FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

William Kidd, also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd (c. 1645 – 23 May 1701), was a Scottish sea captain who was commissioned as a privateer and had experience as a pirate. He was tried and executed in London in 1701 for murder and piracy.

Kidd had captured a French ship, commanded by an English captain, as a prize. He had been commissioned by the Crown as a privateer for this expedition, but the political climate of England turned against him in this case. Some modern historians, for example Sir Cornelius Neale Dalton, deemed his piratical reputation unjust and said that he was acting as a privateer.^[4] Documents found in the early 20th century in London court papers supported Kidd’s account of his actions.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Question of the Day

How can I control wasps in my backyard?

Make a solution of sugar and water and put it in a small margarine tub. Make a small hole in the lid, place the lid on top of the tub, and hang it in a tree. The wasps should be attracted to this trap rather than your picnic.

Advice of the Day

Foods defrosted in a microwave oven should be cooked immediately after thawing.

Home Hint of the Day

Of all the choices for wood finishes, polyurethane has the highest resistance to scratches, dents, ordinary chemicals, and water. A drawback is that it’s so hard, it tends to show scratches, much as glass does.

Word of the Day

May

Named for the Roman goddess Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants.

Puzzle of the Day

My first is irrational, my second is rational, my third is mechanical, and my whole is scientifical.(What’s the word? Each clue is a syllable!)

Horse-man-ship

Died

• Henry II of England – 1189
• Alexander II of Scotland – 1249
• Sir Thomas More (author, martyr) – 1535
• Edward VI, King of England – 1553
• Louis Armstrong (musician) – 1971
• Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys – 1998
• John Frankenheimer (director) – 2002
• William Ruger (founder of Sturm, Ruger) – 2002
• Buddy Ebsen (actor) – 2003
• Kasey Rogers (actress) – 2006

Born

• John Flaxman (sculptor) – 1755
• Verner Von Heidenstam (poet) – 1859
• LaVerne Andrews (singer) – 1915
• Nancy Davis Reagan (U.S. First Lady) – 1921
• Bill Haley (musician) – 1925
• Merv Griffin (entertainer) – 1925
• Della Reese (singer and actress) – 1931
• Vladimir Ashkenazy (pianist) – 1937
• George W. Bush (43rd U.S. president) – 1946
• Geoffrey Rush (actor) – 1951
• Sylvester Stallone (actor) – 1954
• Ronald Duguay (hockey player) – 1957
• Jennifer Saunders (actress) – 1958
• 50 Cent (rapper) – 1976

Events

• Notorious pirate Captain William Kidd (Captain Kidd”) seized in Boston”– 1699
• Pennsylvania Evening Post first newspaper to publish Declaration of Independence– 1776
• French scientist Louis Pasteur successfully tested a vaccine against rabies on a boy bitten by an infected dog– 1885
• First east-to-west Atlantic crossing by a dirigible (R34) completed, Scotland to N.Y.– 1919
• First major league All-Star baseball game was played at Chicago’s Comiskey Park– 1933
• The main tent of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus went up in flames during a performance in Hartford, Connecticut; over 165 people died and many more were injured– 1944
• Candid Microphone made its radio debut– 1947
• Althea Gibson won the Wimbledon championship becoming the first African American athlete to do so– 1957
• A nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site caused the largest manmade crater in the United States (Sedan Crater).– 1962
• The first Beatles film, A Hard Day’s Night, premiered– 1964
• Fires in Quebec brought smoke to northeastern U.S.– 2002
• Queen Elizabeth II dedicated and formally opened a $6.5 million oval granite water fountain in honor of Princess Diana in Hyde Park– 2004

Weather

• A hailstone measuring 5.5 inches in diameter and weighing 1.5 pounds fell from the sky in Potter, Nebraska– 1928
• Steele, North Dakota, was 121 degrees F– 1936
• Moorhead, Minnesota, was 114 degrees F– 1936
• Skies over Greater Vancouver and southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, were lit up by over 7,000 lightning strikes.– 1997

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