today.nukz.net: Almanac May 22

Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, legal name Le Sony'r Ra; May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993) was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances.

He was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a 1979 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. "Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial," critic Scott Yanow said, because of Sun Ra's eclectic music and unorthodox lifestyle. Claiming that he was of the "Angel Race" and not from Earth, but from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona using "cosmic" philosophies and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of afrofuturism. He preached awareness and peace above all. He abandoned his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the Egyptian God of the Sun), and used several other names throughout his career, including Le Sonra and Sonny Lee. Sun Ra denied any connection with his birth name, saying "That's an imaginary person, never existed … Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym."

Events

334 BC – The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus.
853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt
1176 – The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to murder Saladin near Aleppo.
1200 – King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.
1254 – Serbian King Stephen Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty.
1377 – Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
1455 – Wars of the Roses: at the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.
1629 – Emperor Ferdinand II & Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck to end the Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War.
1659 – France, England & Netherlands sign "Hedges Concerto" treaty.
1762 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
1807 – A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.
1807 – Most of the English town of Chudleigh is destroyed by fire
1809 – On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna), Napoleon is repelled by an enemy army for the first time.
1816 – A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs; the rioting spreads to Ely the next day.
1819 – The SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The ship arrived at Liverpool, England on June 20.
1826 – HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
1840 – The transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
1844 – Persian Prophet The Báb announces his revelation, founding Bábism. He announces to the world the coming of "He whom God shall make manifest". He is considered the forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.
1848 – Slavery is abolished in Martinique.
1856 – Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beats Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made attacking Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas ("Bleeding Kansas").
1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson – Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
1864 – American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army's Red River Campaign ends with the Union unable to achieve any of its objectives.
1871 – The U.S. Army issued an order for abandonment of Fort Kearny in Nebraska.
1872 – Reconstruction: U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act of 1872 into law restoring full civil rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.
1897 – The Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames is officially opened
1903 – Launch of the White Star Liner, SS Ionic.
1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine".
1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, and is the only mountain other than Mount St. Helens to erupt in the continental US during the 20th century.
1915 – Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail crash near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246; the accident is found to be the result of non-standard operating practices during a shift change at a busy junction.
1926 – Chiang Kai-shek replaces communists in Kuomintang China
1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
1942 – Mexico enters World War II on the side of the Allies.
1942 – The Steel Workers Organizing Committee disbands, and a new trade union, the United Steelworkers, is formed.
1942 – World War II: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox enlists in the United States Marine Corps as a flight instructor.
1943 – Stalin disbands Comintern.
1947 – Cold War: in an effort to fight the spread of Communism, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs an act into law that will later be called the Truman Doctrine. The act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece, each battling an internal Communist movement.
1958 – Sri Lankan riots of 1958: This riot is a watershed event in the race relationship of the various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total number of deaths is estimated to be 300, mostly Sri Lankan Tamils.
1960 – An earthquake measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, now known as the Great Chilean Earthquake, hits southern Chile. It is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board.
1963 – Assassination attempt of Greek left-wing politician Gregoris Lambrakis, who will die five days afterwards.
1964 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces the goals of his Great Society social reforms to bring an "end to poverty and racial injustice" in America.
1967 – The L'Innovation department store in the centre of Brussels, Belgium, burns down. It is the most devastating fire in Belgian history, resulting in 323 dead and missing and 150 injured.
1968 – The nuclear-powered submarine the USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
1969 – Apollo 10's lunar module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the moon's surface.
1972 – Ceylon adopts a new constitution, thus becoming a Republic, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
1980 – Namco releases the highly influential arcade game Pac-Man.
1987 – Hashimpura massacre in Meerut city of India.
1987 – First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park, Auckland.
1990 – North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.
1990 – Microsoft releases the Windows 3.0 operating system.
1992 – After 30 years, 66-year-old Johnny Carson hosts The Tonight Show for the last time.
1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.
1997 – Kelly Flinn, US Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: a federal judge rules that United States Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the scandal, involving President Bill Clinton.
2002 – In Washington, D.C., the remains of the missing Chandra Levy are found in Rock Creek Park.
2002 – American civil rights movement: a jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.
2003 – In Fort Worth, Texas, Annika Sörenstam becomes the first woman to play the PGA Tour in 58 years.
2004 – The U.S. town of Hallam, Nebraska, is wiped out by a powerful F4 tornado (part of the May 2004 tornado outbreak sequence) that broke a width record at an astounding 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide, which kills one resident.
2008 – The Late-May 2008 tornado outbreak sequence unleashes 235 tornadoes, including an EF4 and an EF5 tornado, between May 22 and May 31, 2008. The tornadoes struck 19 states and one Canadian province.
2011 – An EF5 Tornado strikes the US city of Joplin, Missouri killing 161 people, the single deadliest US tornado since modern record keeping began in 1950.

Births

1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French governor of New France (d. 1698)
1715 – François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and statesman (d. 1794)
1724 – Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, French explorer (d. 1772)
1733 – Hubert Robert, French artist (d. 1808)
1770 – Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (d. 1840)
1772 – Ram Mohan Roy, Hindu reformer (d. 1833)
1783 – William Sturgeon, English physicist and inventor (d. 1850)
1808 – Gérard de Nerval, French writer (d. 1855)
1813 – Richard Wagner, German composer (d. 1883)
1823 – Solomon Bundy, American politician (d. 1889)
1823 – Isabella Glyn, British actress (d. 1889)
1841 – Catulle Mendès, French poet (d. 1909)
1844 – Mary Cassatt, American artist (d. 1926)
1849 – Louis Perrier, Swiss politician (d. 1913)
1859 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish physician and writer (d. 1930)
1859 – Tsubouchi Shoyo, Japanese author (d. 1935)
1874 – Daniel François Malan, Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1959)
1879 – Warwick Armstrong, Australian cricketer (d. 1947)
1879 – Alla Nazimova, Ukrainian-born actress, scriptwriter, and producer (d. 1945)
1885 – Giacomo Matteotti, Italian politician (d. 1924)
1885 – Toyoda Soemu, Japanese admiral (d. 1957)
1891 – Eddie Edwards, American jazz trombonist (d. 1963)
1900 – Yvonne de Gaulle, widow of Charles de Gaulle (d. 1979)
1901 – Maurice J. Tobin, 56th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1953)
1902 – Al Simmons, American baseball player (d. 1956)
1903 – Yves Rocard, French physicist (d. 1992)
1904 – Pyotr Sobolevsky, Soviet actor (d. 1977)
1904 – Paul Viiding, Estonian poet (d. 1962)
1907 – Hergé, Belgian comic-book creator (d. 1983)
1907 – Martha Angelici, French opera singer (d. 1973)
1907 – Sir Laurence Olivier, English stage and screen actor (d. 1989)
1908 – Rattana Pestonji, Thai filmmaker (d. 1970)
1908 – Horton Smith. American golfer (d. 1963)
1910 – Johnny Olson, American game show announcer (d. 1985)
1911 – Anatol Rapoport, Russian-born mathematical psychologist and pianist (d. 2007)
1912 – Herbert C. Brown, English-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
1913 – František Jílek, Czech conductor (d. 1993)
1914 – Maurice Blackburn, Canadian composer and conductor (d. 1988)
1914 – Vance Packard, American author (d. 1996)
1914 – Sun Ra, American musician (d. 1993)
1914 – Edward Arthur Thompson, British historian (d. 1994)
1917 – Jean-Louis Curtis, French novelist (d. 1995)
1917 – Nathan Davis, American actor (d. 2008)
1917 – Daniel Nagrin, American modern dancer and choreographer (d. 2008)
1917 – Georg Tintner, Austrian-born conductor (d. 1999)
1919 – Paul Vanden Boeynants, Belgian politician (d. 2001)
1920 – Thomas Gold, Austrian astrophysicist (d. 2004)
1922 – Quinn Martin, American television producer (d. 1987)
1923 – Denise Pelletier, Canadian actress (d. 1976)
1924 – Charles Aznavour, Armenian-French singer, actor, and composer
1925 – James King, American tenor (d. 2005)
1925 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss artist (d. 1991)
1926 – Peter Wilson, English polymath (d. 2009)
1926 – Elek Bacsik, Hungarian musician (d. 1993)
1927 – George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-born chemist, Nobel laureate
1927 – Michael Constantine, American actor
1927 – Phil Tucker, American director (d. 1985)
1928 – T. Boone Pickens, Jr., American businessman
1930 – Harvey Milk, American politician and civil rights activist (d. 1978)
1930 – Kenny Ball, British musician
1932 – Merry Anders, American actress
1934 – Peter Nero, American musician
1934 – Arne Harris, American television sports director (d. 2001)
1935 – Ron Piché, Canadian baseball player
1936 – M. Scott Peck, American psychiatrist and writer (d. 2005)
1937 – Guy Marchand, French actor, musician, and singer
1938 – Richard Benjamin, American actor
1938 – Frank Converse, American actor
1938 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (d. 1999)
1939 – Paul Winfield, American actor (d. 2004)
1940 – Bernard Shaw, American television journalist
1940 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (d. 2011)
1941 – Sir Menzies Campbell, British politician
1941 – Martha Langbein, German athlete
1942 – Calvin Simon, American musician (P Funk)
1942 – Barbara Parkins, Canadian actress
1943 – Tommy John, American baseball player
1943 – Betty Williams, Northern Irish political activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
1943 – Gesine Schwan, German politician and science professor
1944 – Beaton Tulk, Canadian civil servant and politician
1944 – Vaiko, Indian politician
1946 – Howard Kendall, English footballer and football manager
1946 – George Best, Northern Irish footballer (d. 2005)
1947 – Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos, Greek-American astronomer and a NASA astrophysicist (d. 1997)
1948 – Richard Baker, American politician
1950 – Alekos Alavanos, Greek politician
1950 – Bernie Taupin, English songwriter
1950 – Bill Whelan, Irish composer and musician
1952 – Bernhard Brinkmann, German politician
1953 – Doris Barnett, German politician
1953 – Cha Bum-Kun, Korean footballer
1953 – Paul Mariner, English footballer & football manager
1955 – Jimmy Lyon, American guitarist (Eddie Money)
1955 – Dale Winton, British radio DJ and television presenter
1955 – Jerry Dammers, English musician (The Specials)
1955 – Chalmers "Spanky" Alford, American jazz guitarist (d. 2008)
1955 – Iva Davies, Australian rock star (Icehouse)
1956 – Al Corley, American actor and producer
1956 – Natasha Shneider, Russian-born musician (d. 2008)
1957 – Lisa Murkowski, American politician
1957 – Gary Sweet, Australian actor
1958 – Denise Welch, English actress and presenter
1959 – Morrissey, English singer, (The Smiths)
1960 – Hideaki Anno, Japanese director
1961 – Mike Breen, American sportscaster
1961 – Ann Cusack, American actress
1962 – Brian Pillman, American professional wrestler (d. 1997)
1964 – Mark Christopher Lawrence, American actor & standup comedian
1965 – Fanis Christodoulou, Greek basketball player
1965 – Catie Curtis, American singer songwriter
1966 – Kenny Hickey, American guitarist (Type O Negative)
1966 – Jose Mesa, Dominican baseball player
1966 – Scott Putski, American professional wrestler
1967 – Brooke Smith, American actress
1967 – John Vanderslice, American musician
1968 – Randy Brown, American basketball player
1968 – Kevin Carolan, American actor and comedian
1968 – Graham Linehan, Irish television writer and director (Black Books, The IT Crowd)
1969 – Michael Joseph Kelly, American actor
1969 – Cathy McMorris Rodgers, American politician
1970 – Naomi Campbell, British model and actress
1970 – Pedro Diniz, Brazilian Formula One driver
1970 – Paddy Atkinson, English footballer and assistant manager
1971 – Manuel Ortiz, Mexican professional wrestler
1971 – Raimund Marasigan, Filipino musician
1972 – Anna Belknap, American actress
1972 – Alison Eastwood, American actress and model
1973 – Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Danish actor
1973 – Julián Tavárez, Dominican baseball player
1973 – Danny Tiatto, Australian footballer
1974 – John Bale, American baseball player
1974 – Sean Gunn, American actor
1974 – Graham Fenton, English footballer
1974 – A. J. Langer, American actress
1975 – Janne Niinimaa, Finnish ice-hockey player
1975 – Salva Ballesta, Spanish footballer
1975 – Tracy Brookshaw, American professional wrestler and valet
1975 – Enrique Palacios, Venezuelan model
1976 – Daniel Erlandsson, drummer of Swedish death metal band Arch Enemy
1977 – Alastair Ralphs, Canadian professional wrestler
1977 – Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Irish hurler
1977 – Dre Bly, American football player
1977 – Tom Chambers, British actor
1977 – Vinnie Potestivo, American TV producer
1978 – Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress
1978 – Katie Price, British model and reality TV personality
1979 – Nadia Khan, Pakistani TV presenter
1979 – Maggie Q, American actress
1980 – Steven Baker, Australian Australian rules footballer
1980 – Rhett Fisher, American actor and musician
1980 – Chad Tracy, American baseball player
1980 – Lucy Gordon, British model and actress (d. 2009)
1981 – Bryan Danielson, American professional wrestler
1981 – Melissa Gregory, American figure skater
1981 – Jana Hlavácková, Czech tennis player
1981 – Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player
1982 – Apolo Anton Ohno, American short track speed skater
1982 – Erin McNaught, Australian beauty paegent and TV presenter
1982 – Alex Smith, American football player
1983 – John Hopkins, American motorcycling racer
1984 – Joe Lauzon, American martial artist
1985 – Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer
1985 – Chrissie Chau, Hong Kong model
1985 – Mauro Boselli, Argentine footballer
1985 – CariDee English, American model
1985 – Graham Harrell, American football player
1985 – Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – Luca Gentili, Italian footballer
1986 – Matt Jarvis, English footballer
1987 – Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player
1987 – Vladimir Granat, Russian footballer
1987 – Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer
1988 – Pape M'Bow, Senegalese footballer
1992 – Chinami Tokunaga, Japanese singer (Berryz Kobo)

Deaths

192 – Dong Zhuo, Chancellor of Han (slain by his adoptive son Lü Bu) (b. 138)
337 – Constantine the Great, Roman Emperor (b. 272)
748 – Empress Gensho of Japan (b. 680)
985 – Saint Bobo of Provence
1068 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (b. 1025)
1455 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English politician
1455 – Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1406)
1457 – Saint Rita of Cascia, Italian saint (b. 1381)
1538 – John Forrest, English Franciscan friar (b. 1471)
1540 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian (b. 1483)
1666 – Gaspar Schott, German scientist (b. 1608)
1667 – Pope Alexander VII (b. 1599)
1745 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French military leader (b. 1671)
1746 – Thomas Southerne, Irish dramatist (b. 1660)
1760 – Israel ben Eliezer, Polish-born mystical rabbi (b. 1700)
1772 – Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian (b. 1687)
1795 – Ewald Friedrich, Count von Hertzberg, Prussian statesman (b. 1725)
1802 – Martha Washington, wife of George Washington, and the first First Lady of the United States (b. 1731)
1851 – Mordecai Manuel Noah, American writer, journalist (b. 1755)
1859 – King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (b. 1810)
1861 – Thornsbury Bailey Brown, first Union soldier to be killed by a Confederate soldier in the American Civil War (b. 1829)
1868 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1801)
1885 – Victor Hugo, French author (b. 1802)
1901 – Gaetano Bresci, Italian-American anarchist (b. 1869)
1910 – Jules Renard, French author (b. 1864)
1932 – Lady Gregory, Irish playwright (b. 1852)
1939 – Ernst Toller, German author (b. 1893)
1939 – Jiri Mahen, Czech author (b. 1882)
1965 – Christopher Stone, first disc jockey in the United Kingdom (b. 1882)
1966 – Tom Goddard, English cricketer (b. 1900)
1967 – Langston Hughes, American writer (b. 1902)
1972 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Irish poet and writer (b. 1904)
1972 – Margaret Rutherford, English actress (b. 1892)
1975 – Lefty Grove, American baseball player (b. 1900)
1983 – Albert Claude, Belgian biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
1985 – Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American Disney animator, director and producer (b. 1909)
1988 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian politician (b. 1914)
1989 – Steven DeGroote, South African classical pianist (b. 1953)
1990 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer (b. 1922)
1991 – Stan Mortensen, English professional footballer (b. 1921)
1992 – Zellig Harris, American linguist (b. 1909)
1997 – Alfred Hershey, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1908)
1997 – Renzo Montagnani, Italian actor (b. 1930)
1998 – José Enrique Moyal, mathematical physicist (b. 1910)
1998 – John Derek, American actor, director and photographer (b. 1926)
2000 – Davie Fulton, Canadian politician and judge (b. 1916)
2003 – Ousmane Zongo, Burkinabé shooting victim
2004 – Richard Biggs, American actor (b. 1960)
2004 – Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (b. 1945)
2005 – Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician, long-time General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (b. 1914)
2005 – Julia Randall, American poet (b. 1924)
2005 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (b. 1914)
2006 – Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the World Health Organisation (b. 1945)
2006 – Heather Crowe, Canadian activist (b. 1945)
2008 – Robert Asprin, American author (b. 1946)
2011 – Joseph Brooks, American screenwriter, director and songwriter (b. 1938)