Calendar for May 20th, 2012

2001: Armed Forces Day

2001: Victoria Day (Canada)

325: First Council of Nicaea (which standardized how to calculate the date of Easter) likely convened

Died 1506: Christopher Columbus (explorer)

Born 1759: William Thornton (architect)

Born 1768: Dolley Madison (U.S. First Lady)

Born 1818: William Fargo (businessman)

1830: D. Hyde patented the fountain pen

1862: Homestead Act signed

Born 1890: Allan Nevins (historian)

Born 1908: Jimmy Stewart (actor)

1916: The Saturday Evening Post published its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting

1930: First airplane catapulted from a dirigible

Died 1939: Joseph Carr (president of NFL)

Born 1944: Joe Cocker (musician)

Born 1946: Cher (singer & actress)

Born 1971: Tony Stewart (race car driver)

Died 1989: Gilda Radner (actress)

Died 2002: Stephen Jay Gould (paleontologist & author)

2012: Annular eclipse of the Sun

Died 2012: Robin Gibb (musician; member of the Bee Gees)