✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 134th day of the year

May 14

A look at May 14 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Miranda Cosgrove and Big Van Vader, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♉ZodiacTaurus ◈BirthstoneEmerald ❀Birth flowerLily of the Valley
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1980

    Salvadoran Civil War

    Salvadoran Civil War: The Sumpul River massacre occurs in Chalatenango, El Salvador.

    1979–1992 conflict in El
  2. 1955

    Cold War

    Cold War: Eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.

    1947–1991 geopolitical rivalry between
  3. 1951

    Talyllyn Railway

    Trains run on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for the first time since preservation, making it the first railway in the world to be operated by volunteers.

    Narrow-gauge railway in north
  4. 1940

    World War II

    World War II: Rotterdam, Netherlands, is bombed by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany despite a ceasefire, killing about 900 people and destroying the historic city center.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  5. 1918

    Harry Hands

    Cape Town Mayor, Sir Harry Hands, inaugurates the two-minute silence.

    British colonial politician (1860–1948)
  6. 1878

    Salem witchcraft trial (1878)

    The last witchcraft trial held in the United States begins in Salem, Massachusetts, after Lucretia Brown, an adherent of Christian Science, accused Daniel Spofford of attempting to harm her through his mental powers.

    American civil case
  7. 1868

    Boshin War

    Boshin War: The Battle of Utsunomiya Castle ends as former Tokugawa shogunate forces withdraw northward.

    1868–1869 Japanese civil war
  8. 1863

    American Civil War

    American Civil War: During the Vicksburg campaign, Union forces drive Confederates under Joseph E. Johnston out of Jackson, Mississippi in the Battle of Jackson.

    1861–1865 conflict in the
  9. 1857

    Mindon Min

    Mindon Min is crowned as King of Burma in Mandalay, Burma.

    King of Burma from
  10. 1811

    Paraguay

    Paraguay: Pedro Juan Caballero, Fulgencio Yegros and José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia start actions to depose the Spanish governor.

    Country in South America
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Famous birthday twins

Born on May 14

Miranda Cosgrove

b. 1993

American actress and singer

Big Van Vader

b. 1955

American wrestler and football player

Mark Zuckerberg

b. 1984

American computer programmer and businessman, co-founded Facebook

George Lucas

b. 1944

American director, producer, and screenwriter, founded Lucasfilm

Marquinhos

b. 1994

Brazilian footballer

Adolf Frederick of Sweden

b. 1710

King of Sweden

Wilhelm List

b. 1880

German field marshal

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

b. 1943

Icelandic academic and politician, 5th President of Iceland

Deaths

  • 1998Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor
  • 1988Willem Drees, Dutch politician and historian, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
  • 1987Rita Hayworth, American actress and dancer
  • 1912August Strindberg, Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist
  • 1893Ernst Kummer, German mathematician and academic
  • 1847Fanny Hensel, German pianist and composer

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Boniface of Tarsus
  • —Christian feast day: Justa, Justina and Henedina
  • —Christian feast day: Maria Domenica Mazzarello
  • —Christian feast day: Matthias the Apostle (Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
  • —Christian feast day: Michael Garicoïts
  • —Christian feast day: Mo Chutu of Lismore (Roman Catholic Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Théodore Guérin
  • —Christian feast day: Victor and Corona

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