ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC
Today is the 129th day of 2024 and the 51st day of spring.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1877, the first Westminster Kennel Club dog show was held in New York City.
In 1902, the city of Saint-Pierre was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Pelee on the island of Martinique, killing an estimated 30,000 people.
In 1945, Victory in Europe Day (or V-E Day) was celebrated as the Allies accepted Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender, ending World War II in Europe.
In 1973, a 10-week standoff in Wounded Knee, South Dakota, between federal authorities and American Indian Movement activists ended.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), 33rd U.S. president; David Attenborough (1926- ), TV personality/environmentalist; Don Rickles (1926-2017), comedian/actor; Thomas Pynchon (1937- ), author; Ricky Nelson (1940-1985), singer-songwriter; Toni Tennille (1940- ), singer-songwriter; Mike D'Antoni (1951- ), basketball coach; Bill Cowher (1957- ), football coach/analyst; Lovie Smith (1958- ), football coach; Enrique Iglesias (1975- ), singer-songwriter; Stephen Amell (1981- ), actor.
TODAY'S FACT: Pharmacist John Pemberton sold the first Coca-Cola soft drink on this day in 1886.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler became the first climbers to ascend Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "Every political battle I have I fight with everything I've got, and when it's over I get hold of my opponent and we have a bourbon and branch and say, 'What can we do for the country?'" -- Harry Truman
TODAY'S NUMBER: 418,500 -- total U.S. military and civilian deaths in World War II, according to the National WWII Museum.
TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (May 7) and first quarter moon (May 15).