TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Friday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2013. There are 242 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: Chicago’s 110-story Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) was topped out after two years of construction, becoming the world’s tallest building for the next 25 years.
In 1791, Poland adopted a national constitution. In 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city. In 1913, Clorox had its beginnings when five entrepreneurs agreed to set up a liquid bleach factory in Oakland, Calif. Author-playwright William Inge was born in Independence, Kan. In 1916, Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse and two others were executed by the British for their roles in the Easter Rising. In 1933, Nellie T. Ross became the first female director of the U.S. Mint. In 1943, Pulitzer Prizes were awarded to Thornton Wilder for his play “The Skin of Our Teeth” and Upton Sinclair for “Dragon’s Teeth.” In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks or members of other racial groups were legally unenforceable. In 1952, the Kentucky Derby was televised nationally for the first time on CBS; the winner was Hill Gail.
In 1960, the Harvey Schmidt-Tom Jones musical “The Fantasticks” began a nearly 42-year run at New York’s Sullivan Street Playhouse. In 1971, the National Public Radio program “All Things Considered” made its debut. In 1979, Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher was chosen to become Britain’s first female prime minister after the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections. In 1986, in NASA’s first post-Challenger launch, an unmanned Delta rocket lost power in its main engine shortly after liftoff, forcing safety officers to destroy it by remote control. Today’s Birthdays: Folk singer Pete Seeger is 94. Actress Ann B. Davis is 87. Actor Alex Cord is 80. Singer Frankie Valli is 79. Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 67. Pop singer Mary Hopkin is 63. Singer Christopher Cross is 62. Country musician Cactus Moser (Highway 101) is 56. Rock musician David Ball (Soft Cell) is 54. Country singer Shane Minor is 45. Actor Bobby Cannavale is 43. Music and film producer-actor Damon Dash, country musician John Hopkins (Zac Brown Band) and country-rock musician John Neff (Drive-By Truckers) are 42. Country singer Brad Martin is 40. Actress Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”) is 38. Actor Dule Hill is 38. Country singer Eric Church is 36. Dancer Cheryl Burke (“Dancing with the Stars”) is 29. Soul singer Michael Kiwanuka is 26. Actress Jill Berard is 23.