Today In History
Today is Tuesday, May 2, the 122nd day of 2017. There are 243 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
› 1982: The Weather Channel made its debut.
ON THIS DATE
› 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.
› 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.
› 1936: “Peter and the Wolf,” a symphonic tale for children by Sergei Prokofiev, had its world premiere in Moscow.
› 1952: Commercial jet service began as a BOAC de Havilland Comet carrying 36 passengers and seven crew members took off from London on a flight to Johannesburg with five stopovers along the way.
› 1965: Intelsat 1 was first used to transmit television pictures across the Atlantic.
› 1970: Jockey Diane Crump became the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby; she finished in 15th place aboard Fathom. (The winning horse was Dust Commander.)
› 1997: A new national memorial honoring President Franklin D. Roosevelt was officially opened in Washington, D.C.
› 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.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is 81. Former International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge is 75. Actress-activist Bianca Jagger is 72. Rock singer Lou Gramm (Foreigner) is 67. Actress Christine Baranski is 65. Singer Angela Bofill is 63. Fashion designer Donatella Versace is 62. Actor Brian Tochi is 58. Movie director Stephen Daldry is 57. Actress Elizabeth Berridge is 55. Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson (AKA The Rock) is 45. Soccer player David Beckham is 42. Actress Jenna Von Oy is 40. Actress Ellie Kemper is 37. Actor Robert Buckley is 36. Actor Gaius Charles is 34. Actor Thomas McDonell is 31. Actress Kay Panabaker is 27. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge is two.