|
 Today's
highlight in history:
On May 1, 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.
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 1893, the World's Columbian Exposition opened to the public in Chicago.
In 1931, New York's 102-story Empire State Building was dedicated.
In 1945, a day after Adolf Hitler committed suicide, Adm. Karl Doenitz effectively became sole leader of the Third Reich with the suicide of Hitler's propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels.
In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance plane near Sverdlovsk and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
In 1963, James W. Whittaker became the first American to conquer Mount Everest as he and a Sherpa guide reached the summit.
In 1967, Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas. (They divorced in 1973.)
In 1978, Ernest Morial was inaugurated as the first black mayor of New Orleans.
In 1982, the 1982 World's Fair opened in Knoxville, Tenn.
Ten years ago: Eldridge Cleaver, the fiery Black Panther leader who later renounced his past and became a Republican, died in Pomona, Calif., at age 62. Former Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the 1994 genocide of more than half a million Tutsis. (Kambanda was later sentenced to life in prison.)
[to top of second column] |
Five years ago: President Bush, flying aboard an S-3B Viking, landed on the deck of the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the Southern California coast. With a banner strung across the bridge of the ship proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," the president declared major combat in Iraq over, but also said "difficult work" remained ahead. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake killed 177 people in Turkey.
One year ago: In only his second veto, President 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 illegal immigrants.
Today's birthdays: Former astronaut Scott Carpenter is 83. Country singer Sonny James is 79. Singer Judy Collins is 69. Actor Stephen Macht is 66. Singer Rita Coolidge is 63. Actor-director Douglas Barr is 59. Actor Dann Florek is 57. Singer-songwriter Ray Parker Jr. is 54. Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen is 48. Actress Maia Morgenstern is 46. Country singer Wayne Hancock is 43. Rock musician Johnny Colt is 42. Actor Charlie Schlatter is 42. Country singer Tim McGraw is 41. Rock musician D'Arcy is 40. Movie director Wes Anderson is 39. Country singer Cory Morrow is 36. Actor Darius McCrary is 32.
Thought for today: "Think much, speak little and write less."
-- Italian proverb
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed. |
