The body of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh’s baby is found on May 12,
1932, more than two months after he was kidnapped from his family’s
Hopewell, New Jersey, mansion.

Lindbergh, who became the first worldwide celebrity five years earlier
when he flew The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic, and his wife
Anne discovered a ransom note in their 20-month-old child’s empty
room on March 1. The kidnapper had used a ladder to climb up to the
open second-floor window and had left muddy footprints in the room
and in barely legible English, the ransom note demanded $50,000.

The crime captured the attention of the entire nation. The Lindbergh
family was inundated by offers of assistance and false clues. Even
Al Capone offered his help from prison, though it of course was
conditioned on his release. For three days, investigators had
found nothing and there was no further word from the kidnappers.

Then, a new letter showed up, this time demanding $70,000.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh
(February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974)

 
    
   

Jerry Steller (Gerald Isaac Stiller) (June 8, 1927 – May 11, 2020)

Comedian, actor, and author Jerry Steller spent many years as part of the
comedy duo Stiller and Meara along with his wife, Anne Meara, whom he
was married to for over 60 years, until her death in 2015. In recent years
Jerry Steller was best known for his roles on “Seinfeld”(NBC) and “The
King of Queens” (CBS). His son comedian Ben Steller announced
via Twitter Monday his father died of natural causes.

From left: Ben Steller with his father Jerry Steller.

On May 10, 1869, the presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific
railroads met in Promontory, Utah, and drive a ceremonial last spike into
a rail line that connects their railroads. This made transcontinental railroad
travel possible for the first time in U.S. history. No longer would western-
bound travelers need to take the long and dangerous journey by wagon
train, and the West would surely lose some of its wild charm with the new
connection to the civilized East.

                       
                      The original "golden spike", on display 
                      at the Cantor Arts Museum at Stanford
                         University.
                            

Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman)
(December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020) 

(AP) – Little Richard, the rock legend best known for the hits "Tutti Frutti"
and "Good Golly Miss Molly," has died.

Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated
Press that Little Richard died Saturday morning. The musician’s son,
Danny Jones Penniman, also confirmed his death to Rolling Stone and
said the cause of death was related to bone cancer.

Little Richard was nicknamed "The Innovator, The
Originator, and The Architect of Rock and Roll".

Time For Beany is a children’s television series, with puppets for characters,
which was broadcast locally in Los Angeles starting on February 28, 1949
and nationally (by kinescope) by the improvised Paramount Television
Network from 1950 to 1955. It was created by animator Bob Clampett,
who later reused its main characters for the animated series Beany and
Cecil. The show won three Primetime Emmy Awards for best children’s
show.

Voice artist Stan Freberg was one of the puppeteer’s on the show.

Pictured from left: Daws Butler and Stan Freburg behind the wall.

Stan Freberg (Stanley Friberg) (August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015)