Today in History - History - May 1st

2011Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.

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.

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

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

305Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.

1959Floyd Patterson KOs Brian London in 11 for heavyweight boxing title

2010Canadian singer Bryan Adams is given the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for his 30 years of contributions to the arts

1979Elton John becomes 1st pop star to perform in Israel

1985US President Reagan ends embargo against Nicaragua

1844Whig convention nominates Henry Clay as presidential candidate

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

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

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

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

1917Country singer Jimmie Rodgers (19) weds Stella Kelley

1881Physiologist Ivan Pavlov (32) weds Seraphima Karchevskaya

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

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

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.

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

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

1998Cyclist Lance Armstrong weds Kristin Richard (divorced 2003)

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

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