Updated May 13, 2012, 2:28 pm
On May 14, 1948, the independent state of Israel was proclaimed as British rule in Palestine came to an end.
Go to article »On May 14, 1885, Otto Klemperer, who was one of the foremost German conductors, was born. Following his death on July 6, 1973, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1643 Louis XIV became King of France at age 4 on the death of his father, Louis XIII. 1787 Delegates began gathering in Philadelphia for a convention to draw up the U.S. Constitution. 1796 English physician Edward Jenner administered the first vaccination against smallpox. 1804 The Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory left St. Louis. 1904 The first Olympic games to be held in the United States opened in St. Louis. 1942 Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait” was first performed, by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. 1942 The Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps was established. 1955 Representatives from the Soviet Union and seven other Communist bloc countries signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland. 1973 The United States launched Skylab 1, its first manned space station. 1998 Singer Frank Sinatra died at age 82. 1998 The TV series “Seinfeld” aired its final episode. 2001 The Supreme Court ruled that there is no exception in federal law for people to use marijuana to ease their pain from cancer, AIDS or other illnesses. 2007 DaimlerChrysler said it was selling almost all of Chrysler to a private equity firm for $7.4 billion, backing out of a troubled 1998 takeover. 2007 The trial of suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla opened in Miami. (Padilla was later convicted of terrorism conspiracy and sentenced to 17 years in prison.) 2008 The Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species because of the loss of Arctic sea ice. 2011 Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund and potential candidate for president of France, was charged with sexually assaulting a Manhattan hotel maid. (He later resigned from the IMF; the charges against him were dropped.) Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Director- producer George Lucas (“Star Wars” movies) turns 68 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg turns 28 years old today.
AP Photo/Steven Senne
1942 Byron Dorgan, Former U.S. senator, D-N.D., turns 70 1942 Tony Perez, Baseball Hall of Famer, turns 70 1943 Jack Bruce, Rock musician (Cream), turns 69 1951 Robert Zemeckis, Director, turns 61 1952 David Byrne, Rock singer (Talking Heads), turns 60 1955 Tom Donilon, National security adviser, turns 57 1961 Tim Roth, Actor, turns 51 1969 Cate Blanchett, Actress, turns 43 1971 Sofia Coppola, Director (“Lost in Translation”), turns 41 1977 Roy Halladay, Baseball player, turns 35 1979 Dan Auerbach, Rock musician-singer (The Black Keys), turns 33 1983 Frank Gore, Football player, turns 29 1983 Amber Tamblyn, Actress, turns 29 1993 Miranda Cosgrove, Actress (“iCarly,” “Drake and Josh”), turns 19
Historic Birthdays
Otto Klemperer 5/14/1885 – 7/6/1973 German conductor.Go to obituary »
61 Margaret of Valois 5/14/1553 – 3/27/1615
Queen consort of Navarre known mainly for her “Memoires”71 Francois de Callieres 5/14/1645 – 3/5/1717
French author and diplomat87 Robert Owen 5/14/1771 – 11/17/1858
Welsh manufacturer and social reformer69 Sir Frederick Borden 5/14/1847 – 1/6/1917
Canadian statesman; helped create Canadian navy73 Alton Parker 5/14/1852 – 5/10/1926
American politician; opposed Theodore Roosevelt in 190451 Kurt Eisner 5/14/1867 – 2/21/1919
German Socialist journalist and statesman57 Julian Eltinge 5/14/1883 – 3/7/1941
American vaudeville star and famous female impersonator87 Al White 5/14/1895 – 7/8/1982
American diver and Olympic gold medalist (1924)66 Mohammad Ayub 5/14/1907 – 4/19/1974
President of Pakistan (1958-1969)
