Today In History

Today is Wednesday, May 12, the 132nd day of 2021. There are 233 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1949: The Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift.

ON THIS DATE

› 1780: During the Revolutionary War, the besieged city of Charleston, South Carolina, surrendered to British forces.

› 1958: The United States and Canada signed an agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (later the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD).

› 1970: The Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harry A. Blackmun as a Supreme Court justice.

› 1982: In Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who attacked Pope John Paul II. (In 2008, the pope’s longtime private secretary revealed that the pontiff was slightly wounded in the assault.)

› 1997: Australian Susie Maroney became the first woman to swim from Cuba to Florida, covering the 118-mile distance in 24 1/2 hours.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Composer Burt Bacharach is 93. Actor Millie Perkins is 85. R&B singer Jayotis Washington is

80. Country singer Billy Swan is 79. Actor Linda Dano is 78. Actor Lindsay Crouse is 73. Singer-musician Steve Winwood is

73. Actor Gabriel Byrne is 71. Actor Bruce Boxleitner is 71. Singer Billy Squier is 71. Blues singer-musician Guy Davis is 69. Country singer Kix Brooks is 66. Actor Kim Greist is 63. Rock musician Eric Singer (KISS) is

63. Actor Ving Rhames is

62. Rock musician Billy Duffy is 60. Actor Emilio Estevez is 59. Actor April Grace is 59. Actor Vanessa A. Williams is 58. TV personality/chef Carla Hall is 57. Actor Stephen Baldwin is 55. Actor Scott Schwartz is 53. Actor Kim Fields is 52. Actor Samantha Mathis is 51. Actor Jamie Luner is 50. Actor Christian Campbell is 49. Actor Rhea Seehorn is 49. Actor Mackenzie Astin is 48. Country musician Matt Mangano (The Zac Brown Band) is 45. Actor Rebecca Herbst is 44. Actor Malin Akerman is 43. Actor Jason Biggs is 43. Actor Rami Malek is 40. Actor Emily VanCamp is 35. Actor Malcolm David Kelley is 29. Actor Sullivan Sweeten is 26.