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Interesting Facts about May 16th

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May 16th facts, events and pictures

The purpose of this lens is to share as many interesting facts and figures relating to May 16th.

I have added some of the more interesting facts. I will continue to add more as I find them or as they happen.

Is this date important or have significance for you? If it is, feel free to post your experience or real life story to our guest book which is situated towards the bottom of the page.

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Horoscopes
Historical Events
Born on this day
Deaths
Feast Days
Further Reading
Share your 16th May experiences, what makes this date important to you

Horoscopes

Tauruses born on May 16 have buoyant and fascinating personalities in matters of self-expression. They have their own view of life and their own style. They can seem argumentative because they enjoy exchanging opinions with others.

Source Jill M. Phillips

Historical Events

1152: Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Henry Anjou(soon become to Henry II) , giving the future king of England Sovereignty over most of France.

1770: A 14-year old Marie Antoinette(picture right) marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste who later becomes king of France.

1836: American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe marries his 13-year-old cousin Virginia. He was 26.

1920: Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.

1929: The first film oscars are awarded. The winner of the Best Picture in the category of overall production was Wings, which was directed by William A. Wellman.

Today is the start of International New Friends, Old Friends Week

1943: 60,000 Jews are shot or deported after The Warsaw Ghetto uprising is crushed by German troops(right picture NY times reporting on the story).

1943: The 'Dambusters Raid' by the RAF's elite 617 Squadron breaches two huge dams in Germany's Ruhr valley using a specially developed "bouncing bomb".

1948: Chaim Weizmann originally a chemist is elected the first President of Israel.

1966: The Communist Party of China issues the 'May 16 Notice', marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

In Malaysia today is Teachers' Day

1975: Japanese climber Junko Tabei, became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.(see picture)

1992: The Space Shuttle Endeavour lands safely after a successful maiden voyage. Endeavour will be decommissioned in 2010, after 18 years of service,

2000: U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was nominated to run for U.S. Senator in New York. She was the first U.S. first lady to run for public office.

Today is Biographers Day, this day is recommended as one on which to start reading or writing a biography.

Born on this day

Henry Fonda 1905 American actor. With an Hollywood career spanning six decades, Ford was named the sixth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. Is the father to Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda and grandfather to Bridgit Fonda all of which have successful film careers.

Janet Jackson 1966 American singer and younger sister of Michael Jackson. She has sold over 100 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling artists in music history.

Gabriela Sabatini 1970 Argentinian former tennis player. Won her only Gram Slam singles title at the US Open in 1990, She carried the Argentinian flag in the opening ceremony of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. She went on to win silver in the women's singles losing out to Staffi Graf in the Final.

Pierce Brosnan 1953 Irish actor who became the fifth Actor to play James Bond, starring in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. Pierce holds both Irish and American citizenship

Megan Fox 1986 American actress and model. Came to prominence in 2004 with a role in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen starring along side Lyndsey Lohan. Her biggest role to date playing Mikaela Banes in mega hit Transformers.

Today is Mass graves Day Iraq

Deaths

1957 Eliot Ness, American federal agent

1990 Jim Henson, American puppeteer

1984 Andy Kaufman, American comedian

1920 Levi P. Morton, 22nd United States Vice President

1990 Sammy Davis, Jr., American entertainer

In the Gregorian calendar May 11th is the 136th day of the year(137 in leap years)

Feast Days

The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as that saint's feast day. Today is feast day for the following saints

St. Adam
St. Brendan
St. Ubald Baldassini
St. Andrew Bobola
St. John Nepomucene
St. Simon Stock
St. Abdas
St. Annobert
St. Carantac
St. Carantoc

St. Domnolus
St. Felix & Gennadius
St. Fidouls
St. Forannan
St. Germerius
St. Hilary
St. Honoratus of Amiens
St. Peregrinus
St. Peregrinus

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maggie23 May 16, 2010 @ 6:02 pm | delete

On May 16th 1980, Howard & Judy Marks (aka Mr Nice) were arrested in Lavenham, Suffolk for smuggling 15 tons of Columbian marijuana to a small island off the coast of Scotland. Read Mr Nice & Mrs Marks available from Amazon. The film based on the book premiered at the SWSX festival 2010 entitled 'Mr Nice' and stars Rhys Ifans as Howard Marks and Chloe Sevigny as Judy Marks.