On This Day: May 16
Today is Wednesday, May 16, 2012. This is the 137th day of the year, with 229 days remaining in 2012.
Fact of the Day: barley
Barley is adaptable to a greater range of climate than any other cereal, with varieties suited to temperate, sub-Arctic, or subtropical areas. Although it does best in growing seasons of at least 90 days, it is able to grow and ripen in a shorter time than any other cereal; cultivation is possible even in very short seasons such as those of the Himalayan slopes, although the yield there is smaller than in less harsh areas. Barley, with greater resistance to dry heat than other small grains, thrives in the near-desert areas of North Africa, where it is mainly sown in the autumn. Spring-sown crops are especially successful in the cooler, moist areas of western Europe and North America. Barley cultivation probably originated in the highlands of Ethiopia and in Southeast Asia in prehistorical times. It is believed to extend back to 5000 BC in Egypt, 3500 BC in Mesopotamia, 3000 BC in northwestern Europe, and 2000 BC in China. Barley was the chief bread plant of the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans and of much of Europe through the 16th century.
Holidays
Feast day of St. Brendan the Navigator, St. Carantoc, St. Peregrine of Auxerre, St. Simon Stock, St. Domnolus of Le Mans, St. Honoratus of Amiens, St. Germerius, St. John Nepomucen, St. Possidius, and St. Ubaldus of Gubbio.
Events
1770 - Marie Antoinette, age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.
1866 - Congress authorized minting the nickel.
1868 - The impeachment of President Andrew Johnson failed.
1910 - The U.S. Bureau of Mines was authorized by Congress.
1920 - Joan of Arc was canonized in Rome.
1929 - The first Academy Awards were presented during a banquet at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
1943 - In Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising came to an end as Nazi soldiers took control of the Jewish ghetto and began mass deportation of the remaining dwellers to the Treblinka extermination camp.
1966 - The Cultural Revolution was begun by Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong.
1975 - Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.
1985 - Michael "Air" Jordan was named Rookie of the Year in the National Basketball Association.
1995 - Japanese authorities arrested Shoko Asahara, a doomsday cult leader, who was linked to a nerve-gas attack on Tokyo's subway system two months earlier.
2005 - Newsweek magazine retracted its Quran abuse story which sparked deadly protests in Afghanistan, leaving 15 people dead and scores injured.
2005 - Army Specialist Sabrina Harman was convicted of six of the seven charges she faced for her role in the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
Births
1316 - Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
1801 - William Henry Seward, American politician, Secretary of State (1861-1869).
1804 - Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, founder of the first American kindergarten.
1905 - Henry Fonda, American Academy Award-winning actor.
1911 - Studs (Louis) Terkel, American writer, historian.
1913 - Woody Herman, American bandleader, jazz musician.
1919 - Liberace (Wladziu Liberace), American concert pianist, entertainer.
1953 - Pierce Brosnan, Irish-born actor.
1973 - Tori Spelling (born Victoria Davey Spelling), American actress.
Deaths
1703 - Charles Perrault, French poet and fairytale writer.
1984 - Andy Kaufman, American entertainer and comedian.
1990 - Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., 64.
1990 - Jim Henson, 53, "Muppets" creator.
