May Day

2005 Iraq War - Downing Street memo: The minutes of a British Prime Minister's meeting of July 2002 is published by The Sunday Times.  British officials did not dispute the document's authenticity.  It states that "Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" and that "Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran."

2003 Iraq War : Mission Accomplished? "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." President Bush speaking underneath a banner made by Whitehouse staff stating "Mission Accomplished" less than six weeks into the war.

1987 Gary Hart The presidential candidate spends the night with 29-year-old model Donna Rice.  The ensuing scandal would force him to drop out of the race.

1967 Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu. The only other entertainer to attend was Redd Foxx.

1966 Vietnam War U.S. troops begins firing into Cambodia.

1960 U-2 incident A U.S. U-2 spy plane is shot down in the Soviet Union. The pilot, Gary Powers, was convicted of spying by the USSR. In 1962 he was exchanged for a Russian spy.

1931 Empire State Building opens in New York City. At a height 1,250 feet, it was the world's tallest building.

1931 Divorce Nevada's 6-week easy divorce law goes into effect.

1898 Spanish-American War - Battle of Manila Bay George Dewey virtually destroys the Spanish fleet while American losses were minimal.

1873 First U.S. post card is issued, costing one cent.

1841 First emigrant wagon train to California It leaves Independence, Missouri with 47 people. It arrived the following November.

1840 First Adhesive Postage Stamp "Penny Blacks" from England are issued.

1707 Great Britain The union of England and Scotland becomes effective, adopting the name Great Britain.

1690 First Colonial Congress

1949 Yvonne and Yvette McCarthur d. 1993 American Siamese twins, at the time of their death they were thought to be the world's oldest Siamese twins.

1949 Douglas Barr actor. TV: The Fall Guy (Howie Munson) and Designing Women (Bill Stillfield).

1945 Rita Coolidge American Grammy-winning singer. Music: We're All Alone (1977) and The Way You Do The Things You Do (1978).

1939 Max Robinson d. 1988 American newscaster, the first U.S. black network news anchor.

1925 Malcolm Scott Carpenter American astronaut, one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts.

1923 Joseph Heller d. 1999 American author. Writings: Catch-22 (1961).

1918 Jack Paar d. 2004 American host. TV: The Tonight Show.

1917 John Beradino d. 1996 American actor. TV: General Hospital (Dr. Steve Hardy from the show's inception in 1963 till his death).  He also played major league baseball from 1939 to 1953.

1916 Glenn Ford d. 2006 (Gwyllyn Ford), Canadian-born actor. Film: Gilda (1946) and Blackboard Jungle (1955). TV: Cade's County (Sam Cade).  Quote: Response to being rushed, "I've only got one other speed, and it's slower."

1865 Charles Kassell Harris d. 1930 American songwriter. He wrote After the Ball (1892), the first million-seller song. Sold as sheet music, it eventually sold 10 million copies.

1830 Mother Jones d. 1930 (Mary Harris Jones), Irish-born American labor leader, agitator, and advocate for striking workers.

1769 Duke of Wellington d. 1852 (Arthur Wellesley), British general, prime minister (1828-30). He defeated Napoleon at Waterloo (1815).

1965 Spike Jones b. 1911 (Lindley Armstrong Jones), American musician, All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth (1948, #1).

1945 Paul Josef Goebbels b. 1897 German Nazi leader, Hitler's propaganda minister. He killed his family and himself when the Allies entered Berlin.

1873 David Livingstone b. 1813 Scottish explorer, missionary. In 1871 he was found in Africa by reporter Henry Stanley, prompting the famous quote "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

1859 John Walker b. 1781 English chemist, invented the friction match (1826). He refused to patent his idea, feeling it was too trivial of an invention.

1700 John Dryden b. 1631 English poet, essayist. He instigated the rule of not ending a sentence with a preposition.

1572 Saint Pius V b. 1504 Italian religious leader, 225th Pope (1566-72), canonized in 1712, excommunicated Elizabeth I of England, expelled the Jews from Church states and was dedicated to the extermination of the Huguenots.

1555 Marcellus II b. ???? religious leader, 222nd Pope (Apr. - May 1555).

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