1469 The Italian political philosopher Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy on May 3, 1469. The word "Machiavellin" has come to mean "unscrupulous" when applied to politics. His masterpiece The Prince's counsel to rulers and leaders to lie and cheat when such methods would secure the common good has been influential on many modern tyrannical leaders.
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| Portrait of Machiavelli by Santi di Tito |
1788 The Star and Evening Advertiser, the first daily evening newspaper, was first published in London on May 3, 1788. The newspaper was known for its coverage of events in Parliament, as well as its reporting on sensational crimes and scandals. The Star and Evening Advertiser was also the first newspaper to use a street seller network to distribute its copies, which helped it reach a wider audience. Its success paved the way for other daily evening newspapers to be published in London and beyond.
1791 The Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791 was the first codified national constitution in Europe and the second ever in the world after that of the United States. It was adopted by the Great Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on May 3, 1791. The document was designed to redress the Commonwealth's political defects, which conferred disproportionate rights on the nobility (szlachta) and over time had corrupted politics.
1791 The figure of Abbé Morio in Tolstoy's novel War and Peace was modeled on Scipione Piattoli, one of the drafters of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791.Tolstoy drew inspiration from various historical figures and events for his characters,
1808 The first duel from two hot air balloons was fought on May 3, 1808. The duel took place in Paris between Monsieur Le Pique and a Monsieur Grandpré over the attention of a ‘mutual acquaintance’. The men ascended in identical balloons, Le Pique fired his blunderbuss first but missed. Grandpré then fired hitting his opponent’s balloon, which plunged to earth, killing Le Pique.
1810 The romantic poet Lord Byron was a keen swimmer, and was prouder of his swimming than his poetry. He swam across the Hellespont, the stretch of water linking the Aegean with the Black Sea on May 3, 1810. He did it in imitation of Leander, who in Greek mythology crossed it each night to visit Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite. Nine years later, Byron boasted of his feat in his poem Don Juan.
1830 The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway opened on May 3, 1830. The first steam-powered passenger railway in the world to operate a regular service, the line ran for 7 miles between the town of Canterbury and the seaside resort of Whitstable in southeastern England. The railway also introduced a number of innovations, such as the use of iron rails, and the first line to include a tunnel.
1791 The Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791 was the first codified national constitution in Europe and the second ever in the world after that of the United States. It was adopted by the Great Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on May 3, 1791. The document was designed to redress the Commonwealth's political defects, which conferred disproportionate rights on the nobility (szlachta) and over time had corrupted politics.
1791 The figure of Abbé Morio in Tolstoy's novel War and Peace was modeled on Scipione Piattoli, one of the drafters of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791.Tolstoy drew inspiration from various historical figures and events for his characters,
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| First page of original manuscript of Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791 |
1808 The first duel from two hot air balloons was fought on May 3, 1808. The duel took place in Paris between Monsieur Le Pique and a Monsieur Grandpré over the attention of a ‘mutual acquaintance’. The men ascended in identical balloons, Le Pique fired his blunderbuss first but missed. Grandpré then fired hitting his opponent’s balloon, which plunged to earth, killing Le Pique.
1810 The romantic poet Lord Byron was a keen swimmer, and was prouder of his swimming than his poetry. He swam across the Hellespont, the stretch of water linking the Aegean with the Black Sea on May 3, 1810. He did it in imitation of Leander, who in Greek mythology crossed it each night to visit Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite. Nine years later, Byron boasted of his feat in his poem Don Juan.
1830 The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway opened on May 3, 1830. The first steam-powered passenger railway in the world to operate a regular service, the line ran for 7 miles between the town of Canterbury and the seaside resort of Whitstable in southeastern England. The railway also introduced a number of innovations, such as the use of iron rails, and the first line to include a tunnel.
1850 In January 1850, a snow storm made the 15-year-old Charles Spurgeon seek shelter in a Primitive Methodist chapel in Colchester, Essex. He was converted from nominal Anglicanism while listening to a local preacher there. Spurgeon was baptized on May 3, 1850 in the River Lark, at Isleham, Cambridgeshire. He became a famous preacher who for many years commanded a huge audience for his oratory and writings.
1877 Labatt Park, located in London, Ontario, Canada, is widely recognized as the oldest continually operating baseball grounds in the world. The stadium held its first game on May 3, 1877, and has been in operation ever since. Labatt Park is a beautiful and historic stadium with a classic wooden grandstand and a natural grass field.
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| Labatt Park By Alethe |
1903 The singer and actor Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby on May 3, 1903 in Spokane, Washington to parents of Anglo-Irish heritage. The nickname Bing that he would carry with him throughout his life is attributable to the Bingville Bugle, which was a newspaper parody that he was fond of.
1913 Raja Harishchandra, the first full-length Indian feature film was released on May 3, 1913, at the Coronation Cinematograph in Mumbai, India. It was directed by Dadasaheb Phalke, who is often referred to as the "father of Indian cinema". With a storyline based on the legend of Raja Harishchandra, it marked the beginning of the Indian film industry.
1921 The Government of Ireland Act was passed on May 3, 1921, dividing Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. Northern Ireland has stayed within the United Kingdom since then. The full name of the UK is 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.'
1933 The "Godfather of Soul" James Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie and 22-year-old Joseph "Joe" Gardner Brown in a small wooden shack. He began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long."
1937 Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind between 1926 and 1929. The journalist started her epic novel while convalescing in bed nursing a broken ankle. It was only several years later in 1935 after meeting a MacMillan publisher, Howard Latham, that the book was published. It went on to sell more copies than any other hard-cover book apart from the Bible. Gone with the Wind won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction on May 3, 1937.
1952 The Kentucky Derby is held at Churchill Downs, Louisville and is 1¼ miles. It was named after "the blue ribbon of the [English] turf." The first Kentucky Derby was run at Churchill Downs in 1875 with Aristides as winner. The attendance was just under 10,000. The Kentucky Derby was televised nationally for the first time, on the CBS network on May 3, 1952.
1960 Edmond Rostand's drama, Les Romanesques was produced in Paris in 1894; its story of innocent young love was adapted in the 1960 American musical The Fantasticks. The show premiered at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, a small Off-Broadway theatre in New York City's Greenwich Village, on May 3, 1960. The Fantasitick's original off-Broadway production ran a total of 42 years and 17,162 performances, making it the then- world's longest-running musical.
1966 The game of Twister took off after talk show host Johnny Carson and actress Eva Gabor played it on The Tonight Show episode broadcast on May 3, 1966. Gabor, wearing a low-cut gown, ended up on all fours with Carson on top of her. The next morning there were 50 people standing in line to buy the game at retailer Abercrombie & Fitch where a few games had not been returned.
1968 Five months after Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful human heart transplant, Frederick West became the first British heart transplant patient. West received a heart transplant on May 3, 1968 at the National Heart Hospital in Marylebone, London. He died 46 days later from an infection.
1960 Edmond Rostand's drama, Les Romanesques was produced in Paris in 1894; its story of innocent young love was adapted in the 1960 American musical The Fantasticks. The show premiered at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, a small Off-Broadway theatre in New York City's Greenwich Village, on May 3, 1960. The Fantasitick's original off-Broadway production ran a total of 42 years and 17,162 performances, making it the then- world's longest-running musical.
1966 The game of Twister took off after talk show host Johnny Carson and actress Eva Gabor played it on The Tonight Show episode broadcast on May 3, 1966. Gabor, wearing a low-cut gown, ended up on all fours with Carson on top of her. The next morning there were 50 people standing in line to buy the game at retailer Abercrombie & Fitch where a few games had not been returned.
1968 Five months after Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful human heart transplant, Frederick West became the first British heart transplant patient. West received a heart transplant on May 3, 1968 at the National Heart Hospital in Marylebone, London. He died 46 days later from an infection.
1971 US peanut butter manufacturers fought a 12 year legal battle with the FDA over the minimum peanut content required to be legally labelled as "peanut butter". Finally, on May 3, 1971, the US Appeals Court affirmed that any peanut butter that was labeled as such had to have 90 percent peanuts. Anything under 90% peanuts must be labelled "peanut spread".
1973 The Sears Tower, a 108-story, 1,451-foot skyscraper in Chicago, was completed on May 3, 1973. It surpassed the World Trade Center towers in New York to become the tallest building in the world, a title it held for nearly 25 years. The Sears Tower contains enough steel to build 50,000 automobiles.
1978 The first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (which would later become known as "spam") was sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative, Gary Thuerk on May 3, 1978. Thuerk sent the message to 393 people who used the ARPANET address, an early version of the internet, on the west coast of the United States.
1988 In 1981 an assassination attempt was made on United States President Ronald Reagan. From then on his wife, Nancy, consulted a California Astrologer, Joan Quigley. On May 3, 1988, The White House acknowledged that First Lady Nancy Reagan used astrological advice.
1999 The southwestern portion of Oklahoma City was devastated by an F5 tornado on May 3, 1999, killing forty-five people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado was one of 66 from the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. This tornado also produced the highest wind speed ever recorded, measured at 301 +/- 20 mph (484 +/- 32 km/h).
1973 The Sears Tower, a 108-story, 1,451-foot skyscraper in Chicago, was completed on May 3, 1973. It surpassed the World Trade Center towers in New York to become the tallest building in the world, a title it held for nearly 25 years. The Sears Tower contains enough steel to build 50,000 automobiles.
1978 The first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (which would later become known as "spam") was sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative, Gary Thuerk on May 3, 1978. Thuerk sent the message to 393 people who used the ARPANET address, an early version of the internet, on the west coast of the United States.
1988 In 1981 an assassination attempt was made on United States President Ronald Reagan. From then on his wife, Nancy, consulted a California Astrologer, Joan Quigley. On May 3, 1988, The White House acknowledged that First Lady Nancy Reagan used astrological advice.
1999 The southwestern portion of Oklahoma City was devastated by an F5 tornado on May 3, 1999, killing forty-five people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado was one of 66 from the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. This tornado also produced the highest wind speed ever recorded, measured at 301 +/- 20 mph (484 +/- 32 km/h).
2012 Mark Rothko's Orange, Red, Yellow sold for $86.9 million (£53.8m) on May 3, 2012 - establishing a new record for post-war/contemporary art at a public auction, when ignoring inflation. The 1961 painting went under the hammer at Christie's in New York. The auction house's total takings - $388.5m (£240.5m) - exceeded the previous record for a contemporary art auction, set in 2007.
2017 On May 3, 2017, Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy after a massive debt and weak economy. The island had accumulated around $72 billion in debt, a figure that was equal to roughly 100% of Puerto Rico's gross domestic product (GDP) at the time. It was the largest local government bankruptcy case in American history.
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| Orange, Red, Yellow Wikipedia Commons |
2017 On May 3, 2017, Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy after a massive debt and weak economy. The island had accumulated around $72 billion in debt, a figure that was equal to roughly 100% of Puerto Rico's gross domestic product (GDP) at the time. It was the largest local government bankruptcy case in American history.
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