Today is Tuesday, May 3, the 124th day of 2016. There are 242 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 3, 1791, the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania adopted a constitution.
On this date:
In 1515, Pope Leo X promulgated the bull “Inter sollicitudines” allowing the Catholic Church to review and censor books.
In 1765, the first school of medicine in the American colonies, the Medical School of the College of Philadelphia (now the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania), was founded.
In 1802, Washington, D.C. was incorporated as a city.
In 1916, Irish nationalists Padraic Pearse, Thomas Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh were executed by a British firing squad; they were among 16 people put to death for their roles in the Easter Rising.
In 1933, Nellie T. Ross became the first female director of the U.S. Mint.
In 1945, during World War II, Allied forces recaptured Rangoon (Yangon) from the Japanese.
In 1952, the Kentucky Derby was televised nationally for the first time on CBS; the winner was Hill Gail.
In 1960, the Harvey Schmidt-Tom Jones musical “The Fantasticks” began a nearly 42-year run at New York’s Sullivan Street Playhouse.
In 1975, America’s oldest operational aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, was commissioned.
In 1979, Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher was chosen to become Britain’s first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections.
In 1986, in NASA’s first post-Challenger launch, an unmanned Delta rocket lost power in its main engine shortly after liftoff, forcing safety officers to destroy it by remote control.
In 1999, some 70 tornadoes roared across Oklahoma and Kansas, killing 46 people and injuring hundreds.
Ten years ago: A federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, rejected the death penalty for al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui (zak-uh-REE’-uhs moo-SOW’-ee), deciding he should spend life in prison for his role in 9/11; as he was led from the courtroom, Moussaoui taunted, “America, you lost.” Armavia Airlines Flight 967, an Armenian Airbus A-320, crashed off Russia’s Black Sea coast, killing all 113 people on board. Earl Woods, father of golfer Tiger Woods, died in Cypress, California, at age 74.
Five years ago: The White House said that Osama bin Laden was unarmed when Navy SEALs burst into his room at his Pakistan compound and shot him to death, a change in the official account that raised questions about whether the U.S. ever planned to capture the terrorist leader alive. Chicago’s Derrick Rose became at age 22 the NBA’s youngest MVP. Francisco Liriano pitched the major leagues’ first no-hitter of the season, throwing his first career complete game in the Minnesota Twins’ 1-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Actor-director Jackie Cooper died in Santa Monica, California, at age 88.
One year ago: Two gunmen were shot and killed by a police officer in Garland, Texas, after they opened fire outside a purposely provocative contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. Aboard the International Space Station, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti fired up the first espresso machine in orbit, then posted a photo of herself on Twitter sipping from a cup designed for use in zero-gravity.
Today’s Birthdays: Movie historian and TV host Robert Osborne is 84. Actor Alex Cord is 83. Singer Frankie Valli is 82. Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 70. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is 67. Pop singer Mary Hopkin is 66. Singer Christopher Cross is 65. Country musician Cactus Moser (Highway 101) is 59. Rock musician David Ball (Soft Cell) is 57. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., is 55. Country singer Shane Minor is 48. Actress Amy Ryan is 48. Actor Bobby Cannavale (ka-nuh-VAL’-ee) is 46. Music and film producer-actor Damon Dash is 45. Country musician John Driskell Hopkins (Zac Brown Band) is 45. Country-rock musician John Neff (Drive-By Truckers) is 45. Country singer Brad Martin is 43. TV personality Willie Geist (TV: “Today”) is 41. Actress Christina Hendricks is 41. Actor Dule (doo-LAY’) Hill is 41. Country singer Eric Church is 39. Actress Tanya Wright (TV: “Orange is the New Black”) is 38. Dancer Cheryl Burke is 32. Soul singer Michael Kiwanuka is 29. Actress Jill Berard is 26. Actress Zoe De Grand Maison (TV: “Orphan Black”) is 21.
Thought for Today: “Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.” — May Sarton, American poet (born this date in 1912, died in 1995).
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