TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, May 1, the 121st day of 2021. There are 244 days left in the year.
ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY
On May 1, 2011, President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden during a US commando operation. (Because of the time difference, it was early May 2 in Pakistan, where the al-Qaida leader met his end.)
1707 — The Kingdom of Great Britain was created as a treaty merging England and Scotland took effect.
1915 — The RMS Lusitania set sail from New York, headed for Liverpool, England. (It was torpedoed and sunk by Germany off the coast of Ireland six days later.)
1941 — The Orson Welles motion picture “Citizen Kane” premiered in
New York.
1960 — The Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance plane over Sverdlovsk and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
1963 — James W. Whittaker became the first American to conquer Mount Everest as he and Sherpa guide Nawang
Gombu reached the summit.
1971 — The intercity passenger rail service Amtrak went into operation.
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?”
2015 — Baltimore’s top prosecutor charged six police officers with felonies ranging from assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray, who had suffered a spinal injury while riding in a police van.
Ten years ago — 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.
Five years ago — A wildfire broke out near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada; in the days that followed, the blaze destroyed 2,400 homes and other buildings and forced more than 80,000 people to evacuate.
One year ago — A security guard at a Family Dollar store in Flint, Michigan, was shot and killed after a confrontation with the family of a woman he had told to leave the store because she wasn’t wearing a face mask. (Three people, including the woman’s mother, were charged with first-degree murder.)
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Singer Judy Collins is 82. Actor Stephen Macht is 79. Singer Rita Coolidge is 76. Pop singer Nick Fortuna (The Buckinghams) is 75. Actor-director Douglas Barr is 72. Actor Dann Florek is 70. Singer-songwriter Ray Parker Jr. is 67. Actor Byron Stewart is 65. Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen is 61. Actor Maia Morgenstern is 59. Actor Scott Coffey is 57. Country singer Wayne Hancock is 56. Actor Charlie Schlatter is 55. Country singer Tim McGraw is 54. Rock musician Johnny Colt is 53. Rock musician D’Arcy Wretzky is 53. Movie director Wes Anderson is 52. Actor Julie Benz is 49. Actor Bailey Chase is 49. Country singer Cory Morrow is 49. Gospel/rhythm-and-blues singer Tina Campbell (Mary Mary) is 47. Actor Darius McCrary is 45. Actor Jamie Dornan is 39. Actor Kerry Bishe is 37. TV personality Abby Huntsman is 35. Actor Lizzy Greene is 18.