Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Celebrity Birthdays for May 16: Jazz drummer Billy Cobham is 80. Actor Danny Trejo is 80. Rock guitarist and composer Robert Fripp, founder of King Crimson, is 78. Actor Bill Smitrovich is 77. Rock singer-songwriter Jonathan Richman is 73.

Today in History for May 16: In 587, Irish monk St. Bredan died. He's known for setting out in the Atlantic with two other monks in a skin boat and possibly travelling as far as North America.

Today in Music History for May 16: In 1896, violinist Frantz Jehin-Prume, the first musician of international reputation to choose Canada as his home, gave his final concert in Montreal with pianist Victoria Cartier.

Celebrity Birthdays for May 15: Actress-singer Anna Maria Alberghetti is 88. Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is 88. Actress-singer Lainie Kazan is 84. Actress Gunilla Hutton ("Petticoat Junction," ''Hee Haw") is 82.

Today in Music History for May 15: In 1918, country crooner Eddy Arnold was born at a farm near Henderson, Tenn.

Today in History for May 15: In 1248, Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden laid the cornerstone for a cathedral in Cologne, Germany.

Celebrity Birthdays for May 14: Photo-realist artist Richard Estes is 92. Actress Dame Sian Phillips is 91. Movie director-producer George Lucas is 80. Singer-actress Catherine McKinnon is 80.

Today in History for May 14: In 347, St. Pachomius, who was born in Egypt and founded the first monastery, died. In 1565, German Protestant reform theologian Nicolaus von Amsdorf died.

Today in Music History for May 14: In 1936, singer Bobby Darin, whose real name was Walden Robert Cassotto, was born in New York City. Darin's big break came in 1958 when he wrote and recorded "Splish Splash," which reached No. 3 on the U.S.

Today in History for is May 13: In 1110, Crusaders captured Beirut, causing a bloodbath. In 1607, the English colony at Jamestown, Va., was settled. In 1881, a revised New Testament went on sale. By day's end, 800,000 copies had been sold.