Today in History

Today is Saturday, May 12, the 133rd day of 2012. There are 233 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 12, 1937, Britain's King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey; his wife, Elizabeth, was crowned as queen consort.

On this date:

In 1012, Pope Sergius IV died, ending a nearly three-year papacy; he was succeeded by Pope Benedict VIII.

In 1780, during the Revolutionary War, the besieged city of Charleston, S.C., surrendered to British forces.

In 1812, English poet Edward Lear, known for nonsensical verse like "The Owl and the Pussycat," was born.

In 1902, anthracite coal miners in Pennsylvania went on strike. (The strike effectively ended in October 1902 with the appointment of an Anthracite Coal Strike Commission by President Theodore Roosevelt.)

In 1922, a 20-ton meteor crashed near Blackstone, Va.

In 1930, Chicago's Adler Planetarium first opened to the public.

In 1932, the body of Charles Lindbergh Jr., the kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was found in a wooded area near Hopewell, N.J.

In 1949, the Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift.

In 1958, the United States and Canada signed an agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (later the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD for short).

In 1970, the Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harry A. Blackmun as a Supreme Court justice.

In 1982, in Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who attacked Pope John Paul II. (In 2008, the pope's longtime private secretary revealed that the pontiff was slightly wounded in the assault.)

In 1992, actor Robert Reed of TV's "The Brady Bunch" died in Pasadena, Calif., at age 59.

Ten years ago: Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba, becoming the first U.S. president -- in or out of office -- to visit since the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.

Five years ago: Virginia Tech held its first commencement ceremonies since the April 16 shooting rampage that claimed 32 victims and the shooter. Voters in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch became the first in the nation to back an ordinance prohibiting landlords from renting to most illegal immigrants. (Court challenges have kept the law from taking effect.) A U.S. patrol was attacked south of Baghdad; four Americans and an Iraqi interpreter were killed, three soldiers were kidnapped and later found dead. A U.S.-led coalition operation supported by NATO troops killed the Taliban's most prominent military commander, Mullah Dadullah.

One year ago: CEOs of the five largest oil companies went before the Senate Finance Committee, where Democrats challenged the executives to justify tax breaks at a time when people were paying $4 a gallon for gas. A German court convicted retired U.S. autoworker John Demjanjuk of being an accessory to the murder of tens of thousands of Jews as a Nazi death camp guard. (Demjanjuk, who maintained his innocence, died in March 2012 at age 91.)

Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Yogi Berra is 87. Critic John Simon is 87. Composer Burt Bacharach is 84. Actress Millie Perkins is 74. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jayotis Washington is 71. Country singer Billy Swan is 70. Actress Linda Dano is 69. Musician Ian McLagan is 67. Actress Lindsay Crouse is 64. Singer-musician Steve Winwood is 64. Actor Gabriel Byrne is 62. Actor Bruce Boxleitner is 62. Singer Billy Squier is 62. Country singer Kix Brooks is 57. Actress Kim Greist is 54. Rock musician Eric Singer (KISS) is 54. Actor Ving Rhames is 53. Rock musician Billy Duffy is 51. Actor Emilio Estevez is 50. Actress April Grace is 50. Actress Vanessa A. Williams ("Melrose Place") is 49. Country musician Eddie Kilgallon is 47. Actor Stephen Baldwin is 46. Actor Scott Schwartz is 44. Actress Kim Fields is 43. Actress Samantha Mathis is 42. Actress Jamie Luner is 41. Actor Christian Campbell is 40. Actress Rhea Seehorn is 40. Actor Mackenzie Astin is 39. Actress Malin Akerman is 34. Actor Jason Biggs is 34. Actress Emily VanCamp is 26. Actor Malcolm David Kelley is 20. Actors Sullivan and Sawyer Sweeten ("Everybody Loves Raymond") are 17.

Thought for Today: "Mistrust the man who finds everything good; the man who finds everything evil; and still more the man who is indifferent to everything." -- Johann Kaspar Lavater, Swiss theologian (1741-1801).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.