Almanac for May 12th

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for May 12th: https://ko-fi.com/post/May-12-Never-Cry-Wolf-G2G71FO0YL

I love this memoir. I couldn't put it down.

Artist Birthday: Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel Byrne film The Keep article by Movies of the 80s

Bummer May 12th

May 12, 1976: Original Yardbirds lead singer Keith Relf dies at his London home at the age of 33. Relf is apparently playing an electric guitar in his basement when the shock occurs. Although taken to West Middlesex Hospital, the father of two boys is pronounced dead. His chronic asthma and emphysema, along with medications he took for these conditions, may have been a contributing factor that weakened his ability to withstand the shock.

May 12, 1982: Norwegian-Spanish priest Juan María Fernández y Krohn attacks Pope John Paul II with a bayonet, apparently believing the Pope was in league with Soviet communists. The attack occurs in  Fátima, Portugal, the site of an alleged apparition of Mary the mother of Jesus, where the Pope has gone on a pilgrimage. 

The Pope is slightly wounded, but recovers. Fernández y Krohn is sentenced to seven years in prison for attempted murder and contempt of court, but released after three years.

May 12, 2010: Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 leaves Johannesburg, South Africa, bound for Libya. A series of errors by the flight crew causes the aircraft to crash into low terrain, killing 103 of the aircraft’s 104 occupants. Among the dead is novelist Bree O’Mara, an Irish and South African dual citizen. 

The sole survivor was a 9-year-old boy from the Netherlands. Both of his legs were broken, but he sustained no life-threatening injuries. His parents were killed in the crash, so he was subsequently adopted by his aunt and uncle.