This day in history

[May 03, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2011. There are 242 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On May 3, 1911, Wisconsin Gov. Francis E. McGovern signed the first U.S. workers' compensation law to withstand constitutional scrutiny. (Previous attempts in Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana and New York were struck down.)

On this date:

In 1791, Poland adopted a national constitution.

In 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.

In 1916, Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse and two others were executed by the British for their roles in the Easter Rising.

In 1933, Nellie T. Ross became the first female director of the U.S. Mint.

In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks or members of other racial groups were legally unenforceable.

In 1960, the Harvey Schmidt-Tom Jones musical "The Fantasticks" began a nearly 42-year run at New York's Sullivan Street Playhouse.

In 1971, the National Public Radio program "All Things Considered" made its debut.

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 1991, author Jerzy Kosinski was found dead in his New York City apartment; he was 57.

Ten years ago: The United States lost its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947. An estimated 36.4 million people tuned in to watch Tennessee nurse Tina Wesson win "Survivor: The Australian Outback" on CBS.

Five years ago: A federal jury in Alexandria, Va., 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." An Armenian passenger plane crashed off Russia's Black Sea coast, killing all 113 people on board. Earl Woods, father of golfer Tiger Woods, died in Cypress, Calif., at age 74.

One year ago: BP declared it would pay all "legitimate and objectively verifiable" claims related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad (FY'-sul shah-ZAHD') was apprehended aboard a flight preparing to depart New York for Dubai. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (ah-muh-DEE'-neh-zhahd) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton exchanged heated words at the United Nations, the site of a monthlong debate over the world's nuclear weapons. An Indian court convicted a Pakistani man (Mohammed Ajmal Kasab) of murder and other charges for his role in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that left 166 people dead.

Today's birthdays: Folk singer Pete Seeger is 92. Actress Ann B. Davis is 85. Singer Frankie Valli is 77. Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 65. Pop singer Mary Hopkin is 61. Singer Christopher Cross is 60. Country musician Cactus Moser (Highway 101) is 54. Rock musician David Ball (Soft Cell) is 52. Country singer Shane Minor is 43. Actor Bobby Cannavale (ka-nuh-VAL'-ee) is 41. Music and film producer-actor Damon Dash is 40. Country musician John Hopkins (Zac Brown Band) is 40. Country-rock musician John Neff (Drive-By Truckers) is 40. Country singer Brad Martin is 38. Actor Dule (doo-LAY') Hill is 36. Country singer Eric Church is 34. Dancer Cheryl Burke (TV: "Dancing with the Stars") is 27. Actress Jill Berard is 21.

Thought for today: "Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil." -- Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian political philosopher (born this date in 1469, died 1527)

[Associated Press]

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