May 3 May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). There are 242 days remaining. Events 1400-1899 1494 - Christopher Columbus discovers Jamaica. 1791 - The May Constitution of Poland (first modern constitution in Europe) is proclaimed by the Polish Diet. 1747 - The French Navy is defeated by The British Fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre. 1808 Finnish War: The fortress of Sveaborg is lost by Sweden to Russia. Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who uprose on May 2 are fired near Príncipe Pío hill. 1810 - Lord Byron swims the Hellespont. 1860 - Charles XV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden. 1867 - The Hudson's Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island. 1900-1999 1912 - The first victims of the RMS Titanic are buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 1933 - Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first women to head the United States Mint. 1937 - Gone With the Wind, a novel by Margaret Mitchell, wins the Pulitzer Prize. 1945 - World War II: Sinking of the floating-jails Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the RAF in the Lübeck Bay. 1946 - The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo against 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. 1947 - New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect. 1951 - London's Royal Festival Hall opens. 1951 - The United States Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees begin their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry S. Truman. 1952 - U.S. lieutenant colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict land a plane at the geographic North Pole. 1956 - The judo World Championships are first held. 1957 - Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, New York to Los Angeles, California. 1960 - The off-Broadway musical comedy, The Fantasticks, opens in New York City's Greenwich Village (it is the longest-running musical of all time). 1968 - A Braniff International Electra crashes during a storm near Dawson, Texas killing 85. 1971 - All Things Considered, National Public Radio's flagship news program, broadcasts for the first time. 1982- Falklands War: The Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Exocet missile. 1986 - In Bergen, Norway, Sandra Kim wins the thirty-first Eurovision Song Contest for Belgium singing "J'aime la vie" (I love life). 1987 - Davey Allison wins his first NASCAR Winston Cup race at the Winston 500 in Talladega, Alabama. 1991 - The Declaration of Windhoek is signed. 1991 - The last episode of the soap opera Dallas aired. 1997 - In Dublin, Ireland, Katrina & the Waves win the forty-second Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom singing "Love Shine a Light". 1999 - Oklahoma City got slammed by an F5 tornado. The tornado was part of a storm system that produced 66 tornadoes. This tornado killed 38 people and injured 665 and caused $1 billion in damage. (see The Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak) 1999 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time in its history at 11,014.70. A little under a year later on January 14, 2000 it closed at its highest level to date at 11,722.98. 2000 - Datapoint, the company that commissioned the Intel 8008 microprocessor, declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 2003 - New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain mysteriously falls from its perch after 10,000 years 2003 - Funny Cide becomes the first New York-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. Births 600-1899 612 - Constantine III, Byzantine Emperor (d. 641) 1469 - Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and political author (d. 1527) 1662 - Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, master builder (d. 1736) 1761 - August von Kotzebue, German dramatist (d. 1819) 1826 - Charles, Crown Prince of Sweden-Norway (d. 1872) 1844 - Richard D'Oyly Carte, English theatrical impresario (d. 1901) 1859 - Andy Adams, author (d. 1935) 1860 - John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist (d. 1936) 1861 - Emmett Dalton, outlaw (d. 1937) 1888 - Beulah Bondi, actress (d. 1981) 1893 - Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian writer and public benefactor (d. 1975) 1898 - Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1978) 1900-1999 1903 - Bing Crosby, American singer (d. 1977) 1906 - Anna E. Roosevelt, radio personality (d. 1975) 1906 - Mary Astor, actress (d. 1987) 1913 - William Inge, playwright (d. 1973) 1919 - Pete Seeger, American folk singer 1919 - Betty Comden, lyricist 1921 - Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (d. 1989) 1921 - Joe Ames, singer 1923 - Ralph Hall, American politician 1933 - James Brown, singer 1937 - Frankie Valli, American pop singer 1946 - Silvino Francisco, South African snooker player 1947 - Doug Henning, magician (d. 2000) 1950 - Howard Ashman, lyricist (d. 1991) 1950 - Mary Hopkin, singer 1951 - Christopher Cross, musician 1952 - Allan Wells, British athlete, Jennifer Broadbridge 1955 - David Hookes, cricketer (d. 2004) 1959 - Ben Elton, British comedian and author 1959 - Uma Bharati, first woman chief minister of Madhya Pradesh 1962 - Anders Graneheim, Swedish bodybuilder 1966 - Darren Morgan, Welsh snooker player 1969 - Daryl F. Mallett, author and actor 1975 - Maksim Mrvica, pianist 1976 - Beto, football (soccer) player Deaths 1600-1899 1679 - Archbishop James Sharp assassinated (b. 1613) 1758 - Pope Benedict XIV (b. 1675) 1900-1999 1942 - Thorvald Stauning, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1873) 1987 - Dalida, French singer (b. 1933) 1989 - Christine Jorgensen, transsexual (b. 1926) 1991 - Jerzy Kosinski, writer (b. 1933) 1994 - Ezra Taft Benson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1899) 1992 - Sidney Reso, Exxon executive 2000-2099 2002 - Barbara Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, British Labour politician (b. 1910) 2003 - Suzy Parker, American actress (b. 1932) Holidays and observances World Press Freedom Day Roman Catholicism- Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross (often called the Feast of the Invention of the True Cross) Poland – The Constitution Day Discordianism- Discoflux (50th day of the season of Discord) External links External list of US polititians who were born on May 3. May 2 - May 4 - April 3 - June 3 -- listing of all days FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_3