This Day in History

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May 2, 1885

The magazine 'Good Housekeeping' goes on sale for the first time.

1918

General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company.

1952

The De Havilland Comet, the world's first jet airliner, makes its maiden flight.

1955

Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

1969

The Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City.

1982

Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano.

1986

The city of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the nuclear power plant there explodes and burns.

2000

President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.

2011

Osama bin Laden is killed by U.S. Special Forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Births

1729 – Catherine the Great; 1859 – Jerome K. Jerome; 1892 – Manfred von Richthofen 'The Red Baron'; 1903 – Dr. Benjamin Spock; 1907 – Pinky Lee; 1922 – Roscoe Lee Browne; 1929 – Link Wray; 1936 – Engelbert Humperdinck; 1945 – Judge Dread (No, really); 1945 – Bianca Jagger; 1946 – Lesley Gore, David Suchet; 1947-James Dyson; 1948 – Larry Gatlin; 1950 – Lou Gramm; 1951 – John Glascock; 1955 – Donatella Versace; 1962 – Big Boss Man; 1967 – Mika Brzezinski; 1972 – Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson; 1975 – David Beckham; 1985 – Lily Allen, Kyle Busch

Deaths

1519 – Leonardo da Vinci; 1880 – Eberhard Anheuser; 1957 – Joseph McCarthy; 1972 – J. Edgar Hoover; 1984 – Jack Barry; 1990 – David Rappaport; 1999 – Oliver Reed; 2006 – Louis Rukeyser; 2009 – Jack Kemp; 2010 – Lynn Redgrave; 2011 – Osama bin Laden; 2012 – Junior Seau; 2014 – Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.; 2015 – Ruth Rendell

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May 3, 1715

A total solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by Edmund Halley to within 4 minutes accuracy.

1802

Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city.

1915

The poem In Flanders Fields is written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

1937

Gone With The Wind wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

1952

The Kentucky Derby is televised nationally for the first time.

1973

The 108-story Sears Tower, in Chicago, is topped out at 1,451 feet as the world's tallest building.

1978

The first spam email is sent .

1987

Bobby Allison crashes at Talladega Superspeedway, leading NASCAR to develop restrictor plates for the Daytona, and Talledega races the next year.

1999

An F5 tornado strikes southwest Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, producing a wind speed of 301 mph (+/- 20 mph), the highest wind speed ever recorded. It is one of 66 tornadoes that day.

2000

Geocaching becomes a thing.

2003

New Hampshire's famous Old Man of the Mountain collapses.

Births

1849 – Jacob Riis; 1874 – François Coty; 1879 – Fergus McMaster; 1903 – Bing Crosby; 1906 – Mary Astor; 1917 – Betty Comden; 1919 – Pete Seeger; 1921 – Sugar Ray Robinson; 1928 – Dave Dudley; 1932 – Robert Osborne; 1933 – James Brown, Brother Stair; 1934 – Frankie Valli; 1935 – Ron Popeil; 1944 – Pete Staples; 1947 – Doug Henning; 1951 – Christopher Cross; 1953 – Bruce Hall; 1975 – Willie Geist; 1975 – Christina Hendricks; 1981 – J. Tillman

Deaths

1972 – Bruce Cabot; 1986 – Robert Alda; 1996 – Jack Weston; 2006 – Earl Woods; 2007 – Wally Schirra; 2011 – Jackie Cooper

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May 4, 1776

Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.

1814

Napoléon Bonaparte arrives at the island of Elba, to begin his exile.

1904

Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce meet in Manchester, England.

1932

Al Capone begins serving an 11-year prison sentence for tax evasion.

1953

Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man And The Sea" wins the Pulitzer Prize.

1959

The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held.

1961

American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South.

1970

Four dead in O-hi-o: The Ohio Nat'l Guard opens fire on students protesting the war in Vietnam, killing four and wounding nine.

1979

Margaret Thatcher, "The Iron Lady", becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1988

Tons of stored Space Shuttle fuel detonate in a gigantic explosion during a fire at the Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada, near Henderson, Nevada. Video

2007

Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7 mi wide EF5 tornado. 95% of the city is leveled. The tornado was part of the May 2007 tornado outbreak.

Births

1796 – Horace Mann; 1916 – Richard Proenneke; 1919 – Dory Funk; 1923 – Ed Cassidy; 1928 – Thomas Kinsella, Hosni Mubarak; 1929 – Audrey Hepburn; 1939 – Paul Gleason; 1940 – Robin Cook; 1941 – George Will; 1942 – Nickolas Ashford; 1953 – Pia Zadora; 1959 – Randy Travis, Bob Tway; 1972 – Mike Dirnt; 1978 – Erin Andrews; 1989 – Rory McIlroy

Deaths

1975 – Moe Howard; 1980 – Josip Broz Tito; 1987 – Paul Butterfield; 2009 – Dom DeLuise; 2012 – Adam Yauch

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May 5, 1260

Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.

1494

Christopher Columbus lands at Jamaica.

1821

Napoleon dies, in exile, on the island of St. Helena.

1865

The first train robbery in the United States takes place, in North Bend, Ohio.

1866

Memorial Day is first celebrated in the United States, in Waterloo, New York.

1905

Fingerprints are used as evidence for the first time.

1920

Authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder.

1925

John T. Scopes is served an arrest warrant for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.

1934

The first Three Stooges short is released.

1961

Mercury-Redstone 3: Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space.

1965

The Warlocks, later known as The Grateful Dead, make their first public appearance, in Menlo Park, CA.

1973

Secretariat wins the Kentucky Derby in 1 minute 59 2⁄5 seconds, a record that still stands.

Births

1813 – Søren Kierkegaard; 1818 – Karl Marx; 1830 – John B. Stetson (the hat guy); 1864 – Nellie Bly; 1901 – Blind Willie McTell; 1914 – Tyrone Power; 1926 – Ann B. Davis (Alice on the Brady Bunch); 1934 – Ace Cannon; 1942 – Tammy Wynette; 1943 – Michael Palin; 1944 – John Rhys-Davies; 1944 – Roger Rees; 1945 – Kurt Loder; 1948 – Bill Ward; 1988 – Adele

Deaths

1821 – Napoleon; 2008 – Irv Robbins (co-founded Baskin-Robbins); 2015 – Craig Gruber (bassist for Rainbow and Elf)

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May 6, 1840

The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom.

1861

Arkansas secedes from the Union.

1877

Oglala Lakota chief Crazy Horse surrenders to U.S. troops.

1889

The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public.

1910

George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of Edward VII.

1915

Babe Ruth hits first major league home run.

1935

Works Progress Administration is created.

First flight of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk.

1937

The Hindenburg catches fire at Lakehurst, New Jersey and is destroyed in less than 60 seconds. 36 people die.

1940

John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" wins the Pultizer Prize.

1941

Bob Hope performs his first USO show.

1945

Axis Sally delivers her last broadcast.

1954

Roger Bannister runs the mile in under four minutes.

1989

Magnum XL-200, the first roller coaster to break the 200 ft height barrier, opens, igniting the coaster wars.

1994

The Channel Tunnel opens.

Paula Jones files a sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton.

After missing for 8 days, former CIA director William Colby's body is found.

2013

Three women missing for more than a decade are found alive in the U.S. city of Cleveland, Ohio. Their captor is taken into custody.

Births

1856 – Sigmund Freud, Robert Peary; 1895 – Rudolph Valentino; 1903 – Toots Shor; 1913 – Stewart Granger; 1915 – Orson Welles; 1931 – Willie Mays; 1945 – Bob Seger; 1950 – Jeffery Deaver, Robbie McIntosh; 1953 – Tony Blair; 1960 – Roma Downey; 1961 – George Clooney

Deaths

1862 – Henry David Thoreau; 1902 – Bret Harte; 1910 – Edward VII; 1919 – L. Frank Baum; 1952 – Maria Montessori; 1983 – Kai Winding; 1987 – William J. Casey; 2004 – Barney Kessel

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May 7, 1718

The city of New Orleans is founded.

1763

Odawa war chief Pontiac attempts to seize Fort Detroit from the British, leading to Pontiac's War.

1824

World premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna.

1840

The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.

1915

The RMS Lusitania is sunk by the German sub U-20, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans.

1942

During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Imperial Japanese Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō. The battle marks the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between the warring ships.

1974

Willy Brandt resigns as West German Chancellor.

1976

The Honda Accord is officially launched.

1998

Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion USD and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.

2000

Russia inaugurates Vladimir Putin as President.

2004

American businessman Nick Berg, is beheaded by Islamic militants.

2007

The tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.

Births

1812 – Robert Browning; 1833 – Johannes Brahms; 1840 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; 1885 – George "Gabby" Hayes; 1892 – Archibald MacLeish; 1892 – Josip Broz Tito; 1901 – Gary Cooper; 1909 – Edwin H. Land (co-founded Polaroid Corp.); 1919 – Eva Perón; 1922 – Darren McGavin (Kolchak: The Night Stalker); 1923 – Anne Baxter; 1930 – Totie Fields; 1933 – Johnny Unitas; 1946 – Bill Kreutzmann, Jerry Nolan; 1948 – Susan Atkins (follower of Charles Manson); 1950 – Randall "Tex" Cobb (boxer), Tim Russert; 1951 – Bernie Marsden; 1961 – Phil Campbell (Motorhead); 1965 – Owen Hart (wrestler); 1968 – Traci Lords; 1969 – Eagle-Eye Cherry

Deaths

1896 – H. H. Holmes (serial killer); 1998 – Eddie Rabbitt; 2000 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.; 2007 – Yahweh ben Yahweh; 2011 – Seve Ballesteros; 2013 – Ray Harryhausen

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May 9

1662 - Mr. Punch, of Punch and Judy, makes his first recorded appearance.

1763 - Chief Pontiac's siege of Fort Detroit begins.

1877 - An 8.8 earthquake off Peru kills 2,541 people, some as far away as Hawaii, and Japan.

1887 – Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.

1941 – World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma machine.

1945 – World War II: Ratification in Berlin-Karlshorst of the German unconditional surrender of May 8 in Rheims, France.

The Channel Islands are liberated by the British after five years of German occupation.

1958 – The film "Vertigo" has its world premiere in San Francisco.

1960 – The United States FDA announced it would approve the use of Searle's Enovid for birth control, making it the first oral contraceptive pill.

1980 – In Florida, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die.

Births

1801 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood; 1837 – Adam Opel; 1860 – J. M. Barrie; 1873 – Anton Cermak; 1874 – Howard Carter (found King Tut's tomb); 1882 – Henry J. Kaiser; 1918 – Mike Wallace "The Grand Inquisitor"; 1921 – Daniel Berrigan; 1936 – Terry Downes, Albert Finney, Glenda Jackson; 1937 – Sonny Curtis, Dave Prater (Sam & Dave); 1940 – James L. Brooks ("The Simpsons" producer); 1942 – John Ashcroft, Tommy Roe; 1944 – Richie Furay; 1945 – Steve Katz; 1946 – Candice Bergen; 1949 – Billy Joel; 1950 – Tom Petersson; 1960 – Tony Gwynn; 1962 – Dave Gahan; 1984 – Prince Fielder

Deaths

1914 – C. W. Post (cereal guy); 1968 – Harold Gray (created "Little Orphan Annie"); 2010 – Lena Horne; 2012 – Vidal Sassoon; 2013 – George M. Leader (36th Governor of Pennsylvania)

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Originally Posted by Gravdigr

May 3, 1715

A total solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by Edmund Halley to within 4 minutes accuracy.

1802

Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city.

1915

The poem In Flanders Fields is written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

1937

Gone With The Wind wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

1952

The Kentucky Derby is televised nationally for the first time.

1973

The 108-story Sears Tower, in Chicago, is topped out at 1,451 feet as the world's tallest building.

1978

The first spam email is sent .

1987

Bobby Allison crashes at Talladega Superspeedway, leading NASCAR to develop restrictor plates for the Daytona, and Talledega races the next year.

1999

An F5 tornado strikes southwest Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, producing a wind speed of 301 mph (+/- 20 mph), the highest wind speed ever recorded. It is one of 66 tornadoes that day.

2000

Geocaching becomes a thing.

2003

New Hampshire's famous Old Man of the Mountain collapses.

Births

1849 – Jacob Riis; 1874 – François Coty; 1879 – Fergus McMaster; 1903 – Bing Crosby; 1906 – Mary Astor; 1917 – Betty Comden; 1919 – Pete Seeger; 1921 – Sugar Ray Robinson; 1928 – Dave Dudley; 1932 – Robert Osborne; 1933 – James Brown, Brother Stair; 1934 – Frankie Valli; 1935 – Ron Popeil; 1944 – Pete Staples; 1947 – Doug Henning; 1951 – Christopher Cross; 1953 – Bruce Hall; 1975 – Willie Geist; 1975 – Christina Hendricks; 1981 – J. Tillman

Deaths

1972 – Bruce Cabot; 1986 – Robert Alda; 1996 – Jack Weston; 2006 – Earl Woods; 2007 – Wally Schirra; 2011 – Jackie Cooper