Today's Events On Horizon On This Day Newslink Holidays & more Almanac archive

"Some people may have some concerns about Hong Kong's return, but facts will prove that such concerns are unnecessary." --Chinese President Jiang Zemin

• President Bill Clinton attends a summit of Caribbean leaders in Barbados.

• Pope John Paul II visits Lebanon. The trip marks the Pope's first visit to the Middle East.

• On Sunday, May 11, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl is scheduled to visit Kazakhstan.

• On Monday, May 12, U.S. and North Korean senior officials are scheduled to hold talks to discuss U.S. concerns over North Korea's export of missiles, including those to such countries as Iran.

• On Tuesday, May 13, the 38th annual Clio advertising awards will be presented in New York.

• On Wednesday, May 14, French President Jacques Chirac visits China.

• On Thursday, May 15, the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for launch on a mission to the Russian Mir space station.

• In 1655, Jamaica was taken by the British after being in Spanish hands for 161 years.

• In 1774, King Louis XV of France died of smallpox. He became king at the age of five on the death of King Louis XIV.

• In 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte's Army of Italy defeated the Austrians in the Battle of Lodi, southeast of Milan.

• In 1857, the Sepoy Mutiny against British rule in India broke out.

• In 1863, Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, died after being accidentally shot by his own troops.

• In 1865, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, was captured by Union forces during the American Civil War.

• In 1869, the Pacific railroad was completed when the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines were joined at Promontory, Utah.

• In 1871, a Franco-German peace treaty was signed in Frankfurt by which France ceded Alsace-Lorraine.

• In 1933, Nazis, nationalist students and professors in black robes gathered on a square in central Berlin to burn books by Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Bertolt Brecht, Albert Einstein and other authors condemned by Adolf Hitler's followers as decadent or "un-German."

• In 1940, Winston Churchill took over as British prime minister following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain.

• In 1941 - Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland in an apparent attempt to negotiate a peace deal. He was arrested and imprisoned for the rest of the war.

• In 1945, Russian troops occupied Prague; The Allies captured Rangoon from the Japanese.

• In 1960, the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine Triton completed its 84-day submerged voyage around the world.

• In 1963, Pope John XXIII received the Balzan Peace Prize, the first peace prize ever awarded to a pope.

• In 1972, referendum in the Irish Republic gave an 83 percent majority in favor of joining the European Economic Community.

• In 1981, in the second round of the French presidential election, Francois Mitterrand defeated President Valery Giscard D'Estaing.

• In 1994, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa's first black president.

• In 1995, Britain lifted a 23-year ban on ministerial talks with Sinn Fein.

• In 1996, Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao resigned after his Congress Party was mauled in general elections.

President Clinton is dropping by the lovely Caribbean island of Barbados for a regional pow-wow Saturday. But the sun-kissed gem of a tourist destination is most frequently visited for a little rest and relaxation, a fact not lost on the Barbados Tourism Authority. Visit their Barbados Tourism Encyclopedia for a peak at the fun to be had in the sand down south.

• Guatemala celebrates Mother's Day.

• Pop star Bono is 37.

• Actor Jason Brooks is 31.

• Dancer Judith Jamison is 53.

• Singer Dave Mason is 51.

• Actor Gary Owens is 61.

• Former football coach Ara Parseghian is 74.

• Actress Marie-France Pisier is 53.

• Basketball player Rony Seikaly is 32.