May 12 in Pop Culture History

 

May 12 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

May 12 History Highlights

  • 1846 – The Donner Party of pioneers left Independence, Missouri for California, on what became a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism.
  • 1847 – The Modern Odometer (Roadometer) was invented by William Clayton
  • “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.” – Yogi Berra
  • If you were born on May 12th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… August 19th (prior year)

Traditional May 12 Information

On May 12th, National Limerick Day celebrates the birthday of English artist, illustrator, author, and poet Edward Lear (May 12, 1812 – Jan. 29, 1888). Lear is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry which he popularized through his works Book of Nonsense (1846), Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets (1871).

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat By Edward Lear

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
“O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!”

Pussy said to the Owl, “You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?”
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-Tree grows
And there in a wood, a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.”
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

May 12 is…

Limerick Day
Migratory Bird Day
Nutty Fudge Day

Yogi Berra Quotes

“If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.”

“It ain’t over till it’s over.”

“I’m lucky. Usually, you’re dead to get your own museum, but I’m still alive to see mine.”

“Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.”

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going because you might not get there.”

“Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”

“Even Napoleon had his Watergate.”

“The future ain’t what it used to be.”

“I never said most of the things I said.”

“I tell the kids, somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight about it. Just try to get better.”

May 12 Birthdays

1812 – Edward Lear, English limerickist (died in 1888)
1820 – Florence Nightingale, Italian-English nurse, social reformer, and statistician (died in 1910)
1850 – Henry Cabot Lodge, American historian and politician (died in 1924)
1907 – Katharine Hepburn, American actress (died in 2003)
1911 – Charles Biro, American comic book author and illustrator (died in 1972)
1918 – Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founded Mary Kay Cosmetics (died in 2001)
1925 – Yogi Berra, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died in 2015)
1928 – Burt Bacharach, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1936 – Tom Snyder, American journalist and talk show host (died in 2007)
1937 – George Carlin, American comedian, actor, and author (died in 2008)
1950 – Bruce Boxleitner, American actor
1959 – Ving Rhames, American actor
1962 – Emilio Estevez, American actor
1968 – Tony Hawk, American skateboarder
1978 – Malin Åkerman, Swedish-Canadian model and actress
1981 – Rami Malek, American actor
1984 – Clare Bowen, Australian actress
1986 – Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress

May 12 History

1551 – The National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, was founded in Lima, Peru.

1932 – The body of the Lindbergh baby was found less than a mile from the Lindbergh home in Hopewell, New Jersey.

1963 – Bob Dylan walked out on The Ed Sullivan Show before his planned appearance over the lyrics to the song he would perform his song Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues.

1965 – The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashed on the Moon.

1984 #1 Hit May 12, 1984 – May 25, 1984: Lionel Richie – Hello

1993- The Wonder Years television series came to an end

1995 – Day time soap opera As The World Turns aired its 10,000th episode

2002 – Former US President Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro.

2007 #1 Hit May 12, 2007 – May 25, 2007: Maroon 5 – Makes Me Wonder

2008 (Earthquake) Measuring ~8.0 magnitude, n Sichuan, China, killed over 69,000 people.

2015 – A train derailment in Philadelphia killed 8 people and injured over 200.

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

The only Americans with their own personal zip code are the President (20500) and Smokey Bear (20252).

“Aiming at the enemy, I only smash the mirror.” #songlyrics

Day 13,763 and still no need for my algebra skills….

A group of Reindeer is called a Herd.

Useless Pronunciation: T as in tzar

“Don’t start an argument with somebody who has a microphone when you don’t. They’ll make you look like chopped liver.” – Harlan Ellison

A group of Butterflies is called a Flight or Flutter.

“Hasta la vista, baby.” – The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) #moviequotes

There is an “i” in the center of the word “hurricane.”

“Excuse me while I kiss this guy” #misunderstoodlyrics

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” – Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects  #moviequotes

If they were really Decepticons, why didn’t they just wear Autobot badges?

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May 12 in Pop Culture History