Today in history: May 12
Ten years ago: Miami’s LeBron James became the eighth player in NBA history to receive the MVP award three times.
1043: Winston Churchill
In 1943, during World War II, Axis forces in North Africa surrendered. The two-week Trident Conference, headed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, opened in Washington.
1932: Charles Lindbergh Jr
In 1932, the body of Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was found in a wooded area near Hopewell, New Jersey.
1949: Berlin Blockade
On May 12, 1949, the Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift.
1958: NORAD
In 1958, the United States and Canada signed an agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (later the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD).
1986: Tom Cruise
In 1986, the military action-drama film “Top Gun,” starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis and released by Paramount Pictures, had its world premiere in New York.
2009: Sears Tower
In 2009, five Miami men were convicted in a plot to blow up FBI buildings and Chicago’s Sears Tower; one man was acquitted.
2012: LeBron James
Ten years ago: Miami’s LeBron James became the eighth player in NBA history to receive the MVP award three times.
2021: Jay-Z
Jay-Z, Foo Fighters and the Go-Go’s were elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame their first time on the ballot, leading a class that also included Tina Turner, Carole King and Todd Rundgren.
Things to know today: Justices meet for 1st time since leak; wildfires destroy Calif. mansions; NBA picks MVP; plus, episode 38 of The Ethical Life podcast.