This day in history

[May 01, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Friday, May 1, the 121st day of 2009. There are 244 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

One hundred years ago, on May 1, 1909, Walter Reed General Hospital (later a part of Walter Reed Army Medical Center) in Washington, D.C., admitted its first patients.

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 1884, construction began on the first skyscraper, a 10-story structure in Chicago built by the Home Insurance Co. of New York.

In 1893, the World's Columbian Exposition opened to the public in Chicago.

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 1931, New York's 102-story Empire State Building was dedicated.

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 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: Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic agreed to hand over three captured U.S. soldiers to the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Despite protests, the National Rifle Association held its annual meeting in Denver 11 days after the Columbine shootings. The Liberty Bell 7, the Mercury space capsule flown by Gus Grissom, was found in the Atlantic 300 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla., 38 years after it sank. An amphibious boat (known as a "duck") sank at Hot Springs, Ark., killing 13. Charismatic, a 30-1 shot, charged to victory in the 125th Kentucky Derby.

Five years ago: Attackers stormed the offices of Houston-based ABB Lumps Global Inc. in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, killing six Westerners and a Saudi; all four attackers were killed after an hour-long police chase in which they dragged the body of an American from the bumper of their car. Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby, becoming the first unbeaten Derby winner since Seattle Slew in 1977.

One year ago: Three dozen people were killed in a double suicide bombing during a wedding procession in Balad Ruz, Iraq. A military jury at Fort Hood, Texas, acquitted Army Sgt. Leonard Trevino of premeditated murder in the death of an unarmed Iraqi insurgent. A U.S. missile strike in central Somalia killed the reputed leader of al-Qaida in Somalia. President George W. Bush imposed new sanctions against property owned or controlled by the military junta in Myanmar. Deborah Jeane Palfrey, convicted of being the "D.C. Madam," hanged herself in Tarpon Springs, Fla. Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, believed to be the last surviving member of the inner circle of plotters who attempted to kill Adolf Hitler, died in Altenahr, Germany, at age 90.

Today's birthdays: Former astronaut Scott Carpenter is 84. Country singer Sonny James is 80. Singer Judy Collins is 70. Actor Stephen Macht is 67. Singer Rita Coolidge is 64. Pop singer Nick Fortuna (The Buckinghams) is 63. Actor-director Douglas Barr is 60. Actor Dann Florek is 58. Singer-songwriter Ray Parker Jr. is 55. Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen is 49. Actress Maia Morgenstern is 47. Country singer Wayne Hancock is 44. Actor Charlie Schlatter is 43. Country singer Tim McGraw is 42. Rock musician Johnny Colt is 41. Rock musician D'Arcy is 41. Movie director Wes Anderson is 40. Washington Redskins long snapper Ethan Albright is 38. Actress Julie Benz is 37. Country singer Cory Morrow is 37. Gospel/R&B singer Tina Campbell (Mary Mary) is 35. Actor Darius McCrary is 33.

Thought for today: "He who is swift to believe is swift to forget." -- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Polish-born scholar (1907-1972)

[Associated Press]

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