This day in history

[May 13, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, May 13, the 133rd day of 2010. There are 232 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On May 13, 1940, in his first speech as prime minister of Britain, Winston Churchill told Parliament, "I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

On this date:

In 1607, English colonists arrived by ship at the site of what became the Jamestown settlement in Virginia (the colonists went ashore the next day).

In 1846, the United States declared that a state of war already existed with Mexico.

In 1917, three shepherd children near Fatima, Portugal, reported seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary.

In 1918, the first U.S. airmail stamps, featuring a picture of a Curtiss JN-4 biplane, were issued to the public. (On a few of the stamps, the biplane was inadvertently printed upside-down, making them collector's items.)

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Act. The musical play "The Pajama Game" opened on Broadway.

In 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, were spat upon and their limousine battered by rocks thrown by anti-U.S. demonstrators in Caracas, Venezuela.

In 1968, a one-day general strike took place in France in support of student protesters.

In 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter's Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca (MEH'-met AH'-lee AH'-juh).

In 1985, a confrontation between Philadelphia authorities and the radical group MOVE ended as police dropped a bomb onto the group's row house; 11 people, including founder John Africa, died in the resulting fire that destroyed 61 homes.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton nominated federal appeals Judge Stephen G. Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Harry A. Blackmun.

Ten years ago: Explosions at a fireworks warehouse in the Netherlands killed 22 people and injured nearly 1,000 others. (A suspect was found guilty of causing the blasts, but his conviction was overturned.)

Five years ago: The Pentagon proposed the most sweeping changes to its network of military bases in modern history. The president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, praised the dedication of Mexicans working in the United States, saying they were willing to take jobs that "even blacks" wouldn't do, a statement that prompted criticism in the United States. Government troops in Uzbekistan put down an uprising they blamed on Islamic militants; opponents said the troops fired into crowds and killed hundreds of people.

One year ago: A judge in West Palm Beach sentenced two men to death for the drug-debt slaying of a family of four on the side of a Florida highway, including two young boys who died in their mother's arms. Atlantis' astronauts captured the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope for five days of repair work. Pittsburgh' Adam LaRoche and Florida's Ross Gload became the first baseball players to have home runs taken away following a video replay review.

Today's birthdays: Actor Buck Taylor is 72. Actor Harvey Keitel is 71. Author Charles Baxter is 63. Actor Franklyn Ajaye is 61. Actress Zoe Wanamaker is 61. Singer Stevie Wonder is 60. Basketball player Dennis Rodman is 49. Actor-comedian Stephen Colbert (kohl-BEHR') is 46. Rock musician John Richardson (The Gin Blossoms) is 46. Actor Tom Verica is 46. Country singer Lari White is 45. Singer Darius Rucker (Hootie and the Blowfish) is 44. Actress Susan Floyd is 42. Contemporary Christian musician Andy Williams (Casting Crowns) is 38. Actress Samantha Morton is 33. Rock musician Mickey Madden (Maroon 5) is 31. Actor Robert Pattinson is 24. Actor Hunter Parrish is 23.

Thought for today: "So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked what is the root of money?" -- Ayn Rand, Russian-born author (1905-1982)

[Associated Press]

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