 Today's highlight in history:
On May 1, 1982, the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tenn., was opened by
President Ronald Reagan. The fair's theme: "Energy Turns the World."
(The six-month exposition's last day was Oct. 31.)
On this date:
In 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain was created as a treaty
merging England and Scotland took effect.
In 1786, Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro" premiered in
Vienna.
In 1898, Commodore George Dewey gave the command, "You may fire when
you are ready, Gridley," as an American naval force destroyed a
Spanish squadron in Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.
In 1911, the song "I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl That Married
Dear Old Dad)," by Harry Von Tilzer and Will Dillon, was first
published.
In 1931, New York's 102-story Empire State Building was dedicated.
Singer Kate Smith made her debut on CBS Radio on her 24th birthday.
In 1941, the Orson Welles motion picture "Citizen Kane" premiered in
New York.
In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance
plane over Sverdlovsk and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
In 1961, the first U.S. airline hijacking took place as Antulio
Ramirez Ortiz, a Miami electrician, commandeered a National Airlines
plane that was en route to Key West, Fla., and forced the pilot to
fly to Cuba.
In 1962, the first Target discount store opened in Roseville, Minn.
In 1971, the intercity passenger rail service Amtrak went into
operation.
In 1987, during a visit to West Germany, Pope John Paul II beatified
Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi
death camp at Auschwitz.
In 1992, on the third day of the Los Angeles riots, a visibly shaken
Rodney King appeared in public to appeal for calm, pleading, "Can we
all get along?"
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Ten years ago: Israeli armored vehicles began leaving Yasser
Arafat's battered West Bank compound, ending his five months of
confinement. Well over a million people across France marched
against far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, four days before Le Pen
was soundly defeated by President Jacques Chirac (zhahk shih-RAHK')
in a presidential runoff.
Five years ago: In only his second veto, President George W.
Bush rejected legislation to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq in a
showdown with Congress over whether the war should end or escalate.
Thousands of people protested across the country to demand a path to
citizenship for an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.
One year ago: Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II,
moving his predecessor a step closer to sainthood in a Vatican Mass
attended by some 1.5 million pilgrims. Marchers around the world
demanded more jobs, better working conditions and higher wages on
International Workers' Day.
Today's birthdays: Former astronaut Scott Carpenter is 87.
Country singer Sonny James is 83. Singer Judy Collins is 73. Actor
Stephen Macht is 70. Singer Rita Coolidge is 67. Pop singer Nick
Fortuna (The Buckinghams) is 66. Actor-director Douglas Barr is 63.
Actor Dann Florek is 61. Singer-songwriter Ray Parker Jr. is 58.
Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen is 52. Actress Maia Morgenstern is
50. Country singer Wayne Hancock is 47. Actor Charlie Schlatter is
46. Country singer Tim McGraw is 45. Rock musician Johnny Colt is
44. Rock musician D'Arcy is 44. Movie director Wes Anderson is 43.
Actress Julie Benz is 40. Country singer Cory Morrow is 40.
Gospel/rhythm-and-blues singer Tina Campbell (Mary Mary) is 38.
Actor Darius McCrary is 36.
Thought for today: "Anyone who is satisfied to stand still
should not complain when others pass him." -- Italian proverb.
[Associated Press]
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