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Empire State Building dedicated





1931
May 01


On May 1, 1931, President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City’s Empire State Building,
pressing a button from the White House that turns on the building’s lights. Hoover’s gesture,
of course, was symbolic; while the president remained in Washington, D.C., someone else flicked
the switches in New York.

The idea for the Empire State Building is said to have been born of a competition between
Walter Chrysler of the Chrysler Corporation and John Jakob Raskob of General Motors, to see who
could erect the taller building. Chrysler had already begun work on the famous Chrysler Building,
the gleaming 1,046-foot skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. Not to be bested, Raskob assembled
a group of well-known investors, including former New York Governor Alfred E. Smith. The group
chose the architecture firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon Associates to design the building.
The Art-Deco plans, said to have been based in large part on the look of a pencil, were also
builder-friendly: The entire building went up in just over a year, under budget (at $40 million)
and well ahead of schedule. During certain periods of building, the frame grew an astonishing
four-and-a-half stories a week.

At the time of its completion, the Empire State Building, at 102 stories and 1,250 feet high
(1,454 feet to the top of the lightning rod), was the world’s tallest skyscraper. The Depression-era
construction employed as many as 3,400 workers on any single day, most of whom received
an excellent pay rate, especially given the economic conditions of the time. The new building
imbued New York City with a deep sense of pride, desperately needed in the depths of the
Great Depression, when many city residents were unemployed and prospects looked bleak.
The grip of the Depression on New York’s economy was still evident a year later, however,
when only 25 percent of the Empire State’s offices had been rented.

In 1972, the Empire State Building lost its title as world’s tallest building to New York’s
World Trade Center, which itself was the tallest skyscraper for but a year. Today the honor
belongs to Dubai’s Burj Khalifa tower, which soars 2,716 feet into the sky.




ALSO ON THIS DAY




SPORTS
1955
Babe Didrikson Zaharias
wins final LPGA tournament of her career

On May 1, 1955, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, one of the greatest athletes
in sports history, wins the Peach Blossom LPGA Tournament in
Spartanburg, S.C. The victory, the 41st LPGA title of her career,
comes as a Didrikson Zaharias continues her battle
with colon cancer. After a ... read more






WOMEN’S HISTORY
1963
Gloria Steinem publishes part one
of "A Bunny's Tale" in SHOW magazine

After enduring a brief but grueling stint as a Bunny in Manhattan's Playboy Club,
feminist writer Gloria Steinem published the first half of her landmark account,
"A Bunny's Tale," in SHOW magazine on May 1, 1963. Steinem's undercover
reporting increased her profile and stripped ... read more



1970S
1972
Labor organizer and civil rights activist
Cesar Chavez begins hunger strike

On May 1, 1972, Mexican-American labor organizer and civil rights activist
Cesar Chavez begins a hunger strike. The strike, which he undertook in
opposition to an Arizona law severely restricting farm workers' ability to
organize, lasted 24 days and drew national attention to the ... read more



Robert F. Kennedy and Cesar Chavez



19TH CENTURY
1898
The U.S. destroys Spanish Pacific fleet
in Battle of Manila Bay

At Manila Bay in the Philippines, the U.S. Asiatic Squadron destroys the
Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the Spanish-American War. Nearly
400 Spanish sailors were killed and 10 Spanish warships wrecked or captured
at the cost of only six Americans wounded. The ... read more



GREAT BRITAIN
1997
Labour party returns to power in Britain

After 18 years of Conservative rule, British voters give the Labour Party, led by
Tony Blair, a landslide victory in British parliamentary elections. In the poorest
Conservative Party showing since 1832, Prime Minister John Major was rejected in
favor of Scottish-born Blair, who ... read more





GREAT BRITAIN
1851
First-ever “Great Exhibition” opens in London

On May 1, 1851, the Great Exhibition opens to wide acclaim in the Crystal Palace
in London. Inside the Crystal Palace, a giant glass-and-iron hall designed by
Sir Joseph Paxton, more than 10,000 exhibitors set up eight miles of tables.
Technological wonders from around the world ... read more



WOMEN’S HISTORY
1915
International Congress of Women adopts
resolutions on peace, women’s suffrage

On May 1, 1915 in The Hague, Netherlands, the International Congress of Women
adopts its resolutions on peace and women’s suffrage. The congress, also referred
to as the Women’s Peace Conference, was the result of an invitation by a
Dutch women’s suffrage organization to women’s ... read more



WESTWARD EXPANSION
1852
Adventurer and performer Calamity Jane is born

On May 1, 1856, the adventurer and performer Calamity Jane is born near
Princeton, Missouri. The myths and fabrications concerning the life of
Calamity Jane are so numerous it is difficult to discover her true story.
Legend has it that at various times Jane worked as a ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1941
“Citizen Kane” released

Months before its release, Orson Welles’ landmark film Citizen Kane began
generating such controversy that Radio City Music Hall eventually refused
to show it. Instead, Citizen Kane, now revered as one of the greatest movies
in history, made its debut at the smaller RKO Palace ... read more





CRIME
2002
Former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams
indicted for manslaughter

On May 1, 2002, former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams was indicted on a series of
charges, including aggravated manslaughter, in connection with the shooting
death of limousine driver Costas Christofi at Williams’ estate on February 14.
Williams enjoyed a successful NBA career with ... read more





CIVIL WAR
1863
Battle of Chancellorsville begins

On May 1, 1863, the Battle of Chancellorsville begins in Virginia. Earlier in the year,
General Joseph Hooker led the Army of the Potomac into Virginia to confront
Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Hooker had recently replaced
Ambrose Burnside,
who presided over the Army ... read more



COLD WAR
1960
American U-2 spy plane shot down
over Soviet Union

An American U-2 spy plane is shot down while conducting espionage over the
Soviet Union. The incident derailed an important summit meeting between
President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that was
scheduled for later that month.
The U-2 spy plane was the ... read more





INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1926
Ford factory workers get 40-hour week

On May 1, 1926, Ford Motor Company becomes one of the first companies in
America to adopt a five-day, 40-hour week for workers in its automotive factories.
The policy would be extended to Ford’s office workers the following August. 
Henry Ford’s Detroit-based automobile company ... read more



US GOVERNMENT
1958
President Eisenhower proclaims Law Day

On May 1, 1958, President Eisenhower proclaims Law Day to honor the role
of law in the creation of the United States of America. Three years later,
Congress followed suit by passing a joint resolution establishing May 1
as Law Day.
The idea of a Law Day had first been proposed ... read more

J. Edgar Hoover dies,
ending a five-decade era at the FBI





1972
May 02


After nearly five decades as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
J. Edgar Hoover dies, leaving the powerful government agency without the
administrator who had been largely responsible for its existence and shape.

Educated as a lawyer and a librarian, Hoover joined the Department of Justice in
1917 and within two years had become special assistant to Attorney General
A. Mitchell Palmer. Deeply anti-radical in his ideology, Hoover came to the forefront
of federal law enforcement during the Red Scare of 1919 to 1920. The former
librarian set up a card index system listing every radical leader, organization,
and publication in the United States and by 1921 had amassed some 450,000 files.
More than 10,000 suspected communists were also arrested during this period,
but the vast majority of these people were briefly questioned and then released.
Although the attorney general was criticized for abusing his authority during
the Palmer Raids, Hoover emerged unscathed, and on May 10, 1924, he was
appointed acting director of the Bureau of Investigation, a branch of the
Justice Department established in 1909.

During the 1920s, with Congress’ approval, Director Hoover drastically restructured
and expanded the Bureau of Investigation. He built the corruption-ridden agency
into an efficient crime-fighting machine, establishing a centralized fingerprint file,
a crime laboratory, and a training school for agents. In the 1930s,
the Bureau of Investigation launched a dramatic battle against the epidemic of
organized crime brought on by Prohibition. Notorious gangsters such as
George “Machine Gun” Kelly and John Dillinger met their ends looking down the
barrels of Bureau-issued guns, while others, like Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, the
elusive head of Murder, Incorporated, were successfully investigated and prosecuted
by Hoover’s “G-men.” Hoover, who had a keen eye for public relations, participated
in a number of these widely publicized arrests, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations,
as it was known after 1935, became highly regarded by Congress and the American public.

With the outbreak of World War II, Hoover revived the anti-espionage techniques he
had developed during the first Red Scare, and domestic wiretaps and other electronic
surveillance expanded dramatically. After World War II, Hoover focused on the threat
of radical, especially communist, subversion. The FBI compiled files on millions of
Americans suspected of dissident activity, and Hoover worked closely with the House
Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and Senator Joseph McCarthy,
the architect of America’s second Red Scare.

In 1956, Hoover initiated Cointelpro, a secret counterintelligence program that initially
targeted the U.S. Communist Party but later was expanded to infiltrate and disrupt any
radical organization in America. During the 1960s, the immense resources of Cointelpro
were used against dangerous groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, but also against
African American civil rights organizations and liberal anti-war organizations. One
figure especially targeted was civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who endured
systematic harassment from the FBI.

By the time Hoover entered service under his eighth president in 1969, the media,
the public, and Congress had grown suspicious that the FBI might be abusing its
authority. For the first time in his bureaucratic career, Hoover endured widespread
criticism, and Congress responded by passing laws requiring Senate confirmation of
future FBI directors and limiting their tenure to 10 years. On May 2, 1972, with the
Watergate affair about to explode onto the national stage, J. Edgar Hoover died of
heart disease at the age of 77. The Watergate affair subsequently revealed that the
FBI had illegally protected President Richard Nixon from investigation, and the agency
was thoroughly investigated by Congress. Revelations of the FBI’s abuses of power
and unconstitutional surveillance motivated Congress and the media to become more
vigilant in future monitoring of the FBI.








ALSO ON THIS DAY




CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
1963
More than 1,000 schoolchildren protest
segregation in the Children's Crusade

On May 2, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, more than 1,000 Black school
children march through the city in a demonstration against segregation.
The goal of the non-violent demonstration, which became known as the
"Children’s Crusade" and "Children’s March,"
was to provoke the city’s ... read more






21ST CENTURY
2011
Osama bin Laden killed by U.S. forces

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks in the United States, is killed by U.S. forces during a raid on his
compound hideout in Pakistan. The notorious, 54-year-old leader of Al Qaeda,
the terrorist network of Islamic extremists, had been ... read more



EXPLORATION
1670
King Charles II grants charter to Hudson’s Bay Company

King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson’s Bay
Company, made up of the group of French explorers who opened the
lucrative North American fur trade to London merchants. The charter
conferred on them not only a trading monopoly 

but also effective control ... read more



FOLKLORE
1933
Loch Ness "Monster" sighted for the first time,
igniting the modern legend

The modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster is born when a sighting
makes local news on May 2, 1933. The newspaper Inverness Courier
relates an account of a local couple who claim to have seen
“an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface.”
The story of the “monster” ... read more






WORLD WAR II
1945
German troops surrender to Allies in Italy,
while Berlin surrenders to Russia's Zhukov

On May 2, 1945, approximately 1 million German soldiers lay down their
arms as the terms of the German unconditional surrender, signed at
Caserta on April 29, comes into effect. Early this same day,
Russian Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov accepts 

the surrender of the German capital.
The ... read more






ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1960
Dick Clark survives the Payola scandal

On May 2, 1960, Dick Clark concludes his second day of testimony in the
so-called Payola hearings—testimony that both saved and altered the course
of his career. If Alan Freed, the disk jockey who gave rock and roll its name,
was Payola’s biggest casualty, then Dick Clark was its ... read more






CRIME
1924
A grisly murder makes rubber gloves
standard equipment at crime scenes

Patrick Mahon is arrested on suspicion of murder after showing up at the
Waterloo train station in London to claim his bag. He quickly confessed that
the bloody knife and case inside were connected to the death of his mistress,
Emily Kaye. Mahon then directed the Scotland Yard ... read more



RED SCARE
1957
Senator Joseph McCarthy dies

Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) succumbs to illness exacerbated by
alcoholism and passes away at age 48. McCarthy had been a key figure in the
anticommunist hysteria popularly known as the “Red Scare” that engulfed the
United States in the years following World War II ... read more






INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1918
GM buys Chevrolet

On May 2, 1918, General Motors Corporation (GM), which will become the
world’s largest automotive firm, acquires Chevrolet Motor Company. GM had
been founded a decade earlier by William C. “Billy” Durant, a former carriage
maker from Flint, Michigan, whose Durant-Dort Carriage ... read more



WORLD WAR I
1918
Allies argue over U.S. troops joining
battle on Western Front

On May 2, 1918, in a conference of Allied military leaders 

at Abbeville, France,
the U.S., Britain and France argue over the entrance of
American troops into World War I. ... read more

Congressional hearings
on General MacArthur begin





1951
May 03




The Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, meeting in closed
session, begin their hearings into the dismissal of Gen. Douglas MacArthur by
President Harry S. Truman. The hearings served as a sounding board for MacArthur
and his extremist views on how the Cold War should be fought.

General MacArthur served as commander of U.S. forces during the Korean War until
1951. In late 1950 he made a serious strategic blunder when he dismissed warnings
that the People’s Republic of China would enter the conflict on the side of its communist
ally, North Korea. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops smashed into the American
lines in November 1950, driving the U.S. troops back with heavy losses. MacArthur,
who had earlier complained about President Truman’s handling of the war, now went
on an all-out public relations attack against the president and his Cold War policies.
In numerous public statements and interviews, General MacArthur criticized Truman’s
timidity. He also asked for permission to carry out bombing attacks against China and
to expand the war. President Truman flatly refused, believing that expanding the war
would lead to a possible confrontation with the Soviet Union and World War III.
On April 11, 1951, President Truman removed MacArthur from his command. Though
Truman clearly did not appreciate MacArthur’s approach, the American public liked
his tough stance on communism, and he returned home to a hero’s welcome.

On May 3, 1951, just a few days after MacArthur’s return to the United States, the
Senate Armed Forces and Foreign Relations Committees began hearings into his dismissal.
Partisan politics played a significant role in the hearings, which were instigated by
Republican senators eager to discredit the Democratic administration of Harry Truman.
MacArthur was the featured witness, and he spoke for more than six hours at the opening
session of the hearings. He condemned Truman’s Cold War foreign policy, arguing that if
the president’s “inhibitions” about the war in Korea had been removed the conflict could
have been “wound up” without a “very great additional complement of ground troops.”
He went on to suggest that only through a strategy of complete military destruction of
the communist empire could the U.S. hope to win the Cold War.

The hearings ended after seven weeks, with no definite conclusions reached about
MacArthur’s dismissal. However, the general’s extremist stance and intemperate
statements concerning the need for an expanded conflict against communism during
the hearings soon eroded his popularity with the American public. MacArthur attempted
to garner the Republican presidential nomination in 1952, but lost to the more moderate
campaign of another famed military leader, Dwight D. Eisenhower.









ALSO ON THIS DAY




CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
1954
Supreme Court rules in Hernandez v. Texas,
broadening civil rights laws

The Supreme Court issues a momentous ruling that clarified the way
that the American legal system handled charges of discrimination. In
Hernandez v. Texas, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the
Fourteenth Amendment applied to all racial and ethnic groups facing ... read more


CRIME
2007
Three-year-old Madeleine McCann
goes missing in Portugal

On May 3, 2007, less than two weeks before her fourth birthday,
Madeleine McCann of Rothley, England, vanishes during a family
vacation at a resort in southern Portugal. McCann’s disappearance
prompted an international search; however, she has never been found.
In May 2007, the ... read more





WORLD WAR II
1946
Japanese war crimes trial begins

In Tokyo, Japan, the International Military Tribunals for the Far East begins
hearing the case against 28 Japanese military and government officials
accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during
World War II. On November 4, 1948, the trial ended with 25 of ... read more





JAPAN
1947
New Japanese constitution goes into effect

On May 3, 1947, Japan’s postwar constitution goes into effect. The progressive
constitution granted universal suffrage, stripped Emperor Hirohito of all but
symbolic power, stipulated a bill of rights, abolished peerage, and outlawed
Japan’s right to make war. The document was ... read more


EXPLORATION
1952
Joseph Fletcher lands first aircraft on the North Pole

A ski-modified U.S. Air Force C-47 piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph O. Fletcher
of Oklahoma and Lieutenant Colonel William P. Benedict of California becomes
the first aircraft to land on the North Pole. A moment later, Fletcher climbed out
of the plane and walked to the ... read more





INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1469
Italian philosopher and writer
Niccolo Machiavelli born

On May 3, 1469, the Italian philosopher and writer Niccolo Machiavelli is born.
A lifelong patriot and diehard proponent of a unified Italy, Machiavelli became
one of the fathers of modern political theory. Machiavelli entered the political
service of his native Florence by the ... read more


VIETNAM WAR
1965
173rd Airborne Brigade deploys to South Vietnam

The lead element of the 173rd Airborne Brigade (“Sky Soldiers”), stationed
in Okinawa, departs for South Vietnam. It was the first U.S. Army ground
combat unit committed to the war. Combat elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade
included the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Battalions, ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1933
Funk master, James Brown, is born

“Soul Brother #1,”The Godfather of Soul,” “Mr. Dynamite,” “Sex Machine,”
“The Minister of the New New Super Heavy Funk.” These are some of the
names by which the world would eventually know James Joseph Brown, Jr.,
the revolutionary musical figure who was born on May 3, 1933. The ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1810
Lord Byron swims across tumultuous
Hellespont strait in Turkey

George Gordon, Lord Byron, swims across the Hellespont, a tumultuous strait
in Turkey now called the Dardanelles. Legendary Greek hero Leander supposedly
swam the same four-mile stretch. Byron’s visits to Greece later made him a
passionate supporter of Greek independence from ... read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1948
U.S. Supreme Court decides
Paramount antitrust case

On May 3, 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court issues a decision in U.S. v. Paramount Pictures,
et al., the government’s long-running antitrust lawsuit against Paramount Pictures
and seven other major Hollywood movie studios. The forerunner of the case was a
1928 antitrust lawsuit ... read more


JAPAN
1962
Trains collide near Tokyo,
killing more than 160 people

Two commuter trains and a freight train collide near Tokyo, Japan, killing
more than 160 people and injuring twice that number on May 3, 1962.
It was Constitution Day in Japan when a commuter train pulled out of
Mikawashima station at 9:30 p.m. taking passengers out of Tokyo. ... read more






CRIME
1992
Exxon executive is murdered

Exxon executive Sidney Reso dies in a storage vault in New Jersey. Four days
earlier, he was abducted from the driveway of his Morris Township, New Jersey,
home. Reso was shot in the arm, bound and gagged, and then placed in a
wooden box that was hidden in a virtually airless ... read more


Notorious NJ killer Arthur Seale


1980S
1980
MADD founder’s daughter
killed by drunk driver

On May 3, 1980, 13-year-old Cari Lightner of Fair Oaks, California, is walking
along a quiet road on her way to a church carnival when a car swerves out of
control, striking and killing her. Cari’s tragic death compelled her mother,
Candy Lightner, to found the organization ... read more





WORLD WAR II
1942
The Battle of the Coral Sea begins

On this, the first day of the first modern naval engagement in history, called
the Battle of the Coral Sea, a Japanese invasion force succeeds in occupying
Tulagi of the Solomon Islands in an expansion of Japan’s defensive perimeter.
The United States, having broken Japan’s ... read more

Legendary actress Audrey Hepburn
is born






1929
May 04



On May 4, 1929, Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston—who will one day be better known to
legions of film fans as Audrey Hepburn—is born near Brussels, Belgium.

The daughter of an English banker and a Dutch baroness, Hepburn was attending school in
London when World War II erupted in Europe. During the war, the Nazis occupied Holland,
where the young Audrey and her mother were staying, and the family suffered many hardships.
Hepburn continued to pursue her ballet studies, and at war’s end, she returned to London,
where she modeled and began acting in small parts on stage and screen. In 1951, Hepburn
was “discovered” by the French writer Colette while in Monaco shooting a film. Colette insisted
Hepburn be cast in the title role of the Broadway version of her novel Gigi, and the young
actress made her Broadway debut that same year.

Hepburn’s success in Gigi led directly to her being cast as the lead in the 1953 film Roman Holiday.
For her portrayal of a headstrong young princess who falls in love with a journalist
(played by Gregory Peck) while on the loose in Rome, Hepburn won the Academy Award for
Best Actress. She won a Tony Award for Best Actress the same year, for her starring turn in Ondine.
Over the next decade, Hepburn proved herself more than a match for Hollywood’s top leading men
in such hits as Sabrina (1954, with William Holden and Humphrey Bogart),
Funny Face (1957, with Fred Astaire) and Love in the Afternoon (1957, with Gary Cooper).

As the inimitable Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Hepburn earned her fourth Oscar
nod for Best Actress (she was also nominated for Sabrina and 1959’s A Nun’s Story). She sparked
a controversy when she was picked to star as Eliza Doolittle in the film version of the musical
My Fair Lady (1964), beating out Julie Andrews, who had originated the role on Broadway.
Three years later, Hepburn scored a fifth Academy Award nomination for Wait Until Dark, a film
that was produced by her then-husband, Mel Ferrer (they married in 1954). She left full-time
acting shortly thereafter (though she would continue to appear sporadically in movies, notably
as Maid Marian opposite Sean Connery’s Robin Hood in 1976’s Robin and Marian) and spent most
of her time at her home in Switzerland. Hepburn and Ferrer, who had one son, divorced in 1968,
and Hepburn married Andrea Dotti, an Italian psychiatrist, the following year; they had one son
together. After divorcing Dotti, Hepburn began a relationship with Robert Wolders,
a Dutch actor, in 1980.

In her semi-retirement from acting, Hepburn devoted most of her energy to charitable causes,
most notably UNICEF, the United Nation’s children’s fund, for which she was named a special
ambassador in 1988. Hepburn’s field trips for UNICEF took her around the globe, from
Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and El Salvador, to Turkey, Thailand, Bangladesh and Sudan.
She was also an eloquent public voice for the organization, helping to raise money and awareness
for its work by speaking before the U.S. Congress, among other venues.
In 1992, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Hepburn made her final film appearance in Steven Spielberg’s film Always (1989), in which she
played an angel. In 1992, shortly after returning from a UNICEF trip to Somalia, Hepburn was
diagnosed with colon cancer. After undergoing surgery that November, she died on January 20, 1993,
at her home near Lausanne, Switzerland, at the age of 63.





ALSO ON THIS DAY




WOMEN’S HISTORY
1979
Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s
first female Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservative Party, becomes Britain’s first
female prime minister on May 4, 1979. The Oxford-educated chemist and
lawyer took office the day after the Conservatives won a 44-seat majority in
general parliamentary elections. Margaret Hilda Roberts ... read more





SPORTS
1966
Willie Mays breaks National League home run record

On May 4, 1966, San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays hits his 512th
career home run to break Mel Ott’s National League record for home runs.
Mays would finish his career with 660 home runs, good for third on the all-time
list at the time of his retirement. Willie Howard ...read more





CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
1961
The first Freedom Ride departs from Washington, D.C.

On May 4, 1961, a group of thirteen young people departs Washington, D.C.’s
Greyhound Bus terminal, bound for the South. Their journey is peaceful at first,
but the riders will meet with shocking violence on their way to New Orleans,
eventually being forced to evacuate from ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1994
A lawmaker introduces the pun
"May the Fourth be with you"
on the floor of U.K. Parliament

On May 4, 1994, in a groan-inducing moment on the floor of U.K. Parliament,
a lawmaker uses a pun that will spawn its own holiday far, far away from the
halls of government. “May the 4th is an appropriate date for a defense debate.
My researcher, who is a bit of a wit, said that ... read more


LANDMARKS
1905
The U.S. officially begins construction
on the Panama Canal

A ceremony on May 4, 1905 marks the official beginning of the second attempt to
build the Panama Canal. This second attempt to bridge the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
will succeed, dramatically altering world trade as well as the physical and
geopolitical landscape of Central ...read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1956
Gene Vincent records “Be-Bop-A-Lula”

When a music critic wants to indicate that a song lacks lyrical sophistication,
he or she will often refer to its lyrics as being of the “moon in June” sort. It’s a label
left over from the Tin Pan Alley era, when even great composers like Irving Berlin
churned out a hundred ... read more





CRIME
1886
The Haymarket Square Riot

At Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois, a bomb is thrown at a squad of policemen
attempting to break up what had begun as a peaceful labor rally. The police responded
with wild gunfire, killing several people in the crowd and injuring dozens more.
The demonstration, which drew ... read more


CRIME
1970
National Guard kills four students in
Kent State shootings

On May 4, 1970, in Kent, Ohio, 28 National Guardsmen fire their weapons at a group
of anti-war demonstrators on the Kent State University campus, killing four students,
wounding eight, and permanently paralyzing another. The tragedy was a watershed
moment for a nation divided by ... read more





MIDDLE EAST
1994
Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat
sign accord for Palestinian self-rule

On May 4, 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat
reach an agreement in Cairo on the first stage of Palestinian self-rule. The agreement
was made in accordance with the Oslo Accords, signed in Washington, D.C.
on September 13, 1993. This was the ... read more





U.S. PRESIDENTS
1865
President Lincoln is buried in Springfield, Illinois

On May 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln is laid to rest in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois.
His funeral train had traveled through 180 cities and seven states before reaching Springfield.
At each stop, mourners paid their respects to Lincoln,
who had been assassinated on April 14. ... read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1948
Norman Mailer's first novel,
“The Naked and the Dead,” is published

Twenty-five-year-old Norman Mailer’s first novel, The Naked and the Dead, is published
on May 4, 1948. The book is critically acclaimed and widely considered one of the best
novels to come out of World War II. Mailer was born in New Jersey in 1923 and
raised in Brooklyn. He ... read more


AFRICA
2002
Nigerian aircraft crashes in crowded city

On May 4, 2002, an EAS Airline plane crashes into the town of Kano, Nigeria, killing
149 people. The Nigerian BAC 1-11-500 aircraft exploded in a densely populated section
of the northern Nigerian city. The Executive Airline Services twin-engine plane took
off from Kano at ... read more





CRIME
1990
Electric chair malfunctions in Florida,
leading states to change execution methods

Jesse Tafero is executed in Florida after his electric chair malfunctions three times,
causing flames to leap from his head. Tafero’s death led to a new debate on humane
methods of execution. Several states ceased use of the electric chair and adopted
lethal injection as their ... read more


AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1776
Rhode Island becomes first colony
to declare independence from England

On May 4, 1776, Rhode Island, the colony founded by the most radical religious
dissenters from the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony, becomes the first
North American colony to renounce its allegiance to King George III. Ironically,
Rhode Island would be the last state to ... read more


WORLD WAR I
1916
Germany agrees to limit its submarine warfare

On May 4, 1916, Germany responds to a demand by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
by agreeing to limit its submarine warfare in order to avert a diplomatic break with the
United States. Unrestricted submarine warfare was first introduced in World War I in
early 1915, when Germany ... read more


WORLD WAR II
1945
As the Nazi threat dies, the Red Army rises

On May 4, 1945, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov informs U.S. Secretary of State Stettinius
that the Red Army has arrested 16 Polish peace negotiators who had met with a Soviet army
colonel near Warsaw back in March. When British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
learns of the ... read more

Allies end occupation
of West Germany






1955
May 05




The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) becomes a sovereign state when the United States,
France and Great Britain end their military occupation, which had begun in 1945. With this action,
West Germany was given the right to rearm and become a full-fledged member of the western alliance
against the Soviet Union.

In 1945, the United States, Great Britain, and France had assumed the occupation of the western
portion of Germany (as well as the western half of Berlin, situated in eastern Germany). The Soviet Union
occupied eastern Germany, as well as the eastern half of Berlin. As Cold War animosities began to harden
between the western powers and Russia, it became increasingly obvious that Germany would not be
reunified. By the late-1940s, the United States acted to formalize the split and establish western Germany
as an independent republic, and in May 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was formally announced.

In 1954, West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the mutual defense alliance
between the United States and several European nations. All that remained was for the Americans, British,
and French to end their nearly 10-year occupation. This was accomplished on May 5, 1955, when those
nations issued a proclamation declaring an end to the military occupation of West Germany. Under the terms
of an agreement reached earlier, West Germany would now be allowed to establish a military force of up to
a half-million men and resume the manufacture of arms, though it was forbidden from producing any
chemical or atomic weapons.

The end of the Allied occupation of West Germany meant a full recognition of the republic as a member of
the western alliance against the Soviet Union. While the Russians were less than thrilled by the prospect of a
rearmed West Germany, they were nonetheless pleased that German reunification had officially become a
dead issue. Shortly after the May 5 proclamation was issued, the Soviet Union formally recognized the
Federal Republic of Germany. The two Germany’s remained separated until 1990, when they were formally
reunited and once again became a single democratic country.





ALSO ON THIS DAY



SPORTS
1904
Cy Young pitches first perfect game in MLB history

On May 5, 1904, 37-year-old Cy Young pitches the first perfect game in modern Major League
Baseball history as the Boston Americans defeat the Philadelphia Athletics, 3-0. Young strikes
out eight of the 27 batters he faces and benefits from excellent defense in a game that is ... read more


ROARING TWENTIES
1921
Chanel No. 5 perfume launches

On May 5, 1921, a date of symbolic importance to its iconic creator, the perfume Chanel No. 5
officially debuts in Coco Chanel’s boutique on the Rue Cambon in Paris. The new fragrance immediately
revolutionized the perfume industry and remained popular for a century. Gabrielle ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1967
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" is published

On May 5, 1967, Gabriel Garcia Márquez's Cien años de soledad, or One Hundred Years of Solitude, is
first published. The book, often referred to as a defining work of Latin American literature, made Márquez
a prime candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, which he was awarded ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
2002
“Spider-Man” becomes first movie to top
$100 million in opening weekend

Directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire in the title role, the eagerly awaited
comic book adaptation Spider-Man was released on Friday, May 3, 2002, and quickly
became the fastest movie ever to earn more than $100 million at the box office, raking
in a staggering $114.8 ... read more





FRANCE
1821
Napoleon dies in exile

Napoleon Bonaparte, the former French ruler who once ruled an empire that stretched
across Europe, dies as a British prisoner on the remote island of Saint Helena in the
southern Atlantic Ocean. The Corsica-born Napoleon, one of the greatest military
strategists in history, ... read more


MEXICO
1862
Outnumbered Mexican army defeats
French at Battle of Puebla

During the French-Mexican War (1861-1867), an outnumbered Mexican army defeats
a powerful invading French force at Puebla. The retreat of the French troops at the
Battle of Puebla represented a great moral victory for the people of Mexico, symbolizing
the country’s ability to ... read more


WORLD WAR II
1945
Six killed in Oregon by Japanese bomb

In Lakeview, Oregon, Mrs. Elsie Mitchell and five neighborhood children are killed while
attempting to drag a Japanese balloon out the woods. Unbeknownst to Mitchell and
the children, the balloon was armed, and it exploded soon after they began tampering
with it. They were the ... read more






1980S
1981
IRA militant Bobby Sands dies

On May 5, 1981, imprisoned Irish-Catholic militant Bobby Sands dies after refusing
food for 66 days in protest of his treatment as a criminal rather than a political prisoner
by British authorities. His death immediately touched off widespread rioting in
Belfast, as young ... read more





SPACE EXPLORATION
1961
Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space

On May 5, 1961, Navy Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. is launched into space
aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to travel
into space. The suborbital flight, which lasted 15 minutes and reached a height of
116 miles into the atmosphere, ... read more





NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY
1877
Sitting Bull leads his people into Canada

Nearly a year after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Sitting Bull and a band of followers
cross into Canada hoping to find safe haven from the U.S. Army. On June 25, 1876,
Sitting Bull’s warriors had joined with other Native peoples in the Battle of the
Little Bighorn in ... read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1816
The Examiner publishes John Keats’ first poem

The first published poem by 20-year-old John Keats appears in The Examiner on
May 5, in 1816. Unlike many writers of his day, Keats came from a lower-middle-class
background. His father worked at a stable in London and eventually married the
owner’s daughter. John was the first ... read more


CRIME
2004
Human remains found in suitcase near Virginia Beach

On May 5, 2004, a suitcase holding what is later identified as the partial remains of
William McGuire, a 39-year-old Navy veteran and computer analyst is pulled from the
water near Virginia Beach. A second suitcase of body parts was found nearby on May 11,
and a third washed up ... read more





WORLD WAR I
1919
Italian delegates return to Paris peace conference

On May 5, 1919, the delegation from Italy—led by Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando and
Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino—returns to the Versailles Peace Conference in Paris, France,
after leaving abruptly 11 days earlier during contentious negotiations over the territory
Italy would ... read more

Ohio kidnap victims rescued
after years in captivity






2013
May 06



On May 6, 2013, three women are rescued from a Cleveland, Ohio, house where they had
been imprisoned for many years by their abductor, 52-year-old Ariel Castro, an unemployed
bus driver. The women—Michelle Knight, Amada Berry and Gina DeJesus—went missing
separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 21, 16 and 14 years old, respectively.
Also rescued from the house was a 6-year-old girl born to Berry while she was being held
captive and fathered by Castro.

Castro abducted each of the women, who had been acquaintances of his children, by giving
them a ride in his car then luring them into his home in a working-class Cleveland neighborhood,
where they were tortured and kept locked up. During their years in captivity, the women were
beaten, sexually assaulted, restrained by chains and starved. Knight told authorities she became
pregnant by Castro five times and each time he punched and kicked her to force a miscarriage.
Additionally, Castro ordered Knight to help deliver Berry’s baby, threatening to kill Knight if
anything went wrong. In all the years they were held hostage, the women were allowed into
the backyard of Castro’s dilapidated, two-story house just a few times, and only when disguised
in wigs and sunglasses.

Meanwhile, Castro led a double life: driving a school bus, chatting with neighbors, playing bass
in local bands and posting to his Facebook page. That came to an end on the evening of
May 6, 2013, when Berry stood at the front door of Castro’s house after he’d gone out, and
screamed for help. In response, neighbors kicked in the door and Berry escaped with her daughter
then called 911. When police arrived at the house, they rescued Knight and DeJesus. Castro
was arrested in the area that same night.

On July 26, 2013, in a deal that allowed Castro to avoid a possible death sentence, he pleaded
guilty to more than 900 charges against him, including kidnapping, rape and aggravated murder
(for causing Knight to miscarry). On August 1, a judge sentenced him to life in prison without the
possibility of parole, plus 1,000 years. A month later, on September 3, Castro was found dead in
his prison cell after hanging himself with a sheet.









ALSO ON THIS DAY



WORLD WAR II
1937
The Hindenburg disaster

The airship Hindenburg, the largest dirigible ever built and the pride of Nazi Germany,
bursts into flames upon touching its mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey,
killing 36 passengers and crew-members, on May 6, 1937.  Frenchman Henri Giffard
constructed the first successful ... read more





SPORTS
1954
Roger Bannister runs first four-minute mile

In Oxford, England, 25-year-old medical student Roger Bannister cracks track
and field’s most notorious barrier: the four-minute mile. Bannister, who was
running for the Amateur Athletic Association against his alma mater, Oxford University,
won the mile race with a time of 3 ... read more





GREAT BRITAIN
1994
English Channel tunnel opens

In a ceremony presided over by England’s Queen Elizabeth II and French President
Francois Mitterrand, a rail tunnel under the English Channel was officially opened,
connecting Britain and the European mainland for the first time since the Ice Age.
The Channel Tunnel, or ... read more





U.S. PRESIDENTS
1935
FDR creates the
Works Progress Administration (WPA)

On May 6, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an executive order creating
the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was just one of many
Great Depression relief programs created under the auspices of the
Emergency Relief Appropriations Act, which Roosevelt had ... read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1940
John Steinbeck wins a Pulitzer for “The Grapes of Wrath”

On May 6, 1940, John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel
The Grapes of Wrath. The book traces the fictional Joad family of Oklahoma as
they lose their family farm and move to California in search of a better life.
They encounter only more difficulties and a ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
2004
Final episode of "Friends" airs on NBC

At 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on May 6, 2004, that familiar theme song
(“I’ll Be There For You” by the Rembrandts) announces the beginning of the end,
as an estimated 51.1 million people tune in for the final original episode of NBC’s
long-running comedy series Friends. ... read more





CRIME
1876
The theft of “Duchess of Devonshire”
painting stirs interest

On May 6, 1876, Thomas Gainsborough’s painting, Duchess of Devonshire, causes
a stir when it goes up for auction at Christie's in London. It sells to a London art dealer,
William Agnew, for $51,540, the highest price ever paid for a painting at auction.
Two days later, Agnew ... read more


COLD WAR
1992
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
reviews Cold War in speech at Westminster College

In an event steeped in symbolism, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev reviews
the Cold War in a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri—the site of
Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech 46 years before. Gorbachev mixed praise
for the end of the Cold War with some ... read more





SPORTS
1991
Harry Gant is oldest NASCAR winner—again

On May 6, 1991, 51-year-old race car driver Harry Gant racks up his 12th
National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) Winston Cup career
victory in the Winston 500 in Talladega, Alabama. In doing so, Gant bettered
his own record as the oldest man ever to win a NASCAR ... read more





WORLD WAR II
1942
All American forces in the Philippines
surrender unconditionally

On May 6, 1942, U.S. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright surrenders all
U.S. troops in the Philippines to the Japanese. The island of Corregidor remained
the last Allied stronghold in the Philippines after the Japanese victory at Bataan
(from which General Wainwright had ... read more

"Satisfaction" comes to Keith Richards
in his sleep







1965
May 07




In the early morning hours of May 7, 1965, a bleary-eyed Keith Richards awoke, grabbed
a tape recorder and laid down one of the greatest pop hooks of all time: The opening riff of
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” He then promptly fell back to sleep.

“When I woke up in the morning, the tape had run out,” Richards recalled many years later.
“I put it back on, and there’s this, maybe, 30 seconds of ‘Satisfaction,’ in a very drowsy sort
of rendition. And then it suddenly—the guitar goes ‘CLANG,” and then there’s like 45 minutes
of snoring.” It wasn’t much to go on, but he played it for Mick Jagger later that same day.
“He only had the first bit, and then he had the riff,” Jagger recalls. “It sounded like a country
sort of thing on acoustic guitar—it didn’t sound like rock. But he didn’t really like it, he thought
it was a joke… He really didn’t think it was single material, and we all said ‘You’re off your head.’
Which he was, of course.”

With verses written by Jagger—Richards had already come up with the line “I can’t get no
satisfaction”—the Stones took the song into the Chess studios in Chicago just three days later, on
May 10, 1965, and completed it on May 12 after a flight to Los Angeles and an 18-hour recording
session at RCA. It was there that Richards hooked up an early Gibson version of a fuzz box to his
guitar and gave a riff he’d initially envisioned being played by horns its distinctive, iconic sound

Though the Stones at the time were already midway through their third U.S. tour, their only bona
fide American hits to date were “Time Is On My Side” and the recently released “The Last Time.”
“Satisfaction” was the song that would catapult them to superstar status. Forty years later, when
Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Satisfaction” #2 on its list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,”
it put the following historical perspective on the riff Keith Richards discovered on this day in 1965:
“That spark in the night…was the crossroads: the point at which the rickety jump and puppy love
of early rock and roll became rock.”





ALSO ON THIS DAY



IMMIGRATION
1843
First Japanese immigrant arrives in the U.S.

Called the U.S.'s first ambassador to Japan, a 14-year-old fisherman by
the name of Manjiro is considered America's first Japanese immigrant,
arriving in the country on May 7, 1843, by way of a whaling ship.
According to the National Endowment of the Humanities, the boy and his ... read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1824
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 debuts

On May 7, 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven’s ninth and final
symphony debuts at Vienna’s Theater am Kärntnertor. Having
lost his hearing years earlier, the celebrated composer
nonetheless “conducts” the first performance of his Ninth Symphony,
now widely considered to be one of the ... read more


NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY
1763
Ottawa Chief Pontiac’s Rebellion
against the British begins

Pontiac’s Rebellion begins when a confederacy of Native warriors
under Ottawa chief Pontiac attacks the British force at Detroit.
After failing to take the fort in their initial assault, Pontiac’s forces,
made up of Ottawas and reinforced by Wyandots, Ojibwas and
Potawatamis, ... read more


1950S
1954
French defeated at Dien Bien Phu

In northwest Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces decisively
defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu, a French stronghold besieged
by the Vietnamese communists for 57 days. The Viet Minh victory
at Dien Bien Phu signaled the end of French colonial influence in
Indochina and cleared ... read more





CRIME
1994
Edvard Munch’s "The Scream" recovered after theft

On May 7, 1994, Norway’s most famous painting, “The Scream”
by Edvard Munch, is recovered almost three months after it was
stolen from a museum in Oslo. The fragile painting was recovered
undamaged at a hotel in Asgardstrand, about 40 miles south
of Oslo, police said. The iconic ... read more





WORLD WAR I
1915
German submarine sinks Lusitania

On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania
is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south
coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the
Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were
drowned, including 128 ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1901
Gary Cooper born

On May 7, 1901, Gary Cooper, who will become famous for his
performances in such movies as High Noon and The Pride of the
Yankees, is born in Helena, Montana. Cooper grew up on the
ranch owned by his wealthy father, a Montana Supreme Court Justice.
He was educated largely in ... read more





NATURAL DISASTERS & ENVIRONMENT
1902
Mount Pelée begins to erupt,
burying Caribbean city

On May 7, 1902, Martinique’s Mount Pelée begins the deadliest
volcanic eruption of the 20th century. The following day, the city
of Saint Pierre, which some called the Paris of the Caribbean,
was virtually wiped off the map. Mount Pelée, the name meaning
bald in French, was a ... read more


CRIME
1896
Serial killer H.H. Holmes is hanged in Philadelphia

Dr. H. H. Holmes, one of America’s first well-known serial killers,
is hanged to death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Born Herman Mudgett
in New Hampshire, Holmes began torturing animals as a child. Still,
he was a smart boy who later graduated from the University of Michigan ... read more


COLD WAR
1960
Leonid Brezhnev becomes
president of the USSR

Leonid Brezhnev, one of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s most
trusted proteges, is selected as Chairman of the Presidium of the
Supreme Soviet—the Soviet equivalent to the presidency. This was
another important step in Brezhnev’s rise to power in Russia, a rise
that he later ... read more





INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1998
Daimler-Benz announces
purchase of Chrysler Corp.

On May 7, 1998, the German automobile company Daimler-Benz–maker
of the world-famous luxury car brand Mercedes-Benz–announces a $36
billion merger with the United States-based Chrysler Corporation. The
purchase of Chrysler, America’s third-largest car company, by the ... read more





WORLD WAR II
1945
Germany surrenders unconditionally
to the Allies at Reims

On May 7, 1945, the German High Command, in the person of
General Alfred Jodl, signs the unconditional surrender of all German
forces, East and West, at Reims, in northeastern France. At first,
General Jodl hoped to limit the terms of German surrender to only
those forces still ... read more

V-E Day is celebrated in America and Britain






1945
May 08



On May 8, 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in
Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in
Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war
machine during World War II.

The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally
laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists,
after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably
more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia;
on the Channel Island of Sark—the German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire.
More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.

The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces,
to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1 million Germans attempted a mass
exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, but were stopped
by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners
in the period just before and after the German surrender.

Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released and sent back to Great Britain.

Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the next day. On May 9,
the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in Silesia before the Germans finally surrendered.
Consequently, V-E Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio
broadcast salute from Stalin himself: “The age-long struggle of the Slav nations…
has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over.”




ALSO ON THIS DAY



CIVIL WAR
1864
General Lee’s army beats Grant’s
Union troops to Spotsylvania

On May 8, 1864, Yankee troops arrive at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia, to find
the Rebels already there. After the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6), Ulysses S. Grant’s
Army of the Potomac marched south in the drive to take Richmond. Grant hoped to
control the strategic ... read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
2010
Betty White becomes oldest
“Saturday Night Live” host

On May 8, 2010, 88-year-old actress Betty White, known for her former roles on
“The Golden Girls” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” becomes the oldest person to
host the long-running, late-night TV sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live” (SNL).
White’s hosting gig came about, in ... read more





EXPLORATION
1541
Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto
reaches the Mississippi

On May 8, 1541, south of present-day Memphis, Tennessee, Spanish conquistador
Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, one of the first European explorers
to ever do so. After building flatboats, de Soto and his 400 ragged troops crossed
the great river under the cover of ... read more


NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY
1973
American Indian Movement (AIM)
ends occupation of Wounded Knee

On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, armed members of the American Indian
Movement (AIM) surrender to federal authorities, ending their 71-day siege of
Wounded Knee, site of the infamous massacre of 300 Sioux by the U.S. 7th Cavalry
in 1890. AIM was founded in 1968 by ... read more





WORLD WAR I
1919
New celebration of Armistice Day proposed

On May 8, 1919, Edward George Honey, a journalist from Melbourne, Australia,
living in London at the time, writes a letter to the London Evening News proposing
that the first anniversary of the armistice ending World War I—concluded on
November 11, 1918—be commemorated by ... read more


VIETNAM WAR
1970
Nixon defends invasion of Cambodia

President Nixon, at a news conference, defends the U.S. troop movement into Cambodia,
saying the operation would provide six to eight months of time for training South Vietnamese
forces and thus would shorten the war for Americans. Nixon reaffirmed his promise to
withdraw 150,000 ... read more





U.S. PRESIDENTS
1884
Harry S. Truman is born

On May 8, 1884, Harry S. Truman is born in Lamar, Missouri. The son of a farmer,
Truman could not afford to go to college. He joined the army at the relatively advanced
age of 33 in 1916 to fight in World War I. After the war, he opened a haberdashery
in Kansas City. When that ... read more





WESTWARD EXPANSION
1846
Future president Zachary Taylor
fights the Battle of Palo Alto

Before the United States formally declared war on Mexico, General Zachary Taylor defeats
a superior Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto north of the Rio Grande River. The drift
toward war with Mexico had begun a year earlier when the U.S. annexed the
Republic of Texas as a ... read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1976
The theme song from “Welcome Back, Kotter”
is the #1 song in America

In 1975, John Sebastian, former member of the beloved '60s pop group the Lovin’ Spoonful,
was asked to write and record the theme song for a brand-new ABC television show with
the working title Kotter. As any songwriter would, Sebastian first tried working that title
into his ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1963
Sean Connery stars in his first Bond movie,
“Dr. No”

On May 8, 1963, with the release of Dr. No, North American moviegoers get their first
look–down the barrel of a gun–at the super-spy James Bond (codename: 007), the
immortal character created by Ian Fleming in his now-famous series of novels and
portrayed onscreen by the ... read more





CRIME
1988
Woman convicted of killing two
in Excedrin tampering

Stella Nickell is convicted on two counts of murder by a Seattle, Washington, jury.
She was the first person to be found guilty of violating the Federal Anti-Tampering Act
after putting cyanide in Excedrin capsules in an effort to kill her husband.
Stella and Bruce Nickell ... read more





COLD WAR
1984
Soviets announce boycott of 1984 Olympics

Claiming that its athletes will not be safe from protests and possible physical attacks,
the Soviet Union announces that it will not compete in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Despite the Soviet statement, it was obvious that the boycott was a response to the
decision of the ... read more





EARLY US
1792
Militia Act establishes conscription
under federal law

On May 8, 1792, Congress passes the second portion of the Militia Act, requiring that
every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein,
who is or shall be of age eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years be enrolled
in the militia. ... read more

An unlikely challenger ends the Beatles’ reign
atop the U.S. pop charts






1964
May 09




Following the ascension of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” to #1 in early February,
the Beatles held the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for three and a half solid
months—longer than any popular artist before or since. Over the course of those
months, the Fab Four earned three consecutive #1 singles (a record); held all
five spots in the top five in early April (a record); and had a total of 14 songs in
the Billboard Hot 100 in mid-April (yet another record). But just when it seemed
that no homegrown act would ever stand up to the British invaders, one of the
least likely American stars imaginable proved himself equal to the task.
On May 9, 1964, the great Louis Armstrong, age 63, broke the Beatles’ stranglehold
on the U.S. pop charts with the #1 hit “Hello Dolly.”





In a way, it was entirely appropriate that a titan such as Louis Armstrong would be
the artist to end the reign of the first foreign group ever to take over the American
pop scene. It can be argued, after all, that Armstrong bears more responsibility for
shaping the course of 20th-century American music than Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra
combined. Louis Armstrong became one of jazz music’s first individual superstars as
a young trumpet player in the 1920s and 30s, but more than that, he revolutionized
jazz itself by turning it into an individual improvisational art form. The recordings
Armstrong made with his Hot Five and Hot Seven combos between 1925 and 1927
are widely credited with creating much of the foundation for the future of jazz and blues
performance and, by extension, of rock and roll. Armstrong’s own statement that
“if it hadn’t been for jazz, there wouldn’t be no rock and roll,” was effectively endorsed
by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted Armstrong as an “early influencer”
in 1990.

Of course it wasn’t Louis Armstrong the young revolutionary, but Louis Armstrong the
late-career light entertainer who knocked the Beatles from the top of the pops. By
the early 1960s, Armstrong’s most important and influential work was already behind
him, yet his famous charisma and ebullient personality were still enough to lift a show
tune like “Hello Dolly” to the #1 spot on the pop charts—and over the Beatles—on
this day in 1964.







ALSO ON THIS DAY




VIETNAM WAR
1970
President Nixon meets with anti-war
protesters at the Lincoln Memorial

In the early hours of May 9, 1970, a frazzled President Richard Nixon embarks
upon what his Chief of Staff will describe as "the weirdest day so far" of his
presidency. Preoccupied with the recent Kent State shootings and the unrest
that has spread to college campuses across the ... read more





WOMEN'S RIGHTS
1960
FDA approves "the pill"

On May 9, 1960, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the world’s
first commercially produced birth-control pill—Enovid-10, made by the
G.D. Searle Company of Chicago, Illinois. Development of “the pill,” as it became
popularly known, was initially commissioned by ... read more





CRIME
1671
Irish adventurer “Captain Blood”
steals crown jewels

In London, Thomas Blood, an Irish adventurer better known as “Captain Blood,”
is captured attempting to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
Blood, a Parliamentarian during the English Civil War, was deprived of his estate
in Ireland with the restoration of the ... read more


EXPLORATION
1926
Explorer Richard Byrd claims to
have flown over the North Pole

According to their claims, polar explorer Richard E. Byrd and co-pilot Floyd Bennett
fly over the North Pole on this day in the Josephine Ford, a triple-engine Fokker
monoplane. It would have been the first time an aircraft flew over the top of the
world. The pair had taken off ... read more





CRIME
1978
Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro
is found dead

On May 9, 1978, the body of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro is found,
riddled by bullets, in the back of a car in the center of historic Rome. He was
kidnapped by Red Brigade terrorists on March 16 after a bloody shoot-out near
his suburban home. The Italian government ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1950
L. Ron Hubbard publishes "Dianetics"

On May 9, 1950, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (1911-1986) publishes
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. With this book,
Hubbard introduced a branch of self-help psychology called Dianetics,
which quickly caught fire and, over time, morphed into a belief system
called ... read more





WORLD WAR II
1945
High-ranking Nazi Hermann Göring is
captured by the U.S. Seventh Army

On May 9, 1945, Herman Goering, commander in chief of the Luftwaffe,
president of the Reichstag, head of the Gestapo, prime minister of Prussia
and Hitler’s designated successor is taken prisoner by the U.S. Seventh Army
in Bavaria. Goering was an early member of the Nazi Party ... read more





VIETNAM WAR
1969
Reporter breaks the news of
secret bombing in Cambodia

William Beecher, military correspondent for the New York Times, publishes
a front page dispatch from Washington, “Raids in Cambodia by U.S. Unprotested,”
which accurately described the first of the secret B-52 bombing raids in
Cambodia. Within hours, Henry Kissinger, presidential ... read more


U.S. PRESIDENTS
1974
House votes to initiate impeachment
proceedings against President Nixon

The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens impeachment hearings
against President Richard Nixon, voting to impeach him on three counts on July 30.
The impeachment was the result of the scandal involving the bungled burglary
of the offices of the Democratic National ... read more


U.S. PRESIDENTS
1914
Woodrow Wilson proclaims the first
Mother’s Day holiday

On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issues a presidential proclamation
that officially establishes the first national Mother’s Day holiday to celebrate
America’s mothers. The idea for a “Mother’s Day” is credited by some to
Julia Ward Howe (1872) and by others to Anna Jarvis ... read more





WESTWARD EXPANSION
1887
“Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” show opens

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show opens in London, giving Queen Victoria and her
subjects their first look at a romanticized version of the American West.
A well-known scout for the army and a buffalo hunter for the railroads
(which earned him his nickname), Cody had gained national ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1971
Last episode of “The Honeymooners” airs

On May 9, 1971, the last original episode of the sitcom The Honeymooners,
starring Jackie Gleason as Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden, airs. Although
a perennial rerun favorite in syndication, The Honeymooners actually aired
only 39 episodes in its familiar sitcom format, ... read more





CRIME
1997
Andrew Cunanan continues murder spree

The body of William Reese, 45, a cemetery caretaker, is found in rural
Pennsville, New Jersey, on May 9, 1997. He had been shot in the head with
a Golden Saber .38-caliber bullet. Police soon determined that the killer was
Andrew Cunanan, a 27-year-old man already wanted for ... read more





COLD WAR
1955
West Germany joins NATO

Ten years after the Nazis were defeated in World War II, West Germany
formally joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual
defense group aimed at containing Soviet expansion in Europe. This action
marked the final step of West Germany’s integration into the ... read more


WORLD WAR I
1915
Allies launch dual offensive on Western Front

On May 9, 1915, Anglo-French forces fighting in World War I launch their first
combined attempt to break through the heavily fortified German trench lines
on the Western Front in France. At Vimy Ridge, a strategically important crest
of land on the Aisne River, in northwestern ... read more