May 20, 2012

2012Leela Dube, Indian anthropologist and scholar (born 1923)^[†]

Leela Dube was a renowned anthropologist and feminist scholar, fondly called Leeladee by many. She had been married to the renowned anthropologist and sociologist LateShyama Charan Dube. Leela Dube was the younger sister of the late classical singer Sumati Mutatkar. Her elder son Late Mukul Dube was an avid photographer. She is survived by her younger son, Saurabh Dube. Known for her work on kinship and in women's studies, she wrote several books including Matriliny and Islam: religion and society in the Laccadives and Women and kinship: comparative perspectives on gender in South and South‑east Asia.

2012Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (born 1949)^[†]

Robin Hugh Gibb was a British singer and songwriter. He gained global fame as a member of the Bee Gees with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his own successful solo career.

2012David Littman, English-Swiss historian, author, and academic (born 1933)^[†]

David Gerald Littman was a British historian and human rights defender, particularly at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. He is known for organising the departure of Jewish children from Morocco when he was 28. He was married to Bat Ye'or.

2012Ken Lyons, American bass guitarist (born 1953)^[†]

Kenneth Leo Lyons was a bass guitarist and founding member of the southern rock band 38 Special. He was born to mother Joyce Lavelle Godwin Lyons and father Clynn Leo Lyons in Jacksonville, Florida. He founded 38 Special with Don Barnes, Donnie Van Zant, Jack Grondin, Steve Brookins, and Jeff Carlisi in 1974. He was a member of 38 special from 1974 to 1977. He only played on their self-titled debut album. He left 38 Special in 1977, before their first album was released. Lyons was replaced by Larry Junstrom, who continued to play in 38 Special until his retirement in 2014. Lyons died on May 20, 2012, at the age of 59 at the Wake Forest Baptist Health Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

2012Eugene Polley, American engineer, invented the remote control (born 1915)^[†]

Eugene Polley was an electrical engineer and engineering manager for Zenith Electronics who invented the first wireless remote control for television.

2012Andrew B. Steinberg, American lawyer (born 1958)^[†]

Andrew Bart Steinberg was a leading aviation regulatory lawyer, who held several key posts in the public and private sectors in the United States. He served until 2008 as the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs within the United States Department of Transportation, after being confirmed to the position by the U.S. Senate on September 29, 2006, following appointment by President George W. Bush. Prior to that post, he had been appointed by the president in May 2003, as the chief counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration, where he served as the top legal advisor to FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. Steinberg was a partner in the Washington D.C. office of the international law firm of Jones Day, where he led the firm's aviation regulatory practice, a post once held by aviation pioneer L. Welch Pogue.

2012At least 27 people are killed and 50 others injured when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes northern Italy.^[†]

In May 2012, two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, causing 27 deaths and widespread damage. The events are known in Italy as the 2012 Emilia earthquakes, because they mainly affected the Emilia region.