Today In History

Today is Friday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2019. There are 242 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1937: Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, “Gone with the Wind.”

ON THIS DATE

› 1802: Washington, D.C. was incorporated as a city.

› 1913: Clorox had its beginnings as five entrepreneurs agreed to set up a liquid bleach factory in Oakland, Calif.

› 1952: The Kentucky Derby was televised nationally for the first time on CBS; the winner was Hill Gail, ridden by Eddie Arcaro.

› 1978: Spam email was born as Gary Thuerk, a marketing executive for the Digital Equipment Corp. of Maynard, Massachusetts, transmitted an unsolicited sales pitch for a new line of computers to 400 prospective customers on ARPANET, a precursor to the internet; the stunt generated some business, as well as complaints. “Sun Day” took place on a Wednesday as thousands of people extolling the virtues of solar energy held events across the country.

› 1979: Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher was chosen to become Britain’s first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labour government in parliamentary elections.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actor Alex Cord is 86. Singer Frankie Valli is 85. Former Idaho Gov. Butch Otter is 77. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, is 76. Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 73. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is 70. Pop singer Mary Hopkin is 69. Singer Christopher Cross is 68. Country musician Cactus Moser (Highway 101) is

62. Rock musician David Ball (Soft Cell) is 60. Former Sen. David Vitter, R-La., is 58. Country singer Shane Minor is 51. Actress Amy Ryan is 51. Actor Bobby Cannavale is 49. Music and film producer-actor Damon Dash is 48. Country musician John Driskell Hopkins (Zac Brown Band) is 48. Country-rock musician John Neff is 48. Country singer Brad Martin is 46. TV personality Willie Geist (TV: “Today”) is

44. Actress Christina Hendricks is 44. Actor Dule Hill is 44. Country singer Eric Church is 42. Actress Tanya Wright is

41. Dancer Cheryl Burke is 35. Soul singer Michael Kiwanuka is 32. Actress Jill Berard is 29. Actress Zoe De Grand Maison is

24. Rapper Desiigner is

22.