On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
1929Betty Carter, American singer-songwriter (died 1998)[â ]
Betty Carter was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative interpretation of lyrics and melodies. Vocalist Carmen McRae once remarked: "There's really only one jazz singerâonly one: Betty Carter."
1929John Conyers, American lawyer and politician (died 2019)[â ]
John James Conyers Jr. was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. Conyers was the sixth-longest serving member of Congress and the longest-serving African American member of Congress in history.
1929Claude Morin, Canadian academic and politician[â ]
Claude Morin is a former politician from Quebec, Canada and was the Parti Québécois Member of the National Assembly for the electoral district of Louis-Hébert, from 1976 to 1981. He became embroiled in controversy in 1992 when the affaire Morin came to light.
1929Adrienne Rich, American poet, essayist, and feminist (died 2012)[â ]
Adrienne Cecile Rich was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse". Rich criticized the rigid identities that are sometimes created by feminism, called for feminism that is flexible and open to being transformed, and drew attention to the existing current of solidarity and creativity among women, which she named the "lesbian continuum".
1929K. Natwar Singh, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (died 2024)[â ]
K. Natwar Singh was an Indian politician, former diplomat, and an author. He served as Minister of External Affairs of India from 2004 to 2005. A veteran leader of the Indian National Congress, Singh was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, Indiaâs third-highest civilian honour, in 1984.
1929In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards ceremony takes place.[â ]
Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a neighborhood and district in the central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. Its name has become synonymous with the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios such as Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures are located in or near Hollywood.
House will rebuke Sen for action on debentures plan; likely to make retort on constitutional rights in connection with revenue
Killed in Cleveland Clinic Hospital explosion
Has offer of post as Gov Gen of P I
Leaves Friedrichshafen on transatlantic flight by Southern route; map; French explain late permit; Arctic flight plans
Experts, investigating cause of disaster, undetermined on nature of gas; had effect of war gas; officials of Eastman Kodak Co say film gives off gases
Fire underwriters impose stringent regulation for safety X-ray films to guard N Y C hosps; similar explosions unlikely in N Y
Gas fumes, following explosion in X-ray room, kill more than 100; many injured; gas was caused by burning of cellulose and sensitized X-ray films; list of dead; eyewitnesses tell of scenes
BERLIN, May 15.--The program of the Graf Zeppelin's polar flight, planned for February, 1930, was definitely fixed today at the Berlin meeting of the Aeroarctic Society, at which were Drs. Fridtjof Nansen, Harold Sverdrup and Georg Wegener.
The hospital explosion in Cleveland today was far more serious than a somewhat similar catastrophe in Hamburg, Germany, a year ago, in which a dozen lives were lost and more than 100 sent to hospitals, states The Associated Press.