchi Keizo, Japanese prime minister
- 2003 - Dave DeBusschere, NBA basketball player
- 2003 - Robert Stack, actor
Holidays and observances
May 13 - May 15 - April 14 - June 14 -- listing of all days