 Today's highlight in history:
On May 3, 1937, Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her
novel, "Gone With the Wind."
On this date:
In 1791, Poland adopted a national constitution.
In 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.
In 1911, Wisconsin Gov. Francis E. McGovern signed the first U.S.
workers' compensation law to withstand constitutional review.
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 1952, the Kentucky Derby was televised nationally for the first
time on CBS; the winner was Hill Gail.
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 1987, The Miami Herald said its reporters had observed a young
woman spending "Friday night and most of Saturday" at a Washington
townhouse belonging to Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart.
(The woman was later identified as Donna Rice; the scandal torpedoed
Hart's presidential bid.)
Ten years ago: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
backed out of a settlement with 86 people who had accused defrocked
priest John Geoghan (GAY'-gun) of child molestation, saying the deal
was becoming too expensive. (The archdiocese later agreed to a $10
million settlement; Geoghan was murdered by a fellow prison inmate
in August 2003.) Eight inmates died in a fire at the Mitchell
County, N.C., jail. Pipe bombs exploded in six mailboxes in rural
parts of Illinois and Iowa, injuring six people. (A suspect, Luke
Helder, was later found incompetent to stand trial.)
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Five years ago: British girl Madeleine McCann vanished during
a family vacation in Portugal days before her fourth birthday; her
disappearance remains unsolved. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrived
in Virginia for the commemoration of Jamestown's 400th anniversary.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Syrian Foreign Minister
Walid Moallem (wah-LEED' moh-AH'-lehm) of U.S. concerns about his
country's porous border with Iraq in the two nations' first
Cabinet-level talks in years. The Florida Legislature gave its final
approval to moving the state's 2008 primary from early March to
January 29. Ten Republican presidential candidates held their first
debate of the 2008 race at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in
Simi Valley, Calif. Astronaut Wally Schirra died in La Jolla,
Calif., at age 84.
One year ago: The White House said that Osama bin Laden was
unarmed when Navy SEALs burst into his room at his Pakistan compound
and shot him to death, a change in the official account that raised
questions about whether the U.S. ever planned to capture the
terrorist leader alive. Chicago's Derrick Rose became at age 22 the
NBA's youngest MVP. Francisco Liriano pitched the major leagues'
first no-hitter of the season, throwing his first career complete
game in Minnesota's 1-0 victory over Chicago. Actor-director Jackie
Cooper died in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 88.
Today's birthdays: Folk singer Pete Seeger is 93. Actress Ann
B. Davis is 86. Actor Alex Cord is 79. Singer Frankie Valli is 78.
Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 66. Pop singer Mary Hopkin is 62.
Singer Christopher Cross is 61. Country musician Cactus Moser
(Highway 101) is 55. Rock musician David Ball (Soft Cell) is 53.
Country singer Shane Minor is 44. Actor Bobby Cannavale (ka-nuh-VAL'-ee)
is 42. Music and film producer-actor Damon Dash is 41. Country
musician John Hopkins (Zac Brown Band) is 41. Country-rock musician
John Neff (Drive-By Truckers) is 41. Country singer Brad Martin is
39. Actor Dule (doo-LAY') Hill is 37. Country singer Eric Church is
35. Dancer Cheryl Burke (TV: "Dancing with the Stars") is 28.
Actress Jill Berard is 22.
Thought for today: "Each day, and the living of it, has to be
a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with
some play and pure foolishness." -- May Sarton, American poet
(born this date in 1912, died in 1995)
[Associated Press]
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