TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, MAY 1, the 121st day of 2022. There are 244 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On May 1, 2011, President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden during a U.S. commando operation. (Because of the time difference, it was early May 2 in Pakistan, where the al-Qaida leader met his end.)
In 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain was created as a treaty merging England and Scotland took effect.
In 1866, three days of race-related rioting erupted in Memphis, Tennessee, as white mobs targeted Blacks, 46 of whom were killed, along with two whites. (The violence spurred passage of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining American citizenship and equal protection under the law.)
In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance plane over Sverdlovsk and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
In 1963, James W. Whittaker became the first American to conquer Mount Everest as he and Sherpa guide Nawang Gombu reached the summit.
In 1964, the computer programming language BASIC (Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was created by Dartmouth College professors John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz.
In 1971, the intercity passenger rail service Amtrak went into operation.
In 1991, Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers threw his seventh no-hitter at age 44, shutting out the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0.
In 1992, on the third day of the Los Angeles riots, a visibly shaken Rodney
King appeared in public to appeal for calm, pleading, “Can we all get along?”
In 2009, Supreme Court Justice David Souter announced his retirement effective at the end of the court’s term in late June. (President Barack Obama chose federal judge Sonia Sotomayor to succeed him.)
In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II, moving his predecessor a step closer to sainthood in a Vatican Mass attended by some 1.5 million pilgrims.
In 2020, U.S. regulators allowed emergency use of remdesivir, the first drug that appeared to help some COVID-19 patients recover faster.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Judy Collins is 83. Actor Stephen Macht is 80. Singer Rita Coolidge is 77. Pop singer Nick Fortuna (The Buckinghams) is 76. Actor-director Douglas Barr is 73. Actor Dann Florek is 71. Singer-songwriter Ray Parker Jr. is 68. Actor Byron Stewart is 66. Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen is 62. Actor Maia Morgenstern is 60. Actor Scott Coffey is 58. Country singer Wayne Hancock is 57. Actor Charlie Schlatter is 56. Country singer Tim McGraw is 55. Rock musicians Johnny Colt and D’Arcy Wretzky are 54. Movie director Wes Anderson is 53. Actors Julie Benz and Bailey Chase, and country singer Cory Morrow are 50. Gospel/ R&B singer Tina Campbell (Mary Mary) is 48. Actor Darius McCrary is 46. Actor Jamie Dornan is 40. Actor Kerry Bishe is 38. TV personality Abby Huntsman is 36. Actor Lizzy Greene is 19.