Today in History - History - May 1st

1753Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.

1844Whig convention nominates Henry Clay as presidential candidate

1920Babe Ruth's 1st Yankee HR & 50th of career, out of Polo Grounds

1981Tennis player Billie Jean King acknowledges a lesbian relationship with Marilyn Barnett - becoming first prominent sportswoman to come out

1896Seven days after parliament was dissolved, Charles Tupper is sworn in as the 6th Prime Minister of Canada

20032003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" on board the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California.

1930Bradman scores 236 Aust v Worcs, his 1st f-class innings in Eng

1941"Citizen Kane", directed & starring Orson Welles, premieres in NY

1991Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brocks record with his 939th steal

1994"Rise & Fall of Little Voice" opens at Neil Simon NYC for 9 perfs

1738Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii (1782-1819) (d. 1819)

1852Calamity Jane, Princeton Missouri, American frontierswoman (Wild Bill Hickok)

1769Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington and British Prime Minister (Tory) (1828-30)

1975Jodhi May, London, British actress (A World Apart, The Other Boleyn Girl)

1967King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley (32) weds actress Priscilla Beaulieu (21) at Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada

1840Women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton (24) weds fellow abolitionist Henry Brewster Stanton (34)

1850Soldier William Tecumseh Sherman (30) weds Eleanor Boyle Ewing in Washington, D.C.

1980Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko (49) weds Bobi Ladawa

1954Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos (36) weds Imelda Romualdez (24) in a Catholic church

2010Actor-producer Seth Green (36) weds actress Clare Grant (30) at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in Nacasio, California

1982Actress Kate Jackson (33) weds business executive David Greenwald in Beverly Hills, California

1881Physiologist Ivan Pavlov (32) weds Seraphima Karchevskaya

1998"Reality Bites" actor Ethan Hawke (27) weds "Pulp Fiction" actress Uma Thurman (28)

1917Country singer Jimmie Rodgers (19) weds Stella Kelley

1945Paul Joseph Goebbels, German Nazi Minister of Propoganda, commits suicide aged 47 with his wife and arranges the death of his 6 children aged

1873David Livingstone, British physician/explorer (Africa), dies at 60