What Happened On
Presidential Astrologer
May 3, 1988
Excerpts from U.S. President Ronald Reagan's former chief of staff, describing astrologer Joan Quigley's role in White House decisions, are printed in Time magazine. Donald Regan wrote, "Virtually every major move and decision the Reagans made during my time as White House Chief of Staff was cleared in advance with a woman in San Francisco [Quigley] who drew up horoscopes to make certain that the planets were in a favorable alignment for the enterprise."
Mrs. Reagan began using Quigley after Quigley claimed she could have foreseen the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan had she been watching for it.
First Computer SPAM
May 3, 1978
Gary Thuerk, marketing manager at Digital Equipment Corp., sends out an unsolicited message advertising a demonstration of their new computer to hundreds of recipients on ARPANET (the forerunner of the Internet).
The first major commercial spam was sent in 1994, when husband and wife lawyers, Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel, sent bulk Usenet messages to advertise immigration law services. This has become known as the "Green Card spam," after the subject line of the postings.
The practice of sending unsolicited messages dates back to 1864 in the days of the telegraph. British politicians were spammed via Western Union telegraph with an ad for dental services.
The Sears Tower
May 3, 1973
The Sears Tower is topped off, making it the tallest building in the world at the time. At 1,454-feet-high, 108 stories, it held this distinction for 25 years. Located in Chicago Illinois, it is now known as the Willis Tower.
When first opened, the lower half of the tower was occupied by Sears, which had its headquarters there until 1994, and the upper stories were rented out.
Johnny Carson Saves Twister
May 3, 1966
The game Twister strikes gold when Johnny Carson plays the game on The Tonight Show with actress Eva Gabor, star of TV's Green Acres. Up to then sales of the game were slow as many stores felt the game was too risqué and refused to carry it. Sales were so slow the game was about to be pulled from the market. However, the day after Carson and Gabor played it on TV, people were lining up at stores asking for the game and 3,000,000 were sold the following year.
Twister was originally going to be called "Pretzel", but that name was already being used for a toy dog.
Great Fire of 1901
May 3, 1901
The third largest urban fire in the U.S. (next to the Great Chicago Fire and the fire during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake) starts in Jacksonville, Florida. The fire started at the Cleaveland Fibre Factory. In eight hours, it had burned 146 city blocks, destroyed more than 2,368 buildings, and left almost 10,000 residents homeless.
Earliest Successfully Predicted and Recorded Solar Eclipse in the Western World
May 3, 1375 B.C.
The Babylonians successfully predict this eclipse.
Gone with the Wind
May 3, 1937
Margaret Mitchell's Civil War novel Gone with the Wind is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It sold a million copies in its first six months.
First African-American Law Office
May 3, 1845
Macon B, Allen passes the Massachusetts Bar Exam. Several days later, he then opened the first black law office in the U.S. He had earned his law license in Maine in 1844, becoming the first African-American admitted to the bar, but found it difficult to work there, so he moved to Massachusetts. He would also go on to become the first black justice of the peace in the U.S.
Mormons
May 3, 1833
The religious groups adopts the name "Latter Day Saints."
First U.S. Medical School
May 3, 1765
College of Philadelphia Department of Medicine (now the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) is established.
First American Toll Bridge
May 3, 1654
Richard Thurlow opens his bridge over the Newbury River at Rowley, Massachusetts. The toll was for animals, people passed for free.
Birthdays
Ann B. Davis
Born May 3, 1926 d. 2014
American Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Brady Bunch (1969-74, housekeeper Alice Nelson) and The Bob Cummings Show (1955-59, Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz). She also published a cookbook, Alice's Brady Bunch Cookbook (1994), with Brady Bunch inspired recipes.
Bing Crosby (Harry Lillis Crosby, Jr.)
Born May 3, 1903 d. 1977
American Oscar-winning actor, singer. He sold over a billion records. Film: Going My Way (1944, Oscar as Father O'Malley). His 1942 recording of White Christmas has sold over 100,000,000 copies and is the best-selling single of all time. White Christmas was written by Irving Berlin, who was Jewish.
During World War II, Crosby entertained troops in Europe and read propaganda broadcasts intended for German troops, earning him the nickname, "Der Bingle". Crosby was ranked as the person who had done the most for G.I. morale, ahead of both Bob Hope and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Christopher Cross (Christopher Geppert)
Born May 3, 1951
American Grammy-winning singer. Music: Sailing (1980, #1) and Arthur's Theme (1981, #1 and Best Original Song Oscar).
Doug Henning
Born May 3, 1947 d. 2000
Canadian Emmy-winning magician. He helped to revive the art of magic in the 1970s, updating the image of the stage magician from that of top hat and suit, to tie dye and jeans. At the height of his career, he quit what he now called "fake magic" in order to pursue "real magic" through Transcendental Meditation (TM) in the attempt to learn to actually levitate as the founder of TM, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, claimed he could do. In 1986, he sold his act to David Copperfield in order to devote his time to TM.
He was known for his seven Doug Henning's World of Magic (1975-82) TV specials and his Zig-Zag Girl illusion. He ended his TV specials with the message, "Anything the mind can conceive is possible. Nothing is impossible. All you have to do is look within, and you can realize your fondest dreams. I would like to wish each one of you all of life's wonders and a joyful age of enlightenment."
He also created special effects for Michael Jackson tours.
In 1999, Henning was diagnosed with liver cancer. According to James Randi, Henning forewent traditional treatment in favor of TM and a diet of nuts and berries. He died five months later at the age of 52.
Pete Staples
Born May 3, 1944
British guitarist, founding member of the Troggs. Music: Wild Thing (1966, #1).
Frankie Valli (Frank Castelluccio)
Born May 3, 1934
American singer. With the Four Seasons. Music: Sherry (1962), Big Girls Don't Cry (1962), and December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) (1975).
James Brown
Born May 3, 1933 d. 2006
American soul singer, "The Godfather of Soul." Music: I Feel Good (1965) and Living in America (1986).
Alex Cord (Alexander Viespi, Jr.)
Born May 3, 1933 d. 2021
American actor, rodeo performer. TV: Airwolf (1984-86, Michael Archangel).
Mell Lazarus
Born May 3, 1927 d. 2016
American cartoonist. Creator of Miss Peach (1957-2002) and Momma (1970-2016).
Sugar Ray Robinson (Walker Smith Jr.)
Born May 3, 1921 d. 1989
American welterweight boxing champion and five-time world middleweight champion.
Dan Bankhead
Born May 3, 1920 d. 1976
American baseball player, first black pitcher in major league baseball (1947), with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Pete Seeger
Born May 3, 1919 d. 2014
American folk singer. Music: If I Had a Hammer (1949, co-writer) and Turn! Turn! Turn! ().
After Bob Dylan infamously went electric at the Newport Folk Festival, Seeger said, "If I had an axe, I'd cut the cable right now."
Mary Astor (Lucille Vasconcellos Langhanke)
Born May 3, 1906 d. 1987
Oscar-winning actress, The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Great Lie (1941, Oscar).
Golda Meir (Golda Mabovitch)
Born May 3, 1898 d. 1978
Israel's first female Prime Minister (1969-74) and signer of the Israeli Declaration of Independence (1948).
Beulah Bondi (Beulah Bondy)
Born May 3, 1889 d. 1981
American Emmy-winning actress She died from injuries caused by tripping over her cat. Film: It's a Wonderful Life (1946, George Bailey's mother).
The Father of Modern Perfumes
Francois Coty
Born May 3, 1874 d. 1934
French perfume maker and newspaper publisher. The Father of Modern Perfumes.
Deaths
Sherman and Mr. Peabody (right) enter the WABAC machine
Sherman and Mr. Peabody (right) enter the WABAC machine
Ted Key
Died May 3, 2008 b. 1912
American cartoonist. Creator of TV's Hazel (1943) and Peabody's Improbable History (1959).
Wally Schirra (Walter M. Schirra, Jr.)
Died May 3, 2007 b. 1923
American astronaut, one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts (1959). He was the only person to fly in all of America's first three space programs (Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo). He also performed the first manned rendezvous in space.
Christine Jorgensen (George William Jorgensen Jr.)
Died May 3, 1989 b. 1926
American sex change recipient (c1952). She had the surgery in Denmark and was the first widely-known sex change recipient in the United States. On her return to the U.S., the New York Daily News ran a front page story with the headline "Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Bombshell" making her an instant celebrity. Writings: Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography.
Jackie Cooper (John Cooperman Jr.)
Died May 3, 2011 b. 1922
American actor, Emmy-winning director. Known as "America's Boy". He was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination. He appeared in 15 Our Gang films. Film: The Champ (1931), Sooky (1931), Superman (1978, Superman's boss).
Don Johnson
Died May 3, 2003 b. 1940
American ten-pin bowler, PBA Hall of Famer, Bowler of the Year (1971-72).
A. Arnold "Buddy" Gillespie
Died May 3, 1978 b. 1899
American Oscar-winning special-effects artist. Film: The Wizard of Oz (1939), Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944, Oscar), and Ben-Hur (1959, Oscar).
David Bruce (Andrew McBroom)
Died May 3, 1976 b. 1914
American actor. TV: Beulah (Harry Henderson). Film: The Mad Ghoul (Ted Allison)
James McHenry
Died May 3, 1816 b. 1753
Irish-born American surgeon, statesman, signer of the U.S. Constitution, and for whom Fort McHenry is named. He was U.S. Secretary of War (1796-1800).
Benedict XIV
Died May 3, 1758 b. 1675
Italian religious leader, 247th Pope (1740-58).