May 14

This Date In History

1264

The Battle of Lewes leaves England's King Henry III a captive of France, making Simon de Montfort temporary ruler of the British Isles.

1316

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is born.

1610

King Henry IV of France dies.

1643

Five year old Louis XIV is crowned the king of France following his father's untimely death.

1686

Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, whose temperature scale still bears his name, is born.

1710

King Adolf Frederick of Sweden is born.

1727

Thomas Gainsborough, famous artist and painter of "The Blue Boy", is born.

1787

The Constitutional Convention begins in Philadelphia.

1796

Edward Jenner begins dispensing his smallpox vaccination for the first time.

1804

Lewis and Clark make their first move into uncharted wilderness, leaving their camp in Missouri to sail up the Missouri River.

1811

Paraguay declares its independence from Spain. May 14 is considered Flag Day in the country still.

1853

Gail Borden patents his process for condensing milk.

1878

Twenty years after Robert Cheseborough began work on his new lubricating oil, he trademarks a name for it: Vaseline.

1897

At a Philadelphia ceremony commemmorating George Washington, John Philip Sousa debuts a new march: "Stars and Stripes Forever."

1908

The first passenger airplane flight takes place outside of New York City.

1912

Golf great Ben Hogan is born.

1914

H. J. Heinz, founder of Heinz Co. and the originator of the "57 varieties" slogan, dies.

1929

Hockey Hall of Famer Gump Worsley is born.

1936

Early pop singer Bobby Darin ("Splish Splash", "Mack the Knife") is born.

1940

The Netherlands surrender to Germany after heavy bombing in Rotterdam kills hundreds.

1943

Jack Bruce, bass guitarist for Cream, is born.

1944

Star Wars creator and movie executive George Lucas is born.

1948

Israel, backed by Great Britain, declares itself an independent state and begins forming an autonomou government.

1952

Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne is born.
Director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) is born.

1955

The Warsaw Pact is signed, linking Russia with most of Eastern Europe into a mutual defense cotract.

1961

Cult actor Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead) is born.

1962

Don Juan Carlos and Princess Sophia of Greece are married in a lavish ceremony in Madrid.
Poison singer and guitarist C. C. DeVille is born.
The Cult singer Ian Astbury is born.

1965

Eoin Culfer, creator of 12-year-old superthief Artemis Fowl, is born.

1973

Skylab is launched, marking the United States' first foray into space station technology.

1975

The S.S. Mayaguez, captured by Cambodian rebels, is recaptured by American troops, at the cost of 40 servicemen.

1978

William P. Lear, engineer and founder of the Lear Jet Corporation, dies.

1987

Famed actress and dancer Rita Hayworth dies.

1991

Jiang Qing, leader of the Gang of Four, commits suicide.

1997

Approachable magician Harry Blackstone, Jr. dies.

1998

"Ol' Blue Eyes" himself, Frank Sinatra, dies.
Another pop culture icon comes to an end as the last episode of "Seinfeld" appears on NBC.

2000

Obuchi Keizo, Japanese prime minister, passes away.

2003

NBA Hall of Famer Dave DeBusschere passes away.
Actor Robert Stack ("Unsolved Mysteries", Airplane!), passes away.