The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Fallen Timbers (1791-1794) - May 6th, 2003

EarlyAmerica ^ | 1994 | Richard Battin

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

.

FReepers from the The Foxhole
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

.

.................................................................................................................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

We hope to provide an ongoing source of information about issues and problems that are specific to Veterans and resources that are available to Veterans and their families.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

Resource Links For Veterans

Click on the pix

Early America's Bloodiest Battle

On September 17, 1791 Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair headed north from what is now Cincinnati, Ohio to establish a fort at the head of the Maumee River. Had he been successful, folks in Fort Wayne, Indiana would have celebrated their bicentennial three years earlier and presumably it would have been in Fort St. Clair, not Fort Wayne.

Instead, St. Clair was soundly defeated by the Indians in what has been called the bloodiest battle of pioneer American history. The battle site, which became Fort Recovery, Ohio, was about 50 miles southeast of the Indians' Kekionga village, where Fort Wayne was built.

Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair

Nearly 700 of St. Clair's people were killed, compared with approximately 40 Indians who lost their lives. Of St. Clair's dead, more than 600 were soldiers, and at least 56 were women - wives who had accompanied their husbands on the trip. Dozens of other women and children were taken prisoner.

It was more than three times the number the Sioux would kill 85 years later at Custer's last stand at Little Big Horn - and, by far, the worst defeat of an American force by Indians in the nation's history.

In relative terms, some historians have called it the country's worst military defeat ever because it left the United States with a total army of about 300.

Three years would pass before Gen. Anthony Wayne and his better-trained army would defeat the Indians at Fallen Timbers - near present-day Toledo, Ohio - and then move southwest to the confluence of the St. Marys and St. Joseph rivers to build a fort.

In mid-March 1791, Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, was summoned to the Philadelphia office of President George Washington. St. Clair was selected, Washington explained, because the president had "full confidence" in his military abilities based on St. Clair's Revolutionary War experience.

His mission, set forth in a 4,500-word document from Secretary of War Henry Knox, was to "establish a strong and permanent military post" at the Miami village of Kekionga, something General Josiah Harmar had failed to do the previous October when his troops were defeated around the area that would eventually become Fort Wayne.


Fort Recovery

That debacle at the hands of the Miami Chief Little Turtle - who would also lead his well-trained men against St. Clair - became known as "Harmar's Defeat." Arthur St. Clair was a Scottish-American who served as a British army officer in America during the French and Indian War. When the Revolutionary War began, he joined the colonial army and organized the New Jersey troops.

He fought at Trenton and Princeton, and became a major general. He commanded Fort Ticonderoga, but did not try to defend it, abandoning the New York fort to the British in 1777. St. Clair was criticized for failing to defend the fort and was recalled from service.

His checkered military career, however, did not prevent him from winning a seat in the Congress of the Confederation after the Revolutionary War as a representative of Pennsylvania. In 1787, he became president of the congress and that same year he was named governor of the Northwest Territory.

At the time Washington picked him to lead an army to Kekionga, Arthur St. Clair was 55 and afflicted with a very bad case of gout. He was, for the times, a tired old man.

Still, President Washington had confidence in the Revolutionary War veteran. But, speaking as an "old soldier," Washington offered St. Clair some advice: "Beware of surprise," he warned. "Trust not the Indian; leave not your arms for the moment; and when you halt for the night be sure to fortify your camp. Again and again, General: Beware of surprise!"


Josiah Harmar

It was advice St. Clair failed to take seriously enough, although, given the cards stacked against him - primarily his ragtag army of amateur, ill- prepared and poorly equipped soldiers - it probably would have done little to change the situation.

Plans were to raise 3,000 soldiers for the taking of Kekionga. The War Department estimated the opposition at about 1,000 Indians along the Wabash River, and maybe 1,000 "more distant Indians." Knox decreed a 3,000-man army would be "superior to all oppositions." St. Clair talked openly of the Indians' pending "utter destruction," telling anyone who would listen that "ruin will surely overtake them." But St. Clair's army came to be made up largely of "levies," or short- term soldiers recruited for six-month terms. They were not professional fighters, they had no commitment to victory beyond staying alive, and they were unfamiliar with the area.

The Indians, however, were fighting for their homeland. They were experienced warriors led by the brilliant Little Turtle of the Miamis and Blue Jacket of the Shawnees.

The Indians were encouraged and supplied by the British, who hoped to regain the Northwest Territory they had lost to the Americans during the Revolutionary War. Henry Hamilton, British lieutenant governor at Detroit, earned the nickname "Hair Buyer" among the Indians because he had bought so many American scalps. Delays kept the Americans at Fort Washington (now Cincinnati) until September. Expecting a summer departure, the troops were equipped with lightweight tents. The weather already was turning cold.

Secretary of War Knox appointed his friend William Duer, an unscrupulous New York financier, to supply the troops, but the two of them were instead spending government money on land speculation.

The army was supposed to cut its way through the Ohio wilderness, building forts along the way, but it was equipped with only 15 hatchets, 18 axes, 12 hammers and 24 handsaws.

Duer sent reprocessed and damaged gunpowder to the troops. One soldier noted that his musket balls bounced off Indians during the battle.


Little Turtle

There was a serious deficiency of horses. The army had a horsemaster who one soldier observed, "had never been in the woods in his life." More than 600 pack horses were injured fighting for food that was improperly scattered on the ground rather than put in troughs. Calvary horses were turned loose in the woods at night without bells or hobbles, and dozens wandered away or were stolen by Indians.

St. Clair headed north from Fort Washington on Sept. 17, 1791, with a little more than 2,000 men. Desertions were common among officers as well as the regular soldiers. Discipline was inconsistent. St. Clair and his second- in command, Brig. Gen. Richard Butler, were barely speaking to each other.

They had no information on what the Indians were doing or where they were.

St. Clair assumed the Indians would abandon their villages and beg for peace as he approached. Occasional sightings of warriors by sentries were discounted as chance encounters with roaming Indian hunters.

The Indians, meanwhile, led by Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, were receiving a constant stream of information from deserters, prisoners and warrior scouts sent to spy.

Their forces totaled a little more than 1,000 men. On Oct. 28, they left Kekionga, advancing on the Americans to the south.



Six days later, St. Clair's troops reached a tributary of the Wabash River. This spot, elevated from its surroundings, was chosen as an ideal place to camp for the night.

St. Clair's army now numbered 1,400 regulars and militia, and 86 officers.

The weather was bitterly cold.

B.J. Griswold writes in his "Pictorial History of Fort Wayne":

"The sun had not yet risen when the army was thrown into a state of consternation by the yells of savages who advanced from all sides and at once commenced their fierce attack upon the startled encampment." And from the journal of Maj. Ebenezer Denny: "The savages seemed not to fear anything we could do. They could skip out of reach of bayonet and return, as they pleased. The ground was literally covered with the dead. . . . It appeared as if the officers had been singled out, as a very great proportion fell. The men being thus left with few officers, became fearful, despaired of success, gave up the fight."

The rout lasted three hours before the survivors - among them St. Clair himself - fled south to Fort Jefferson, one of two forts they had erected since Fort Washington. The spoils of the camp kept the Indians from serious pursuit.


Blue Jacket

Washington Irving describes the president's reaction to the news in his "Life of Washington": "It's all over!" Washington exclaimed. "St. Clair defeated! - routed! The officers nearly all killed, the men by wholesale; the rout complete; too shocking to think of, and a surprise into the bargain. . .To suffer that army to be cut to pieces, hacked, butchered, tomahawked, by a surprise - the very thing I guarded him against - O, God! O God!. . . . He's worse than a murderer! How can he answer to his country!"

St. Clair did manage some kind of answer. He lost his commission, but Washington allowed him to continue as governor of the Northwest Territory.

While it was a major victory for the Indians, they failed to take advantage of it. By mid-November of 1791, much of the Indian force had scattered. It had been a bad crop year, and most of the food supply had been exhausted.


"Mad" Anthony Wayne

Before dispersing, the Indian tribes met on the banks of the Ottawa River near what is now Lima, Ohio. They decided nothing except to meet in the spring and talk some more. Only the Miami Indians took action, moving from Kekionga to near what is now Toledo to be closer to the British fort.

The British, too, could have taken better advantage, but word of St. Clair's defeat didn't reach England until nearly seven months later.

Enough time passed to permit Washington to pick Anthony Wayne to lead a third expedition against the Indians. This army was well-equipped and well- trained, and found victory against the Indians at Fallen Timbers in August 1794.

Less than two months later, on Oct. 22, 1794, fifteen cannon rounds and three cheers signaled the official opening of Fort Wayne.

For Darksheares' Sister, You can quit bugging him now

[SAMWolf]

"Mad Anthony" Wayne at Fallen Timbers

General Wayne's Decisive Victory In the Northwest Territory
Ends the Young Nation's Crisis of Authority

If CNN had been around in the 1790s it probably would have assigned "hot spot" reporter Wolf Blitzer to the Northwest Territory, the area that includes present-day Fort Wayne.

And, without a doubt, Gen. Anthony Wayne was the Gen. Schwartzkopf of the day.

Had he not died in 1796 at the age of 51 he might easily have given John Adams or Thomas Jefferson stiff competition in their runs for the presidency in 1796 and 1800.

Anthony Wayne was born on New Year's day in 1745 in Chester County, Pa., about 20 miles from Philadelphia.

"Mad" Anthony Wayne

World powers watched the Northwest Territory with covetous interest during the 1790s. "Lack of authority . . . left the nation a natural prey for the colonial vultures of Europe," wrote Richard Knopf in "Anthony Wayne, A Name in Arms." ''Britain had never given up hope of regaining her lost colonies. Spain eyed with envy the trans-Allegheny West . . . France became more and more inclined toward the establishment of a new empire in the new world." Had it not been for Anthony Wayne's victories in Ohio in 1793 and 1794 and the founding of Fort Wayne in October 1794, the western border of the country might never have made it even to the Mississippi River.

Wayne's interest in the military began at an early age. His grandfather and father had both been soldiers. Wayne read avidly of battles and ancient military heroes, and he organized his friends and cousins into armies to fight mock battles.

Sent to Philadelphia to be educated by his uncle, Gabriel Wayne, Anthony Wayne didn't take to education right away.

His exasperated uncle wrote to Wayne's father: ''I really suspect that parental affection blinds you, and that you have mistaken your son's capacity. What he may be best qualified for, I know not--- one thing I am certain of, he will never make a scholar, he may perhaps make a soldier, he has already distracted the brains of two-thirds of the boys under my charge by rehearsals to battles, sieges . . ." Isaac Wayne, Anthony's father, had a long talk with his son, who thereafter applied himself to his schoolwork, especially mathematics. Within 18 months, Gabriel Wayne advised his brother to continue the young man's education.

Wayne eventually became an excellent surveyor and served Benjamin Franklin for a short time as an agent in Nova Scotia. But he never lost his interest in the military, and when the Revolutionary War began he was eager to serve.

In 1775 the Second Continental Congress asked Pennsylvania to recruit four battalions for the Continental Army.

One of the four men chosen to head up the battalions was 30-year-old Anthony Wayne. One of the other four was Arthur St. Clair, who would cross Wayne's path several times during the Revolutionary War and the conquest of the Northwest Territory.

The new Col. Wayne's regiment of volunteers first served in the disastrous campaign against Quebec. During the retreat, Wayne found himself in command after St. Clair stubbed his toe on a tree root. Wayne himself had received a painful leg wound during the fighting retreat, but he paid no attention to it.

"Wayne's leg wound was much worse than St. Clair's stubbed toe, but he stayed on his feet during the march of anguish through the woods," Glenn Tucker wrote in his "Mad Anthony Wayne and the New Nation." For a time he commanded Fort Ticonderoga, N.Y., and he was raised to the rank of brigadier general in 1777 for his services there. St. Clair, however, had been inexplicably promoted to brigadier general ahead of Wayne, despite his own poor showing in the defense of Ticonderoga.

Wayne and St. Clair feuded intermittently throughout the war.

Wayne's most brilliant exploit of the Revolutionary War was the storming of the British fort July 16, 1779, at Stony Point, N.Y. His forces took the strongest British post on the Hudson River with a surprise night attack.

Descriptions of Wayne vary from impetuous to vain. He inspired loyalty among his men. He was a shrewd politician but a weak businessman. He was a meticulous dresser and was nicknamed "Dandy" before he became "Mad Anthony." Several versions with common threads exist on how Wayne earned his "Mad Anthony" moniker.

Glenn Tucker's book says Wayne was named by a character called "Jemy the Rover," a "nondescript character" who served as Wayne's principal spy during the Valley Forge campaign. Wayne called him "Commodore." At one point during the winter of 1781 Jemy became unruly, and Wayne, "not in good spirits," ordered him to receive 29 lashes across the back for his behavior.

"Anthony is mad, stark mad," Jemy exclaimed. "Mad Anthony Wayne" he yelled again and again.

[SAMWolf]

At the end of the Revolutionary War, Great Britain agreed that the Mississippi River would be the western boundary of the United States and that the Great Lakes would serve as the border on the north. Presumably this meant British troops would withdraw from these areas into Canada. In fact, they did not.

The new nation, operating under the Articles of Confederation was weak, and the Northwest Territory was a lucrative source of furs for the British.

The British found a strong ally in the Indians of the area, to whom they supplied shot, powder and guns in exchange for furs.

Passage of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787 sent American settlers into the Ohio Valley area at the rate of 10,000 a year. Problems protecting these settlers were among those that proved the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and led to ratification of the new Constitution June 21, 1788.



By 1790, Congress yielded to the appeals for protection from Indians by the new residents of the Northwest Territory.

Brigadier General Josiah Harmar was dispatched to the new territory with an army and instructions to punish the Wabash and Miami Indians for their raids on river traffic. Harmar commanded 320 regular troops, 1,133 Kentucky militiamen and a battalion of Pennsylvania infantrymen.

On Oct. 22, 1790, four years to the day before the founding of Fort Wayne, Harmar's army was ambushed and soundly defeated by Indians led by Chief Little Turtle.

In their defense, the Indians believed they owned the land by moral right and previous treaty.

Harmar's defeat was a national humiliation and a major setback to President Washington's plans for the Northwest Territory. Congress quickly authorized higher troop levels, and another army of men was dispatched to Miami Village, now Fort Wayne, to punish the Indians.



In November 1791 the army was attacked by Indians again led by Little Turtle, around what is now Fort Recovery, Ohio. The general leading the army had been warned by Washington to be careful of surprise attacks. He didn't listen.

More than 700 Americans died in the fighting, including 56 women who had accompanied their soldier husbands to the frontier. By comparison, about 200 soldiers died at Custer's Last Stand in 1876.

The general who failed to heed Washington's warnings was Arthur St. Clair himself, Wayne's Revolutionary War nemesis. The debacle became known as 'St. Clair's defeat.' ''President Washington's western policy was in shambles," G. Danforth Hollins wrote in his "General Anthony Wayne, Northwest Conqueror and Diplomat." ''The citizens of every state questioned the effectiveness of the government and the Constitution. The crisis facing the United States was critical, for the government's credibility was almost destroyed.

"Foreign powers who were aware of the problems were likely to take the opportunity to invade within its borders." Into this arena of national despair strode "Mad Anthony" Wayne, whom President Washington named Commanding General of the newly formed Legion of the United States. Calling the country's newly approved standing army a "legion" seemed more acceptable to much of the nation who still felt a republic should not have a large standing army.

Wayne went to Pittsburg (its correct spelling at the time) in July of 1792 and began training his men. He moved his forces to the Cincinnati area in the summer of 1793 and waited for orders to attack. Washington was still trying to resolve problems through negotiation.



In the fall of 1793 negotiations failed. The United States refused to ban any settlement by its citizens beyond the Ohio River. The Indians refused to allow intruders upon their lands. On September 11, 1793, Wayne received word to attack.

Defying his reputation for impetuosity, Wayne settled in at Fort Jefferson, some 75 miles north of Cincinnati. In the spring he planned to launch attacks against the Indians.

Indian scouts, spying on Wayne, called him "the Chief who never sleeps." Shortly before the Christmas of 1793, Wayne led a small group of men north to the area of St. Clair's defeat and built Fort Recovery. In June of 1794, 2,000 Indians attacked the fort.

"Although the Indians vastly outnumbered the defenders," Hollins wrote, "the well-trained dragoons and riflemen within the professionally built fort held out against overwhelming odds. The Indians were forced to retreat." Their defeat at Fort Recovery shook the Indians' confidence. Little Turtle relinquished his leadership. Two of the Great Lakes tribes decided to return to their camps.

Wayne continued moving north, establishing Fort Defiance (now Defiance, Ohio) in August 1794. Ahead of him were some 1,300 Indians outside of Fort Miami, the British-held stronghold near the present-day Toledo. Wayne sent one more letter to four Indian tribes with a last offer to negotiate. There were no positive responses.



On Aug. 20, 1794, Wayne's army attacked the Indians at Fallen Timbers, just south of Toledo. The battle lasted less than an hour. Fleeing Indians raced toward Fort Miami, where the British had promised protection. They were turned away because the British did not want to risk war with the United States.

Wayne moved south and built a new fort near the three rivers. Fort Wayne was officially dedicated Oct. 22, 1794. Peace with the Indian tribes was achieved with the Treaty of Greenville on Aug. 3, 1795.

Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers ended for all time the power of the British on American soil. A third American defeat might have led to ceding the area to Great Britain or invasion by Spain or France.

Failure also would have threatened the power of the new government, diminished because of its inability to protect its citizens.


Signing of the treaty Of Greenvillie

So Wayne's victory in the Northwest campaign had far-reaching implications.

He returned to a hero's welcome in Philadelphia.

In June 1796, Wayne was back in the frontier overseeing the surrender of British forts to the United States. In November he became ill with gout. On Dec. 16, 1796, he died.

At his request he was buried in a plain oak coffin near Erie, Pa.

Richard Battin
1994-1996

Additional Sources:

www.ohiohistorycentral.org
www.multied.com
www.state.oh.us
www.ohiokids.org www.butlercountyohio.org
www.maumee.org
www.ohiohistory.org
www.army.mil
www.sru.edu

[SAMWolf]

Wayne has to be one of the few famous people in American history known to have two graves.

Thirteen years after Wayne's death, his son, Isaac Wayne, decided to move his father's body to the family's burial plot at St. David's Church in Radnor, Pa.

Isaac Wayne drove over the mountains to Erie, Pa., in a one-horse sulky to claim his father's body. Young Wayne enlisted the help of Dr. J.G. Wallace, who had been with Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Wayne's body was remarkably preserved even after 13 years. There was little decay except in the lower portion of one leg.

The men decided it was impractical to reduce the body to small packages that would fit into the back of the sulky. With Isaac Wayne's permission, Wallace dissected the body and boiled the parts in a large iron kettle to render the flesh from the bones. Isaac Wayne took the cleaned skeleton back home in the sulky.

The rendered flesh and the knives used in the operation were replaced in the original coffin and reinterred in the old grave.

Richard Battin

'We have beaten the enemy every time; we cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. In spite of the watchfulness of our braves, we have never been able to surprise him. There is something that whispers to me that it would be prudent to listen to offers of peace.'

Little Turtle

[SAMWolf]

The State of the Union is Strong!
Support the Commander in Chief
Click Here to Send a Message to the opposition!

[SAMWolf]

[Soaring Feather]

Hey Good Morning all you FOXHOLERS!

[SAMWolf]

Good morning Feather. I'm getting used to seeing your little critters here at the foxhole.

[Valin]

On This Day in History


Birthdates which occurred on May 06:
0973 Henry II Roman Catholic German king/emperor (1002/14-24)
1501 Marcellus II [Marcello Cervini] Italy, humanist/Pope (1555, 22 days)
1581 Frans Francken the Younger, painter
1606 Lorenzo Lippi [Perlone Zipoli] poet/painter
1758 Maximilien Robespierre Arras Fr, French revolutionary/avocat (1781)
1759 François Andrieux French writer/politician
1769 Ferdinand III archduke of Austria/ruler of Toscane
1785 Arvir A Afzelius Swedish story teller
1786 Ludwig Börne writer
1790 Vaclav Vilem Wurfel composer
1800 Ferdinand Marcucci composer
1801 George Sears Greene Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1899
1802 Friedrich Wilhelm Schirmer artist
1806 Chapin Aaron Harris US, founded America Society of Dental Surgeons
1809 William Walker composer
1812 Martin Robinson Delaney Charlestown VA, 1st black major in US Medical Corps
1813 Joseph Tarr Copeland Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1893
1814 Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst composer
1825 Joseph Bailey Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1829 Phoebe Ann Coffin 1st female ordained minister in New England
1830 Guido Gezelle Flemish priest/poet
1838 Alfred Humphreys Pease composer
1843 Grove Karl Gilbert geologist, investigated Lake Bonneville UT
1849 Wyatt Eaton artist
1856 Robert Edwin Peary US, arctic explorer (North Pole-April 6 1909)
1856 Sigmund Freud Freiberg Moravia, cigar smoker, father of psycho-analysis
1858 Georges Adolphe Hue composer
1859 Luis María Drago Argentina, statesman, anti-interventionist
1859 Willem J T Kloos Dutch poet (Act of Simple Justice)
1861 Radindranath Tagore Hindu poet/mystic/composer (Nobel 1913)
1868 Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont Poland, novelist (Chiopi, Nobel-1924)
1869 Jan R Slotemaker de Bruïne Dutch clergyman/politician (CHU)
1869 Joseph Cuvelier Belgian historian/archivist
1870 Amedos Peter Giannini San Jose CA, founded Bank of America
1870 John McClutcheon cartoonist (Pulitzer Prize-1931)
1871 August Reusner composer
1871 Ch Morgenstern writer
1875 William Daniel Leahy Iowa, 5 star Admiral/chief of staff (1949)
1879 Johan H T Norlind Swedish musicologist
1880 Baron W Edmund Archangel & Ironside, British fieldmarshal
1880 Ernst L Kirchner German painter (Die Brücke)
1883 José Ortega y Gasset Spanish philosopher/author [or May 9]
1888 Emmanuel Celler (Representative-D-NY, 1923-73)
1889 Arthur Morison typographer
1890 Claire Whitney New York NY, silent film actress (Blind Fools, Haunted Mine)
1894 Filip Lazar composer
1895 Rudolph Valentino Castellaneta Italy, sheik/actor (Eagle)
1897 Paul Alverdes German writer (Pfeiferstube)
1898 Daniel Gerber Freemont MI, beloved by babies at mealtime
19-- Tony King Alliance OH, actor (Sergeant John Webber-Bronk)
1902 Harry Golden Jewish humorist/writer (2¢ Plain, Only in America)
1902 Max Ophüls Saarland, director/writer (Letters From an Unknown Woman)
1902 Walter Dawson British Air Chief marshall
1904 Catherine Lacey London England, actress (Sorcerors)
1904 Harry Martinson Sweden, novelist/poet (Trade Wind-Nobel 1974)
1905 [Bernard] Toots Shor raconteur/restauranteur (Toots Shor)
1905 Norman De Tar composer
1906 André Weil [Bourbaki] French/US mathematician
1907 Weeb Ewbank NFL coach (Baltimore Colts, New York Jets)
1908 Necil Kazim Akses composer
1910 Antoon Breyne Belgian journalist
1912 Barend Roest Crollius painter/writer (Chronicle Sins of Youth)
1912 Bill Quinn New York NY, actor (Rifleman, Van Ranseleer-All in the Family)
1912 Hugh Martell British Vice Admiral
1913 Carmen Cavallaro New York NY, actor (Hollywood Canteen, Diamond Horseshoe)
1913 Gyula David composer
1913 Jack [John T] Aitken British anatomist
1913 Kenneth Horne English paper manufacturer/multi-millionaire
1913 Ronald Harris British 1st Church Estates Commissioner
1913 Stewart Granger [James Stewart], London, actor (Prisoner of Zenda)
1915 George Perle Bayonne NJ, composer (12 Tone Tonality)
1915 John Arnold British high court judge
1915 May Henriquez-Alvarez Curaçao, sculptor
1915 Orson Welles Kenosha WI, actor (Citizen Kane, War of the Worlds)
1915 Theodore H White historian/writer (Making of the President)
1915 Theodore H White historian/writer (Making of the President)
1916 Adriana Caselotti animation voice (Show White)
1918 Godfrey Ridout composer
1918 Sydney Chatton England
1919 Frank Ereaut Balliff of Jersey
1920 John Henderson Lord-Lieutenant (Berkshire England)
1921 Erich Freid writer
1921 Freddy Randall jazz trumpeteer
1921 Robert Fell CEO (British Stock Exchange)
1922 Alan Ross editor (London Magazine)
1922 Carlos J Moorhead (Representative-R-CA, 1973- )
1922 John Ernest constructionist artist
1922 Pat Harder Milwaukee WI, NFL fullback (Cardinals, Lions)
1923 Elizabeth Sellars Glasgow Scotland, actress (Chalk Garden)
1923 Guiseppe Martelli physicist
1924 Mimi Benzell Bridgeport CT, operatic soprano (Gilda-Rigoletto)
1925 Patrick Meany CEO (Rank Organization)
1926 [Martin] Ross Hunter Cleveland OH, actor (Ever Since Paris)
1926 John Hamilton-Jones CEO (Richmond Enterprises)/British Major-General
1926 Marguerite Piazza New Orleans LA, operatic soprano (Young Broadway)
1927 Ettore Manni Rome Italy, actor (Fatal Desire, Heroes in Hell)
1927 Michael Frederick cricketer (one Test West Indies vs England 1954, scored 0 & 30)
1929 John Polk Allen Carnegie OK, CEO (Biosphere 2)
1929 John Taylor bishop (St Albans)/Lord High Almoner to Queen
1929 Rosemary Camp president (Council for British Archaeology)
1931 Marvin Leath (Representative-D-TX, 1979- )
1931 Willie Mays Westfield AL, Hall of Fame baseball centerfielder, "Say Hey Kid" (New York Giants, New York Mets, 660 homeruns, National League MVP 1954)
1932 Gunther Hauk composer
1932 John Bond cricket umpire
1932 Viscount Coke English large landowner/art collector
1933 Lord Pender
1934 Richard C Shelby (Representative-D-AL (1979-86)/Senator-D-AL, 1987- )
1936 Joanna Dunham actress (Possession, House the Dripped Blood)
1936 Sylvia Robinson rocker (Mickey & Sylvia-Love is Strange)
1938 Eleanor Platt QC
1939 Anthony Blacker master-general of Ordnance
1939 Herbie Cox rocker (Cleftones)
1939 Zhanna Dmitriyevna Yerkina Russian cosmonaut
1940 Henry Habibe Arubian poet (Kerensentenchi)
1940 Murray Sidlin Baltimore MD, conductor (National Symphony 1973-77)
1941 Fred J Eckert (Representative-D-NY, 1985-87)
1941 Ghena Dimitrova actress (Nabucco)
1942 Colin Earl rocker
1945 Bob Seger Dearborn MI, rocker (Silver Bullet Band-Shake Down)
1945 Richard Eyers Los Angeles CA, actor (My Friend Irma, Stagecoach West)
1945 Victoria Bond composer
1946 Jim Ramstad (Representative-R-MN)
1946 Sydne Rome Akron OH, actress (What?, Candy)
1947 Andy Roberts cricketer (New Zealand batsman 1976)
1947 Ben Masters Corvalis OR, actor (Vic-Another World, Making Mr Right)
1947 Dennis Cowan London, rocker (Bonzo Dog Band)
1947 Richard "Dick" Fosbury Portland OR, high jumper (Olympics-gold-68)
1947 Sandra Fisher painter
1948 Lolita [Abrázame] Spanish singer (Espérame)
1948 Richard Cox New York NY, actor (Mark-Executive Suite)
1949 David Cornell Leestma Muskegon MI, USN/astronaut (STS 41-G, 28, 45)
1950 Robbie McIntosh drummer (Average White Band-Show your Hand)
1952 Chiaki Naito-Mukai Tatebayashi Japan, astronaut (STS 65, 95)
1953 Lynn Whitfield Baton Rouge, actress (Josephine Baker, Equal Justice)
1953 Tony Blair British PM (Labour, 1997- )
1954 Sergei Nikolayevich Tresvyatsky Russia, cosmonaut
1955 Donald A Thomas Cleveland OH, PhD/Astronaut (STS 65, 70, 83, 94)
1955 John Hutton MP
1959 Aidan Quinn actor (Avalon, Crusoe, Desperately Seeking Susan)
1959 Charles Hendry MP
1959 Eric D Fingerhut (Representative-D-OH)
1959 Kate Collins Boston MA, actress (Natalie Hunter-All My Children)
1959 Scott Hood Seattle WA, Canadian Tour golfer (1989 Montana Open-2nd)
1960 Bart de Boer Dutch guitarist (Ivy Green)
1960 Julianne Phillips Lake Oswego OR, actress (Frankie Reed-Sisters)
1960 Larry Steinbacheck keyboardist (Bronski Beat-Smalltown Boy)
1960 Larry Steinbachek rock synthesizer (Bronski Beat-Smalltown Boy)
1961 Clay O'Brien Ray AZ, actor (Weedy-The Cowboys)
1961 George Clooney Lexington KY, actor (Dr Douglas Ross-ER, Batman)
1961 Roma Downey Derry Ire, actress (1 Life to Live, Touched by an Angel)
1962 Neil Foster cricketer (England right-fast medium)
1963 Alessandra Ferri British ballerina (American Ballet Theater)
1964 Dana Hill [Goetz] Van Nuys CA, actress (2 of Us, Shoot the Moon)
1964 Dana Hill Van Nuys CA, actress (2 of Us, Shoot the Moon)
1964 Kim Oden Irvine CA, US Olympic volleyball player (NCAA Play of Decade-80s)
1964 Mike Grob Billings MT, Canadian Tour golfer (1988 Manitoba-3rd)
1964 Mike McGruder NFL cornerback (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1964 Roma Downey Derry Ireland, actress (JoAnna-One Life to Live)
1965 Bob Bassen Calgary, NHL center (Dallas Stars)
1965 Ken Harvey NFL linebacker (Washington Redskins)
1965 Norman Whiteside British soccer player
1965 Paul Frase NFL defensive end (Green Bay Packers-Superbowl 31)
1965 Tim Simpson Atlanta GA, Nike golfer (1985 Southern Open)
1965 Zahid Sadiq cricketer
1967 Patrick F Manning Jr Poughkeepsie NY, rower (Olympics-92)
1968 Andy Kelly WLAF quarterback (Rhein Fire)
1968 Linnea Marie Fayard Shreveport LA, Miss Louisiana-America (1991-5th)
1969 Mark Thomas NFL defensive end (Carolina Panthers, Packers, Bears)
1969 Pascall Davis WLAF linebacker (Amsterdam Admirals)
1970 Emerson Martin NFL guard (Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, Packers)
1971 Rob Holmberg NFL linebacker (Oakland Raiders)
1972 Dean Larsson British Columbia Canada, Nike golfer (1994 Monterey Open-46th)
1972 Martin Brodeur Montréal, NHL goalie (New Jersey Devils, Team Canada)
1973 Clay Williams OL (Indianapolis Colts)
1973 Joe Spiteri Australian soccer striker (Olyroos, Olympics-96)
1973 Wendy Ward San Antonio TX, LPGA golfer (1995 GHP Classic-15th)
1976 Lindsay Page Madison WI, figure skater (1997 E Great Lakes Senior-3rd)
1977 Gabriela Aguilar Miss Costa Rica Universe (1997)
1977 Shannon Shakespeare Mission British Columbia, 100 meter swimmer (Olympics-96)
1977 Trent Steed Sydney New South Wales Australia, swimmer (Olympics-96)
1980 Brooke Bennett 800 meter freestyle (Olympics-gold-96)
1980 Kasumi Takahashi Tokyo Japan, Australian rhythmic gymnast (Olympics-96)

---

Deaths which occurred on May 06:
0523 Thrasamunde king of Vandalen
0988 Dirk II West Frisian count of Holland
1085 King Alfonso VI of León conquered Toledo, dies
1124 Balak Emir of Aleppo, murdered
1475 Dieric Bouts Dutch painter, dies at about 64
1527 Karel van Bourbon military governor (Lombardije), dies at 37
1540 Jean Luis Vives Spanish theory/humanist/reformer, dies at 48
1638 Cornelius Jansen theologian (Jansenism), dies
1642 Frans Francken the Younger, Flemish painter, dies on 61st birthday
1666 Paul Siefert composer, dies at 79
1667 Johann Jacob Froberger German singer/organist/composer, dies at 50
1678 Joseph de La Barre composer, dies at 44
1727 Catharina I Latvia tsarina of Russia, dies at about 42
1739 Bernardus Smijtegelt vicar (Gekrookte Reed), dies at 63
1776 James Kent composer, dies at 76
1794 Jean-Jacques Beauvarget-Charpentier composer, dies at 59
1814 George Joseph Vogler composer, dies at 64
1836 Christian Ignatius Latrobe composer, dies at 78
1841 John Thomson composer, dies at 35
1852 Charles-Louis-Joseph Hanssens composer, dies at 75
1856 William Hamilton metaphysicist, dies
1859 Friedrich Heinrich Alexander explorer/scientist, dies
1862 Henry David Thoreau US writer/pacifist (Walden Pond), dies at 44
1864 Henry Livermore Abbott US Union Brigadier-General, dies in battle
1864 Micah Jenkins Confederate Brigadier-General (friendly fire), dies at 28
1882 Lord Frederick Cavendish assassinated by Fenian Invincibles, in Dublin
1882 Thomas Henry Burke assassinated by Fenian Invincibles, in Dublin
1890 Hubert Leonard composer, dies at 71
1892 Ernest Guiraud composer, dies at 54
1904 Franz von Lenbach German painter, dies at 67
1908 Jean Réville French vicar (Le Prophétisme Hébreu), dies at 53
1910 Edward VII King of England (1901-10), dies at 68
1916 Dirk Bos Dutch MP (Liberal), dies at 53
1916 Earl Ross Drake composer, dies at 50
1919 Frank Lyman Baum author (Wizard of Oz), dies at 62
1924 Carel S Adama van Scheltema poet/writer (socialism), dies at 47
1936 Hans Jelmoli composer, dies at 59
1948 43 communist rebels executed in Athens
1949 A L Ochse cricketer (10 wickets in 3 Tests for South Africa 1927-29), dies
1949 P-M-B Maurice Maeterlinck Belgian philosopher (Nobel 1911), dies at 86
1950 Agnes Smedley writer, dies
1952 Alberto Savinio Italian composer (Capitano Ulisse), dies at 60
1952 Maria Montessori Italian physician/educationist, dies at 81
1960 Paul Abraham Hungarian composer (Blume von Hawaii), dies at 67
1961 Lucian Blaga philosopher/poet (Transcendental censor), dies at 65
1963 Monty Wooley actor (Pied Piper, Man Who Came to Dinner), dies at 74
1964 Harold Morris composer, dies at 74
1971 Helene Weigel Austrian/German actress (Metropolis), dies at 70
1973 Ernest MacMillan composer, dies at 79
1975 József Mindszenty [Joseph Prehm], Hungarian cardinal, dies at 83
1976 Karel Cruysberghs Flemish author (On the Pulpit), dies at 85
1978 Ethelda Bleibtrey US swimmer (Olympics-3 gold-1920), dies at 76
1978 Ko van Dijk Jr Dutch actor (Zaak M P), dies at 61
1982 Sam Baker dies
1987 William J Casey director of CIA (1981-87), dies at 73
1989 Guy Williams actor (Zorro, Lost in Space), dies at 65
1990 Charles Farrell actor (Vern-My Little Margie), dies at 89
1991 Anthony van Kampen writer (Ketelbinkie, Geschonden Eldorado), dies
1991 Chucky Mullins US soccer player, dies
1991 Thomas A Carlin dies at 62
1991 Wilfrid Hyde-White British actor (Peyton Place/140+ films), dies at 87
1992 Jilly Rizzo restauranteur/friend of Frank Sinatra, dies in car at 75
1992 Marlene Dietrich [Maria Losch], actress (Angel), dies in Paris at 90
1993 Ann Todd actress (Things to Come, Danny Boy), dies of stroke at 84
1993 Minnie Gentry actress (Def by Temptation), dies in New York at 77
1994 Fred Sadoff actor (Quiet American), dies of AIDS at 67
1994 Haskell "Cool Papa" Sadler blues singer/guitarist, dies at 59
1994 Helen Lessore artist, dies at 86
1994 Montague Modlyn broadcaster, dies at 72
1994 Moses Rosen Romania's chief rabbi, dies at 81
1995 Dona Maria Pia de Braganca pretender to Port throne, dies at 88
1995 Leanoard "Red" Truss R&B singer, dies at 47
1995 Nicholas Palmer TV writer/producer, dies at 57
1996 Frank Hercules writer, dies at 85
1996 Geoffrey Dawes physiologist, dies at 78
1996 Geoffrey Hodges bomb disposal expert, dies at 87
1996 Joseph Stone lawyer, dies at 79
1996 Leon Joseph Suenens cardinal, dies at 91
1996 Michael Gerzon mathematician, dies at 50

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 STUBBERFIELD ROBERT A. RICHMOND NC.
BEEP HEARD SEARCH NEG, REMAINS RETURNED 06/89

1966 DODSON JAMES
06/18/66 ESCAPED, DECEASED

1966 LAMAR JAMES L. EUDORA AR.
02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98

1967 WIDEMAN ROBERT EARL RAY VILLAGE OH.
03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98

1968 ALDRICH LAWRENCE L. FORT WORTH TX.

1968 BAIRD WILLIAM A. WOOSTER OH.
03/05/73 RELEASED BY PRG INJURED, ALIVE IN 98

1968 BRANCH MICHAEL P. NEWPORT KY.
03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG, COLLAB??

1969 BILLIPP NORMAN K. MILWAUKEE WI.
REMAINS IDENTIFIED 01 NOV 96

1969 HAGAN JOHN ROBERT SAVANNAH GA.
REMAINS RETURNED IDENTIFIED 01 NOV 96

1970 HERNANDEZ FRANK S. FRESNO CA.

1970 KIER LARRY GENE OMAHA NE.

1970 TERAN REFUGIO T. WESTLAND MI.

1970 WORTHINGTON RICHARD C. BOTHELL WA.

1972 WILES MARVIN B. SAN DIEGO CA.
POSSIBLE DEAD


POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

---

On this day...
1312 Pope Clement V closes Council of Vienna
1476 Emperor Frederik III of Habsburg & duke Charles the Stout arrange marriage of their children
1527 Spanish & German Imperial troops sack Rome; ending the Renaissance
1529 Battle at Gogra: Mogol emperor Babur beats Afghans & Bengals
1536 King Henry VIII, orders bible be placed in every church
1598 Arch duke Albrecht & Isabella become monarch of Southern Netherlands
1626 Dutch colonist Paul Minuit buys Manhattan for $24 in trinkets
1642 Ville Marie (Montréal) forms
1644 Johan Mauritius resigns as Governor of Brazil
1648 Battle at Zólty Wody-Bohdan Chmielricki's Cossaks beat John II Casimir
1672 Brandenburgs monarch Frederik Willem signs treaty with Netherlands
1733 1st international boxing match: Bob Whittaker beats Tito di Carni
1753 French King Louis XV observes transit of Mercury at Mendon Castle
1757 Battle at Prague: Frederik II of Prussia beats emperor army
1787 1st Black Masonic Lodge (African #459) forms at Prince Hall, Boston
1794 Haiti, under Toussaint L'Ouverture, revolts against France
1804 Suriname sold to English (until February 1816)
1833 John Deere makes 1st steel plow
1835 1st edition of New York Herald (price 1¢)
1840 1st postage stamps (Penny Black) issued (Great Britain)
1844 Johan Thorbecke argue general right to vote
1848 Otto Tank ends slavery in Suriname colony
1851 Dr John Gorrie patents a "refrigeration machine"
1851 Linus Yale patents Yale-lock
1851 New slave regulations go into effect in Suriname
1851 San Fransisco Chamber of Commerce starts
1853 1st major US rail disaster kills 46 (Norwalk CT)
1860 San Fransisco Olympic Club, 1st US athletic club founded
1861 Arkansas & Tennessee become 9th & 10th states to secede from US
1861 Jefferson Davis approves a bill declaring War between US & Confederacy
1864 Battle of Port Walthall Junction VA
1864 Battle of Wilderness-General Longstreet seriously injured
1864 General Sherman begins advance to Atlanta GA
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: US Congress ceases Chinese immigration
1882 Epping Forest England dedicated by Queen Victoria
1889 Universal Exposition opens in Paris France; Eiffel Tower completed
1890 Mormon Church renounces polygamy [1006-Truth Restored (Morman pub)]
1891 Conductors on London General Omnibus Company go on strike
1895 21st Kentucky Derby: Soup Perkins aboard Halma wins in 2:37½
1896 22nd Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Ben Brush wins in 2:07.75
1902 British SS Camorta sinks off Rangoon; 739 die
1902 Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" (BG)
1902 Zulu assault at Holkrantz South-Africa
1903 Chicago White Sox commit 12 errors against Detroit Tigers
1904 American Lung Association holds its 1st meeting
1906 "Temporary" permit to erect overhead wires on Market St San Fransisco
1907 33rd Kentucky Derby: Andy Minder aboard Pink Star wins in 2:12.6
1910 England replaces King Edward VII stamp series with King George V
1910 King George V ascends to British throne
1913 King Nikita I of Montenegro vacates Skoetari, North-Albania
1914 British House of Lords rejects women suffrage
1915 Allies attack Cape Helles, Hellespont
1915 German U-20 sinks Centurion SE of Ireland
1915 Red Sox Babe Ruth pitching debut & 1st homerun, loses to Yankees 4-3 in 15
1916 Belgian troop march into Kigali, German East-Africa
1917 St Louis Brown Bob Groom no-hits Chicago White Sox, 3-0
1919 Paris Peace Conference disposes of German colonies; German East Africa is assigned to Britain & France, German Southwest Africa to South Africa
1921 American Soccer League formed
1922 48th Preakness: L Morris aboard Pillory wins in 1:51.6
1925 Ty Cobb hits his 5th homerun in 2 games tying Cap Ansons record of 1884
1929 American League announces it will discontinue MVP award
1929 New York to San Fransisco footrace begins
1933 59th Kentucky Derby: Don Meade aboard Brokers Tip wins in 2:06.8
1933 Italy & USSR sign trade agreement
1934 Red Sox score 12 runs in 4th inning including record 4 consecutive triples hit by Carl Reynolds, Moose Solters, Rick Ferrell, & B Walters
1935 British King George & Queen Mary celebrates silver jubilee
1935 KTM-AM in Los Angeles CA changes call letters to KEHE (now KABC)
1935 Pulitzer prize awarded to Audrey Wurdemann (Bright Ambush)
1937 Dirigible Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst NJ (36 die)
1938 Dutch writer Maurits Dekker sentenced to 50 days for "offending a friendly head of state" (Hitler)
1939 1st performance of Honegger/Claudel's "Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher"
1939 65th Kentucky Derby: James Stout aboard Johnstown wins in 2:03.4
1940 Pulitzer prize awarded to John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath)
1941 Joseph Stalin became premier of Russia
1942 Corregidor & Philippines surrender to Japanese Armies
1943 British 1st army opens assault on Tunis
1944 70th Kentucky Derby: Conn McCreary aboard Pensive wins in 2:04.2
1944 KJR-AM in Seattle WA swaps calls with KOMO
1945 General J Blaskowitz surrenders German troops in Netherlands
1946 Pulitzer prize awarded to Arthur M Schlesinger (Age of Jackson)
1948 "Sally" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 36 performances
1950 "Great to Be Alive" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 52 performances
1950 76th Kentucky Derby: William Boland on Middleground wins in 2:01.6
1950 Liz Taylor's 1st marriage (Conrad Hilton Jr)
1951 Pittsburgh Pirate Cliff Chambers no-hits Boston Brave, 3-0
1953 Brown's Bobo Holloman 1st major league start, no-hits Philadelphia A's, 6-0
1954 Roger Bannister of Britain breaks 4 minute mile (3:59:4)
1955 West Germany joins NATO
1956 Gus Bell (Reds) homers off Bob Miller in both ends of a double header
1956 WRCB TV channel 3 in Chattanooga TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
1957 Italian Government of Segni resigns
1957 Last broadcast of "I Love Lucy" on CBS-TV
1957 Pulitzer prize awarded to John F Kennedy (Profiles in Courage)
1959 Iceland gunboats shoot at British fishing ships
1960 England's Princess Margaret marries Antony Armstrong-Jones (Lord Snowdon)
1960 President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960
1960 Students attack Dutch embassy in Djakarta
1960 Trotsky's murderer Jacques Mornard (Ramón Mercader), freed in México
1961 87th Kentucky Derby: John Sellers aboard Carry Back wins in 2:04
1961 Omer Vanaudenhove chosen chairman of Belgium Liberal Party
1962 1st nuclear warhead fired from Polaris submarine (Ethan Allen)
1962 Antonio Segni elected President of Italy
1962 Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Tournament
1962 Pathet Lao breaks cease fire/conquerors Nam Tha Laos
1962 US performs nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
1963 Pulitzer prize awarded to Barbara Tuchman (Guns of August)
1964 Joe Orton's "Entertaining Mr Sloan" premieres in London
1965 Lawry & Simpson complete opening stand of 382 against W Indies
1966 Canadian Minister of Finance announces a $20 Centennial gold coin
1966 Most runs scored in 11th inning (9) Phillies score 5 to beat Pirates 8-7
1967 400 students seize administration building at Cheyney State College
1967 93rd Kentucky Derby: Bobby Ussery on Proud Clarion wins in 2:00.6
1967 Maureen Wilton runs female world record marathon (3:15:22)
1967 Zakir Hussain elected 1st Moslem President of India
1968 Battle between students & troops in Paris France, 1000 injured
1968 Giants reliever Lindy McDaniel sets National League record of 225th consecutive errorless game (108 chances consecutively since June 16, 1964)
1968 Spain closes border to Gibraltar except to Spaniards
1970 Yuchiro Miura of Japan skis down Mount Everest
1972 98th Kentucky Derby: Ron Turcotte aboard Riva Ridge wins in 2:01.8
1973 1st WHA championship, New England Whalers beat Winnipeg Jets, 4 games to 1
1973 Judy Rankin wins LPGA American Defender-Raleigh Golf Classic
1974 A's pitcher Paul Lindblad makes an errant throw in 1st inning of 6-3 loss to Baltimore ends his record streak of 385 consecutive errorless games
1974 Bundy victim Roberta Parks disappears from OSU, Corvallis OR
1974 Smallest attendance at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium (4,149)
1974 Stolen "Guitar Player" painting by Jan Vermeer found in London
1974 West German chancellor W Brandt resigns
1975 Bundy victim Lynette Culver disappears from Pocatello ID
1975 Early warnings provided by REACT (ham radio operators) means only 3 people die in tornado that strikes Omaha NE
1977 "Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl" released in UK
1978 104th Kentucky Derby: Steve Cauthen aboard Affirmed wins in 2:01.2
1978 South Africa military goes into Angola
1979 Fred Markham set a bicycle speed record of 81.8 kph over 200 meters
1979 Louis LaRusso II's "Knockout" premieres in NYC
1979 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Women's International Golf Tournament
1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1981 "Inacent Black" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 14 performances
1981 Seattle Mariners manager Maury Wills is fired & replaced by Rene Lachemann
1981 US expels Libyan diplomats
1982 Seattle Mariner Gaylord Perry becomes 15th pitcher to win 300 games
1984 Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr hits for the cycle
1984 José Napoleon Duarte wins El Salvador presidential election
1985 17th Space Shuttle Mission (51-B)-Challenger 7 lands at Edwards Air Force Base
1986 Berlin: Real Madrid wins 15th UEFA Cup
1986 Donald E Pelotte becomes 1st native American bishop
1986 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1987 Gary Hart denies affair with model Donna Rice
1987 Mario Andretti sets the one-lap speed record at Indianapolis 500 at 218.204 MPH
1987 Niroslav Milhailovic begins 54 hours of telling jokes
1987 PTL's Jim Bakker & Rich Dortch dismissed from Assemblies of God
1987 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1988 Doughnutgate incident: New Jersey Devils' coach Jim Schoenfeld tells referee Don Koharski to 'eat another doughnut you fat pig!,' he is suspended
1988 Graeme Hick scores 405 for Worcestershire vs Somerset 35 fours 11 sixes
1989 115th Kentucky Derby: Pat Valenzuela on Sunday Silence wins in 2:05
1990 Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA Sara Lee Golf Classic
1990 Former President PW Botha quit South Africa's ruling National Party
1990 Tom Cruise is ticketed for careless operation of a vehicle in South Carolina
1991 Phillie Lenny Dykstra slams his sports car into 2 trees
1991 Seppo Raty of Finland sets javelin record to 301' 9"
1991 Space Shuttle STS 39 (Discovery 12) lands
1992 New York Met Anthony Young begins losing streak of at least 26 games
1992 Werder Bremen wins 32nd Europe Cup II
1993 STS-55 (Columbia) lands
1994 Chunnel linking England & France officially opens
1994 Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait sets fire to the couch on Tonight Show
1994 House passes the assault weapons ban
1994 Lennox Lewis TKOs Phil Jackson in 8 for heavyweight boxing title
1994 Nelson Mandela & his ANC, finally confirmed winners in South Africa
1995 121st Kentucky Derby: Gary Stevens on Thunder Gulch wins in 2:01.2
1995 ABC Bud Light Masters Bowling Tournament won by Mike Aulby
1995 Classic Sports Network begins on cable TV
1996 Alvaro Arzu aimed at ending 35 years of civil war
1996 Guatemala's leftist guerrillas sign key accord with government of President
1996 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Hartford CT on WCCC 106.9 FM
1997 Army Staff Sergeant Delmar Simpson gets 25-year sentence for rape
1997 Michael Jackson & Bee Gees inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
1997 NHL Hartford Whalers become Carolina Hurricanes
1997 Rick Pitino becomes coach of Boston Celtics
2012 Transit of Venus

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Bulgaria : Shepherd's & Herdsman's Day
Denmark : Prayer Day
Lebanon : Martyrs' Day
Zambia : Labour Day - - - - - ( Monday )
New Orleans : McDonogh Day (1850) - - - - - ( Friday )

---

Religious Observances
Denmark : Prayer Day
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St John Before the Latin Gate
Anglican, Roman Catholic : Rogation Day

---

Religious History
1432 Flemish artist Jan van Eyck, 61, finished the altarpiece for St. John's Church in Ghent, Belgium. Van Eyck's work is noted for its descriptive realism and intensive color.
1527 Forty thousand mercenaries, hired by Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, sacked the city of Rome, destroying two-thirds of the houses. They butchered clergy and laity alike, and forced Clement VII to flee, disguised as a gardener. It was the end of the golden age of the Renaissance.
1835 Birth of John T. Grape, American Methodist layman. He composed a number of hymn tunes during his life, including ALL TO CHRIST, to which we sing today, "Jesus Paid It All."
1955 Responding to a letter received from a child, English pologist C. S. Lewis wrote: 'God knows quite well how hard we find t to love Him more than anyone or anything else, and He won't be Angry with us as long as we are trying. And He will help us.'
1986 The Rev. Donald E. Pelotte, 41, was ordained in Gallup, New Mexico -- the first American Indian to be made a Roman Catholic ishop in the U.S.

---

Thought for the day :
"Hearts will never be practical til they're unbreakable."

[Valin]

For Darksheares' Sister, You can quit bugging him now

Anyone care to place a small wager that this is going to happen?

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Sam, ms. feather, all.

I'll stop back in later for my history lesson. :)

[SAMWolf]

1957 Last broadcast of "I Love Lucy" on CBS-TV

Boy! Have sit-coms chnaged since then.

[SAMWolf]

A sister stop bothering her brother? That'd be a "Today in Hoistory" event.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Snippy.

[Johnny Gage]

Air Power
Tornado GR4

The Tornado GR4 is a multi-role, variable-geometry interdictor aircraft optimised for low-level penetration of enemy airspace for precision attacks against high-value targets. The GR4 has fly-by-wire flight controls with mechanical back up, and is powered by two Rolls-Royce RB199 afterburning turbofan engines, giving the aircraft a low-level high subsonic cruise capability. The GR4 can operate in all weather conditions, using Terrain Following Radar (TFR) and Ground Mapping Radar (GMR) to guide the aircraft and identify the target.

Designed and built as a collaborative project in the UK, Germany and Italy, the Tornado programme was initiated in 1968 and known as Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA). A new tri-national company, Panavia, was set up in Germany to build the aircraft.

The first prototype flew on 14 August 1974 and initial orders from the three partner countries totalled 640 aircraft, with the work share divided in relation to the number of aircraft ordered; UK and Germany 42.5% each and Italy 15%. The initial RAF requirement was for 220 Tornado GR1 aircraft, and the first of these was delivered to the Tri-national Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE) at RAF Cottesmore in July 1980. The first front-line squadron to re-equip with Tornado was IX Squadron at Honington (previously a Vulcan unit) from June 1982. Tornado GR1s eventually equipped a total of 10 front-line squadrons as well as the Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit (TWCU) (later No 45 (Reserve) Squadron) and TTTE.

The GR4 is the result of a British Aerospace upgrade programme to GR1 aircraft, adding Forward-Looking Infra-Red (FLIR), a wide angle Head-Up Display (HUD), improved cockpit displays, Night-Vision Goggle (NVG) compatibility, new avionics and weapons systems, updated computer software and Global Positioning System (GPS). The upgrade also allows for carriage of the Storm Shadow stand-off missile, Brimstone advanced anti-armour weapon, RAPTOR and Vicon reconnaissance pods and the Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator (TIALD) targeting pod. A separate programme covered an integrated Defensive Aids Suite consisting of the radar warning receiver, Sky Shadow radar jamming pod and BOZ-107 chaff and flare dispenser.

The heart of the Tornado GR4's navigation and attack system is the main computer, which takes its primary reference from an inertial navigation system (INS) supplemented by Global Positioning System (GPS). Targeting inputs can come from the GMR, FLIR, TIALD, Laser Ranger and Marked Target Seeker (LRMTS) or visually, and available weaponry includes Paveway 2 or 3 laser- or gps-guided bombs, ballistic or retarded "dumb" 1000lb bombs, Cluster Bomb Units (CBU), Storm Shadow, Brimstone, Air Launched Anti-Radiation Missile (ALARM) and Sidewinder missiles and a single 27mm cannon.

RAF Tornados participated extensively in Operation GRANBY (The Gulf War), and have been deployed on operational detachments almost continually since. Regular training detachments are carried out in Canada, USA and Europe.

A dedicated reconnaissance version, the GR4A, is also in RAF service, and this is described separately.

Roles: Air Interdiction (AI). Low- or medium-level attacks using precision-guided, freefall or retarded bombs. Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD). Attacks on enemy air defence systems such as surface-to-air missile positions with ALARM.

Specifications:

Entered Service: 1980 (Tornado GR1)

Powerplant: Two afterburning Turbo Union RB199-103 turbofans of 15,800lb st. each

Span: 45ft 7in (13.90m) - wings fully spread; 28ft 2in (8.60m) - 68° sweep

Length: 54ft 10in (16.70m)

Max Speed: 1,452mph (2,336km/h/Mach 2.2) at 36,000ft (11,000m); 710mph (1,140km/h) at sea-level

Accommodation: Pilot and navigator in tandem seating

Armament: One Mauser 27mm cannon and up to 18,000lb of ordnance.
Available weapons include Paveway 2 or 3 laser-guided bombs, ballistic or retarded "dumb" 1000lb bombs,
Cluster Bomb Units (CBU), Storm Shadow, Brimstone, Air Launched Anti-Radiation Missile (ALARM).
For self-defence, Sidewinder missiles are carried.

All photos Copyright of The Royal Air Force

[Valin]

Basic training for marriage?

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Johnny.

Thanks for profiling some Allied air power. Any chance we'll see aircraft of our opponents? Thsy had/have some pretty interesting planes too.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! I had three sisters and I still wasn't ready for what a wife can do if you forget a birthday or annivesary.

[Johnny Gage]

Actually, I was just thinking of using the "pre-air flight" fox hole threads to do just that.

Which is why I chose the Tornado today.

GMTA!

[Valin]

"I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life."
Rita Rudner

[SAMWolf]

Current Military News
Homecomings

A sign that reads 'Welcome Home USS Abraham Lincoln' hangs from a building in Port Gardner near Naval Station Everett on May 5, 2003 where the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln and its Aircraft Carrier Strike Group is scheduled to return to home port on May 6. The city of Everett is making preparations to celebrate the homecoming of the the USS Lincoln which is the main vessel of aircraft carrier strike group CVN72's 24 vessels. More than 5,000 sailors aboard the Nimitz-class carrier Lincoln have been deployed for nearly 10 months after supporting military operations against Iraq. REUTERS/Anthony P. Bolante


A sign that says 'Welcome Home USS Lincoln. Everett Thanks You' posted along a street in Everett, Washington near Naval Station Everett on May 5, 2003 where the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln and its Aircraft Carrier Strike Group is scheduled to return to home port on May 6. The city of Everett is preparating to celebrate the homecoming of the the USS Lincoln which is the main vessel of aircraft carrier strike group CVN72's 24 vessels. More than 5,000 sailors aboard the Nimitz-class carrier Lincoln have been deployed for nearly 10 months after supporting military operations against Iraq. REUTERS/Anthony P. Bolante


Crew member Oscar Garcia, flanked by his wife Liliana (R), holds his son Daniel as he leaves the USS aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, May 6, 2003. The aircraft carrier returned to its forward deployed port on Tuesday after participating in Operations Southern Watch and Iraqi Freedom. REUTERS/Issei Kato


Combat System's Chief Petty Officer Demeyer Christopher holds his daughter Julia after leaving the USS aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, May 6, 2003. The aircraft carrier returned to its forward deployed port on Tuesday after participating in Operations Southern Watch and Iraqi Freedom. REUTERS/Issei Kato


Crew member Keven Sloan (L), holding his son Krischeon, kisses his wife Kinbary as he leaves the USS aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, May 6, 2003. The aircraft carrier returned to its forward deployed port on Tuesday after participating in Operations Southern Watch and Iraqi Freedom. REUTERS/Issei Kato


Crew members of U.S. aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk wave U.S. flags as they arrive at its home port in Yokosuka about 45 kilometers (30 miles) south of Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, May 6, 2003. Thousands of wives, husbands, daughters and sons lined the piers of the U.S. naval base to welcome home the USS Kitty Hawk, which returned Tuesday after a four-month deployment in support of the war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara


Captain Shawn Hankins is welcomed home by his daughter Merry (R), daughter Gienny (2nd R), and son Ben after leaving the USS aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, May 6, 2003. The aircraft carrier returned to its forward deployed port on Tuesday after participating in Operations Southern Watch and Iraqi Freedom. REUTERS/Issei Kato


MACM Francisco Garcia of Brooklyn, New York, center, hugs his daughter, Dinayda, left, and his son upon his arrival aboard the USS Kitty Hawk at its home port in Yokosuka, about 45 kilometers (30 miles) south of Tokyo, Tuesday, May 6, 2003. Thousands of family members lined the piers of the U.S. naval base to welcome home the aircraft carrier, which returned after a four-month deployment in support of the war in Iraq. The son's name was not given. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara


Commodore Mike Mahorn of Baltimore, Md., center, smiles as he reunites with his wife, Kristin, right, and his daughter, Elisa, upon returning to the port city of Yokosuka, about 45 kilometers (30 miles) south of Tokyo, aboard the USS Kitty Hawk Tuesday, May 6, 2003.


Combat Systems Chief Petty Officer Christopher Demeyer, right, gets a welcome home hug from his daughter, Julia, upon returning to the port city of Yokosuka, about 45 kilometers (30 miles) south of Tokyo, aboard the USS Kitty Hawk Tuesday, May 6, 2003.