Today in History - Historical Events - May 3rd

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Notable Historical Events on May 3rd

199429th Academy of Country Music Awards: Garth Brooks wins

1621Francis Bacon accused of bribery

1948Pulitzer prize awarded to James Michener & Tennessee Williams

1512Pope Julius II opens 5th Council of Lateran at St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome

1960The Anne Frank House opens in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

1959Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Land of the Sky Golf Tournament

1934Bradman scores 206 Aust v Worcestershire, 210 mins, 27 fours

1991Cam Neely is injured on a cheap shot by Ulf Samuelsson, an injury that would limit him to only 162 games for the remainder of his NHL career and force him to retire at 31

1992NY Met Eddie Murray is 24th to hit 400 HRS

2013The Palmetto Playground in Brooklyn is renamed after Beastie Boys' rapper Adam Yauch

1982President Reagan begins 5 minute weekly radio broadcasts

2002"Spider-Man", starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin, premieres

1937Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for "Gone With the Wind"

1960Harvey Schmidt/Tom Jones' musical "Fantasticks" premieres in NYC

1943Pulitzer prize awarded to Upton Sinclair (Dragon's Teeth)

1976Pulitzer prize awarded to Saul Bellow (Humboldt's Gift)

1954Pulitzer prize awarded to Charles A Lindbergh & John Patrick

1915John McCrae writes the poem "In Flanders Fields"

1936NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio makes his major-league debut, gets 3 hits

1964Mickey Wright wins LPGA Clifford Ann Creed Golf Invitational

May 3rd Historical Events
Date Event
1374
Solar eclipse (2m07s) seen at Ugarit by Mesopotamian astromoners "On the day of the new moon, in the month of Hiyar, the Sun was put to shame, and went down in the daytime, with Mars in attendance." 
BC
AD
1294
John II becomes duke of Brabant/Limburg 
1342
Count Hartmann II becomes ruler of Vaduz (Liechtenstein) 
1382
Battle of Beverhoutsveldn near Bruges - Ghent town army beats drunken Bruges militia 
1455
Jews flee Spain 
1491
Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I. 
1512
Pope Julius II opens 5th Council of Lateran at St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome 
1515
Persian Gulf: Portugese fleet occupies Ormuz 
1558
Ferdinand I officially appointed Holy Roman Emperor after his brother Charles abdicated in 1556 
1616
Treaty of Loudun ends French civil war 
1621
Francis Bacon accused of bribery 
1624
Spanish silver fleet sails to Panama 
1629
French huguenot leader duke De Rohan signs accord with Spain 
1640
English Upper house accept Act of Attainder 
1654
Bridge at Rowley Mass begins charging tolls for animals 
1660
Sweden, Poland, Brandenburg & Austria sign Peace of Oliva 
1661
Johannes Hevelius observes 3rd transit of Mercury ever to be seen 
1662
Royal charter granted to Connecticut 
1678
French conquering fleet at Curacao, 1200 die 
1715
Edmund Halley observes total eclipse phenomenon "Baily's Beads" 
1722
Pierre de Marivaux' "La Double Inconstance" premieres in Paris 
1747
Willem IV appointed viceroy of Holland/Utrecht 
1765
1st US medical college opens in Philadelphia 
1791
The Constitution of May 3 (the first modern constitution in Europe) is proclaimed by the Sejm of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 
1802
Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city 
1808
Day depicted by Spanish painter Goya in his "The of 3rd of May" (painted 1814) 
1808
Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia. 
1808
Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose up on May 2 are fired upon near Príncipe Pío hill. 
1810
English poet Lord Byron swims the Hellespont (modern day Dardanelles) 
1815
Battle at Tolentino: Austria beats king Joachim of Naples 
1822
Society for the Propagation of the Faith founded (Lyon, France) 
1830
1st regular steam train passenger service starts 
1837
The University of Athens is founded. 
1841
New Zealand proclaimed a colony independent of New South Wales 
1845
1st African American lawyer (Macon B Allen) admitted to the bar (Mass) 
1845
Fire kills 1,600 in popular theater in Canton, China 
1846
Mexican army surrounds fort in Texas 
1849
The May Uprising in Dresden begins - the last of the German revolutions of 1848. 
1851
Most of San Francisco destroyed by fire; 30 die 
1855
Antwerp-Rotterdam railway opens 
1860
Charles XV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden. 
1861
Gen Winfield Scott presents his Anaconda Plan for the North against the South in American Civil War 
1861
Lincoln asks for 42,000 Army Volunteers & another 18,000 seamen 
1863
Battle of Fredricksburg, VA (Marye's Heights) 
1863
Battle of Salem Church, VA 
1864
3rd day in Battle at Alexandria Louisiana: Confederate assault 
1867
The Hudson's Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island. 
1886
M A Maclean elected 1st mayor of Vancouver, BC 
1898
Camp Merriman forms at Presidio (SF) (see 0517) 
1900
26th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Boland aboard Lieut Gibson wins in 2:06.25 
1901
Fire destroyed 1,700 buildings in Jacksonville, Florida 
1902
28th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Winkfield on Alan-a-Dale wins in 2:08.75 
1903
AVC Heracles (SC Heracles '74) soccer team forms in Almelo 
1906
British-controlled Egypt takes Sinai peninsula from Turkey 
1909
35th Kentucky Derby: Vincent Powers on Wintergreen wins in 2:08.2 
1915
John McCrae writes the poem "In Flanders Fields" 
1916
Irish Nationalists Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh and Thomas Clarke are executed by firing squad following their involvement in the Easter Rising 
1917
1st performance of Ernest Bloch's symphony "Israel" 
1919
Afghanistan Emir Amanoellah begins war against Great Britain 
1921
West Virginia imposes 1st state sales tax 
1922
Mayor Hylan closes streets for building of Yankee Stadium 
1922
Salt layer find at Winterswijk 
1923
1st nonstop transcontinental flight (NY-San Diego) completed 
1924
Aleph Zadik Aleph is formed in Omaha, Nebraska by Sam Beber. 
1926
British general strike: 3 million workers support miners 
1926
Pulitzer prize awarded to Sinclair Lewis (Arrowsmith) 
1926
US marines land in Nicaragua (9-mo after leaving), stay until 1933 
1928
Japanese atrocities in Jinan, China. 
1929
Prussia bans anti-fascists 
1932
24 tourists begin 1st air-charter holiday (London-Basle, Switz) 
1933
1st female director (Nellie T Ross) of US Mint takes office 
1934
Bradman scores 206 Aust v Worcestershire, 210 mins, 27 fours 
1936
French People's Front wins elections 
1936
NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio makes his major-league debut, gets 3 hits 
1937
Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for "Gone With the Wind" 
1938
Concentration camp at Flossenburg goes into use 
1938
Lefty Grove defeats Tigers 4-3 for 1st of record 20 consecutive wins at his home field Fenway Park; he doesn't lose there until May 12 1941 
1938
Vatican recognizes Franco-Spain 
1939
The All India Forward Bloc is formed by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. 
1941
-4] German air raid on Liverpool 
1941
67th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro aboard Whirlaway wins in 2:01.4 
1942
Japanese troop attack Tulagi, Gavutu & Tanambogo, Solomon Islands during WWII 
1942
German Luftwaffe bombs Exeter, UK during WWII 
1942
Nazis execute 72 OD'ers in reprisial in Sachsenhausen, Netherlands 
1942
Nazis require Dutch Jews to wear a Jewish star 
1943
Pulitzer prize awarded to Upton Sinclair (Dragon's Teeth) 
1943
Strike against obligatory labor camps ends, after 200 killed 
1943
US 1st armour division occupies Mateur Tunisia 
1944
"Meet Me in St Louis" opens on Broadway 
1944
Meat rationing ends in US 
1945
1st Polish armour brigade occupies Wilhelmshafen 
1945
Allies arrests German nuclear physics Werner Heisenberg 
1945
British troop join in Rangoon 
1945
WWII: German ship "Cap Arcona" laden with prisoners sunk by Royal Air Force in East Sea, 5,800 killed - one of largest maritime losses of life 
1946
International military tribunal in Tokyo begins 
1947
73rd Kentucky Derby: Eric Guerin aboard Jet Pilot wins in 2:06.8 
1947
New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect. 
1948
Pulitzer prize awarded to James Michener & Tennessee Williams 
1949
1st firing of a US Viking rocket; reached 80 km 
1951
Gil McDougald ties major league record with 6 RBIs in 1 inning 
1951
NY Yankee Gil McDougald is 5th to get 6 RBIs in an inning (9th) 
1951
Royal Festival Hall opens in London 
1951
The Festival of Britain opens. 
1952
"Call Me Madam" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 644 performances 
1952
1st landing by an airplane at geographic North Pole 
1952
78th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro aboard Hill Gail wins in 2:01.6 
1953
WTVO TV channel 17 in Rockford, IL (NBC) begins broadcasting 
1953
Westchester conference of American Library Association proclaims "Freedom to Read" 
1954
KTEN TV channel 10 in Ada-Ardmore, OK (ABC) begins broadcasting 
1954
Pulitzer prize awarded to Charles A Lindbergh & John Patrick 
1954
WHA TV channel 21 in Madison, WI (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1956
Frank Loesser's musical "Most Happy Fella" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 678 performances 
1956
A new range of mountains discovered in Antarctica (2 over 13,000') 
1958
84th Kentucky Derby: Ismael Valenzuela aboard Tim Tam wins in 2:05 
1958
WINS suspends Alan Freed for causing a riot in Boston, he quits 
1959
Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Land of the Sky Golf Tournament 
1959
Tiger's Charlie Maxwell hits 4 consecutive HRs in a doubleheader 
1960
Harvey Schmidt/Tom Jones' musical "Fantasticks" premieres in NYC 
1960
The Anne Frank House opens in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 
1961
Warren Spahn pitches a 2 hitter after pitching a no hitter 
1962
Express train crashed into wreckage of a commuter train & a freight, killing 163, injuring 400 (Tokyo, Japan) 
1963
Leslie Narum is only Balt Oriole to homer on his 1st at bat 
1964
Mickey Wright wins LPGA Clifford Ann Creed Golf Invitational 
1965
1st use of satellite TV, Today Show on Early Bird Satellite 
1965
3rd Mayor's Trophy Game, Mets beat Yanks 2-1 in 10 
1965
Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with the US 
1965
Don Steele, begins a 40+ year radio career at KRTH (Los Angeles California) 
1965
KTCI TV channel 17 in St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN (PBS) 1st broadcast 
1965
Pulitzer prize awarded to Irwin Unger (Greenback Era) 
1966
WDHO (now WNWO) TV channel 24 in Toledo, OH (ABC) begins broadcasting 
1967
African American students seize finance building at Northwestern University 
1968
Holland Pirate Radio Station VRON becomes Radio Veronica Intl 
1969
"Trumpets of the Lord" closes at Brooks Atkinson NYC after 7 perfs 
1969
95th Kentucky Derby: Bill Hartack on Majestic Prince wins in 2:01.8 
1970
24th NBA Championship: NY Knicks beat LA Lakers, 4 games to 3 
1970
Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Shreveport Kiwanis Golf Invitational 
1970
Trans-Arabian Pipeline delivery from Saudi Arabia to the Mediterranean interrupted in Syria, driving oil tanker rates to all time highs 
1971
"All Things Considered" premieres on 112 National Public Radio stations 
1971
Erich Honecker succeeds Walter Ulbricht as East German party leader 
1971
National Public Radio begins programming 
1971
Nixon administration arrests 13,000 anti-war protesters in 3 days 
1971
Pulitzer prize awarded to John Toland (Rising Sun) 
1973
Chicago's Sears Tower, world's tallest building (443 m), topped out 
1975
101st Kentucky Derby: Jacinto Vasquez on Foolish Pleasure wins 2:02 
1975
Christa Vahlensieck runs female world record marathon (2:40:15.8) 
1976
Panama 747SP lands after record flight around world (46:26) 
1976
Pulitzer prize awarded to Saul Bellow (Humboldt's Gift) 
1978
"Sun Day" - solar energy events are held in US 
1978
Anderlecht wins 18th Europe Cup II 
1978
Last cricket test match appearance for Bobby Simpson, at Kingston 
1978
WI all set to lose cricket test v Aust at Kingston till riots end game 
1978
First unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail ("spam") is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the US west coast 
1979
Bobby Bonds hits his 300th HR (2nd to have 300 HRs & 300 stolen bases) 
1979
Martin Sherman's "Bent" premieres in London 
1980
106th Kentucky Derby: Jacinto Vasquez on Genuine Risk wins in 2:02 
1980
Giants 1st baseman Willie McCovey hits his 521st & final HR 
1980
Texas Ranger Ferguson Jenkins becomes 4th to win 100 games in AL & NL 
1981
"Can-Can" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 5 performances 
1981
"Moony, Shapiro Songbook" opens & closes at Morosco Theater NYC 
1981
Sally Little wins LPGA CPC Women's Golf International 
1982
ABC's All Talk network begins on radio (2 west coast stations) 
1982
NY Times reports that military will get 25% of NASA's budget 
1982
President Reagan begins 5 minute weekly radio broadcasts 
1983
Bruins 3-Isles 8-Wales Conference Championship-Isles hold 3-1 lead 
1983
Soviet leader Andropov decreases nuclear weapons in Europe 
1983
US bishops condemn nuclear weapons 
1985
Date of $5 million check in "View to a Kill" 
1986
112th Kentucky Derby: Bill Shoemaker aboard Ferdinand wins in 2:02.8 
1986
Air Lanka crashes, killing 22 
1986
Cubs 3rd baseman Ron Cey hits his 300th & 301st HR 
1986
NASA launches Goes-G, it failed to achieve orbit 
1986
NY Yankee Don Mattingly is 6th to hit 3 sacrifice flies in a game 
1987
"Mikado" closes at Virginia Theater NYC after 46 performances 
1987
Cindy Hill wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic 
1987
Miami Herald reports a woman spent Friday & Saturday with Gary Hart 
1988
4,200 kg Colombian cocaine in seized at Tarpon Springs Florida 
1988
Jasper Johns' "Diver" sold for $4,200,000 
1991
356th & final episode of CBS 2nd longest running series Dallas, 2nd only to Gunsmoke 
1991
The Declaration of Windhoek is signed. 
1991
Cam Neely is injured on a cheap shot by Ulf Samuelsson, an injury that would limit him to only 162 games for the remainder of his NHL career and force him to retire at 31 
1992
Balt's Gregg Olson, 25, is youngest to record 100 saves 
1992
Danielle Ammaccapane wins LPGA Centel Golf Classic 
1992
NY Met Eddie Murray is 24th to hit 400 HRS 
1992
Ohio Glory wins 1st WLAF game (after 6 loses), beat Frankfurt 20-17 
1992
Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Centel Senior Golf Challenge 
1993
"Kiss of the Spider Woman" opens at Broadhurst NYC for 906 perfs 
1994
29th Academy of Country Music Awards: Garth Brooks wins 
1994
D66/Dutch Liberal Party win Dutch 2nd Parliamentary election 
1994
US space probe Clementine launched 
1995
"My Thing of Love" opens at Beck Theater NYC for 16 performances 
1995
Australia beat West Indies to regain the Frank Worrell Cricket Trophy 
1995
David Bell debuts for the Indians (3rd generation player, Gus & Buddy) 
1996
Martin Moxon & Michael Vaughan make 362 1st wkt Yorks v Glam 
1997
123rd Kentucky Derby: Gary Stevens aboard Silver Charm wins in 2:02.3 
1997
ABC Bud Light Masters Bowling Tournament won by Jason Queen 
1997
Garry Kasparov begins chess match with IBM supercomputer Deep Blue 
1999
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is slammed by an F5 tornado killing forty-two people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado was one of 66 from the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. 
1999
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time in its history at 11,014.70. 
1999
Stephen Hendry defeats Mark Williams 18-11 to win the World Snooker Championship for a record seventh time. 
2000
The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet. 
2001
The United States loses its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947. 
2002
A military MiG-21 aircraft crashes into the Bank of Rajasthan in India, killing eight. 
2002
"Spider-Man", starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin, premieres 
2003
New Hampshire's famous Old Man of the Mountain collapses. 
2003
129th Kentucky Derby: Jose Santos aboard Funny Cide wins in 2:01.19 
2006
Armavia Flight 967 crashes into the Black Sea, killing 113 people on board, with no survivors. 
2006
Zacarias Moussaoui is sentenced to life in prison in Alexandria, Virginia. 
2007
British girl Madeleine McCann disappears from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. 
2008
134th Kentucky Derby: Kent Desormeaux aboard Big Brown wins in 2:01.82 
2013
Aorun zhaoi, a Theropod dinosaur, dating from 161 million years ago, is discovered in China 
2013
The Palmetto Playground in Brooklyn is renamed after Beastie Boys' rapper Adam Yauch 
2014
California Chrome ridden by Victor Espinoza wins the 2014 Kentucky Derby 
2015
Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas, NV by unanimous decision. Remains undefeated at 48-0 
2016
Puerto Rico Defaults on Principal of $422 Million Debt Payment 
2016
Leicester City Completes Rise by Clinching Premier League Title 
2017
Anger grows in South Korea over US anti-missile system 
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