Today is Thursday, May 2, the 122nd day of 2019. There are 243 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed by elite American forces at his Pakistan compound, then quickly buried at sea after a decade on the run.
On this date:
In 1519, artist Leonardo da Vinci died at Cloux, France, at age 67.
In 1536, Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, was arrested and charged with adultery; she was beheaded 17 days later.
In 1863, during the Civil War, Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Virginia; he died eight days later.
In 1908, the original version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” with music by Albert Von Tilzer and lyrics by Jack Norworth, was published by Von Tilzer’s York Music Co.
In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Buck v. Bell, upheld 8-1 a Virginia law allowing the forced sterilization of people to promote the “health of the patient and the welfare of society.”
In 1941, General Mills began shipping its new cereal, “Cheerioats,” to six test markets. (The cereal was later renamed “Cheerios.”)
In 1957, crime boss Frank Costello narrowly survived an attempt on his life in New York; the alleged gunman, Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, was acquitted at trial after Costello refused to identify him as the shooter. Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., died at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.
In 1968, “The Odd Couple,” the movie version of the Neil Simon comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, opened in New York.
In 1972, a fire at the Sunshine silver mine in Kellogg, Idaho, claimed the lives of 91 workers who succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Longtime FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover died in Washington at age 77.
In 1982, the Weather Channel made its debut.
In 1994, Nelson Mandela claimed victory in the wake of South Africa’s first democratic elections; President F.W. de Klerk acknowledged defeat.
In 2008, Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, leading to an eventual official death toll of 84,537, with 53,836 listed as missing. Mildred Loving, a black woman whose challenge to Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling striking down such laws across the United States, died in Milford, Virginia, at age 68.
Ten years ago: The Dallas Cowboys’ tent-like practice structure collapsed during a severe storm in Irving, Texas; a dozen people were hurt, including scouting assistant Rich Behm, who was left paralyzed from the waist down, and special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, whose neck was broken. Mine That Bird, a 50-1 shot, stunned the field by capturing the Kentucky Derby. Jack Kemp, former quarterback, congressman and vice presidential nominee, died in Bethesda, Md., at 73.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met at the White House, where they threatened tough sanctions on broad swaths of Russia’s economy if Moscow disrupted Ukraine’s May 25 presidential elections. Actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr., 95, died in Solvang, California.
One year ago: Attorney Rudy Giuliani said President Donald Trump had reimbursed his personal lawyer for $130,000 in hush money paid to a porn actress days before the 2016 presidential election, comments that appeared to contradict Trump’s past claims that he didn’t know the source of the money. The Boy Scouts of America announced that the group’s flagship program would undergo a name change; after being known simply as the Boy Scouts for 108 years, the program would now be called Scouts BSA. (The change came as girls were about to enter the ranks.) Two black men who’d been arrested for sitting at a Philadelphia Starbucks without ordering anything settled with the company for an undisclosed sum and an offer of a free college education; they settled separately with the city for a symbolic $1 each and a promise to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs.
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is 83. Former International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge is 77. Actress-activist Bianca Jagger is 74. Country singer R.C. Bannon is 74. Actor David Suchet is 73. Singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin is 71. Rock singer Lou Gramm (Foreigner) is 69. Actress Christine Baranski is 67. Singer Angela Bofill is 65. Fashion designer Donatella Versace is 64. Actor Brian Tochi is 60. Movie director Stephen Daldry is 59. Actress Elizabeth Berridge is 57. Country singer Ty Herndon is 57. Actress Mitzi Kapture is 57. Commentator Mika Brzezinski is 52. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is 51. Rock musician Todd Sucherman (Styx) is 50. Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson (AKA The Rock) is 47. Soccer player David Beckham is 44. Rock singer Jeff Gutt (goot) (Stone Temple Pilots) is 43. Actress Jenna Von Oy is 42. Actress Ellie Kemper is 39. Actor Robert Buckley is 38. Actor Gaius Charles is 36. Pop singer Lily Rose Cooper is 34. Olympic gold medal figure skater Sarah Hughes is 34. Rock musician Jim Almgren (Carolina Liar) is 33. Actor Thomas McDonell is 33. Actress Kay Panabaker is 29. NBA All-Star Paul George is 29. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge is four.
Thought for Today: “Have you ever observed that we pay much more attention to a wise passage when it is quoted than when we read it in the original author?” — Philip G. Hamerton, English artist and essayist (1834-1894).
Associated Press
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