Once Upon A Time – May 12 – 1941 – Konrad Zuse Presents Z3, World’s First Working Programmable, Fully Automatic Computer

1789 William Wilberforce makes his first major speech on abolition in the UK House of Commons, reasoning the slave trade morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice

1940 Nazi blitzkrieg and conquest of France begins with the crossing of the Muese River

1943 Axis forces in North Africa surrender

1986 Christians of the Nazarene Church of Maputo, Mozambique take literally 2 Chronicles 6:28-30 and humble themselves and pray for their nation, plagued by war and famine. Led by Salomão Macie, they will continute their intercession each evening through the 18th. The civil war will continue six more years. However, the church will experience a large increase in members.

2002 Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro’s 1959 revolution.

2008 Wenchuan earthquake, measuring 7.8 in magnitude occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 87,000, injuring 374,643 and leaving homeless between 4.8 million and 11 million people

HISTORICAL EVENTS TODAY

TODAY IN FILM & TV

1994 “Pulp Fiction”, directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson premieres at the Cannes Film Festival (Palme d’Or 1994)

TODAY IN MUSIC

1967 “Are You Experienced” album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience first released – one of the most influential debut albums ever

MORE FACTS

1941 Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world’s first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin

1888 Crouching start 1st used in track and field by Charles Sherrill of Yale