May 3
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Events on This Day
1810 - Lord Byron swam the Hellespont this day. Pretty darn fast, too. It took just an hour and 10 minutes to do it, by Jove! (The Hellespont is now know as the Dardanelles. It is a 40 mi. (64 km) long, 1-5 mi. (1.6-8 km) wide strait between European and Asian Turkey, connecting the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara.)1933 - The United States Mint was under the direction of a woman for the first time. Nellie Tayloe Ross assumed command.
1938 - Viewers of W2XBS-TV (now WCBS-TV) watched the first book review show. No word as to how many remained awake through the whole thing...
1939 - Belly up to the bar for this one. Beer Barrel Polka, one of the standards of American music, was recorded by The Andrews Sisters for Decca Records. Patti, Maxine and LaVerne turned this song into a giant hit.
1941 - Jockey Eddie Arcaro rode Whirlaway to the winner’s circle in the Kentucky Derby. He was on his way to winning racing’s Triple Crown (the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, KY, the Preakness in Baltimore, MD and the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in New York).
1944 - Dr. Robert Woodward and Dr. William Doering produced the first synthetic quinine at Harvard University. Quinine -- like in quinine water. (Hiccup!)
1948 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled (Shelley v. Kraemer) that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks -- or members of other racial groups -- were not legally enforceable.
1952 - The first landing of an airplane at the geographic location of the North Pole was made by Americans Lt. Col. William P. Benedict and Lt. Col. J. O. Fletcher on a ski-and-wheel equipped Air Force Douglas C-47.
1956 - Most Happy Fella, a musical by Frank Loesser, opened at the Imperial Theatre in New York City. The show, an adaptation of They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard, ran for 676 performances on Broadway. Critics called the show a masterpiece, thanks to the outstanding performances of Robert Weede and Jo Sullivan. One must not forget Loesser’s music, which included such classics as Standing on the Corner, I Like Everybody, Joey, Joey, Joey, Big Acquaintance and Don’t Cry.
1957 - Brooklyn Dodgers’ owner, Walter O’Malley, agreed to move the team from Flatbush to sunny Los Angeles. Initially, only exhibition games were held at the L.A. Coliseum. O’Malley said that a new stadium would have to be constructed before the Dodgers would even consider a move to Southern California. He was right, so Dodger Stadium (in Chavez Ravine) was constructed with private investor money.
1960 - The play, The Fantasticks, opened at the Sullivan Playhouse in New York City. It would later become the longest-running off-Broadway play. Soon It’s Gonna Rain was one of the big hit tunes from the production. The show was the equivalent of London’s long-running play, The Mousetrap. Unfortunately, though the British were familiar with The Mousetrap and might have known of the similarities between the two plays, when The Fantasticks opened in London, it failed miserably and closed after only 44 performances.
1963 - A group of more than 1,000 blacks, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., marched through Birmingham, Alabama in peaceful protest. Police chief Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor ordered the Fire Department to turn its fire hoses against the demonstrators. The police carried out mass arrests, beat many people senseless and unleashed dogs on the marchers. King said, “Today was a dark day in Birmingham. The policemen were mean to us. They got their violent, angry dogs and turned them loose on nonviolent people, unarmed people. But not only that, they got their water system working. And here and there we saw the water hose, with water pouring on young boys and girls, old men and women, with great and staggering force. Birmingham was a mean city today. But in spite of the meanness of Birmingham, we must confront her with our kindness and our goodness and our determination to be nonviolent. As difficult as it is, we must meet hate with love. As hard as it is, we must meet physical force with soul force....Just let them get their dogs and let them get their hose, and...we will leave them standing before their God and world covered with the blood and reeking with the stench of their Negro brothers.”
1968 - The Beach Boys began a U.S. tour in New York. The show featured the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi speaking on spiritual regeneration. But when the Maharishi began to preach his thesis, the crowds scattered. The tour quickly became a financial desaster for the group and was cut short.
1971 - The Pulitzer Prize (for General Non-Fiction) was awarded to John Toland for his The Rising Sun: the decline and fall of the Japanese Empire.
1971 - National Public Radio, the U.S. national, non-commercial radio network, was born. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting financed National Public Radio so we could, once again, have the thrill of live radio and award-winning programming such as All Things Considered, uninterrupted, informative reports on business, economics and the world, in general.
1973 - Chicago’s Sears Tower was topped out. It was the world’s tallest building at the time -- 1,450 feet (442.1 meters).
1978 - This was Sun Day as thousands of people extolling the virtues of solar energy held events across the country.
1979 - Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher was elected Britain’s first woman prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor Party government in parliamentary elections. She remained as prime minister for eleven and a half years. She won three general elections and was never defeated in a vote of confidence, yet in November 1990 she was forced out of office by her fellow Conservative MPs.
1986 - Horse racing legend Bill Shoemaker became the oldest jockey to win the the Kentucky Derby. ‘The Shoe’ was atop Ferdinand for the win. Shoemaker was 54 years old. It had been 32 years since Shoemaker’s first Derby victory back in 1955.
1986 - Dolly Parton became an owner of -- and lent her name to -- Dollywood Amusement Park in Tennessee. The park drew over 1.3 million visitors in its first year. In 1998, Dollywood drew over 2.2 million people, making it the most visited attraction in the state after the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
1988 - The White House acknowledged that first lady Nancy Reagan had used astrological advice to help schedule her husband’s activities. The unflattering revelations were included in an about-to-be published memoir by former chief-of-staff Donald Regan.
1991 - Author Jerzy Kosinski (Being There) was found dead in his New York City apartment. He was 57 years old.
1992 - U.S. marines in Los Angeles patrolled streets while guarding fire-gutted and ransacked stores. This in the wake of rioting that erupted following the Rodney King-taped beating acquittals. The April 29-May 2 riots caused 58 deaths, injured 2,300 people and racked up nearly $1 billion in damage.
1993 - Kiss of the Spiderwoman debuted at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway. The plot centers around a homosexual window dresser, who is in a prison in Argentina, serving his third year of an eight-year-sentence for corrupting a minor. The show won the 1993 Tony Award for Best Musical. The cast included Brent Carver, Anthony Crivello and Chita Rivera, as well as Merle Louise and Kirsti Carnahan. Carver, Crivello, and Rivera won Tony Awards for their performances. Kiss of the Spiderwoman played through Jul 1, 1995 with 904 performances.
1996 - It was debut day for these films in U.S. theatres: Barb Wire, starring Pamela Anderson Lee and Temuera Morrison; The Craft, with Fairuza Balk, Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell and Rachel True; The Great White Hype, featuring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Berg, Corbin Bernsen, Jon Lovitz, Damon Wayans, Cheech Marin and Jamie Foxx; and Last Dance, starring Sharon Stone Rob Morrow Randy Quaid and Peter Gallagher.
1996 - Yodelling cowgirl Patsy Montana (real name: Ruby Blevins) died in Nashville at age 87. Famous in the 1930s as a member of the WLS National Barn Dance, Montana’s 1935 recording of I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart is believed to be the first million-seller by a female country artist.
1997 - Silver Charm won the 123rd Kentucky Derby.
1998 - The Sevres Road, by landscape painter Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, was stolen from the Louvre in Paris.
1999 - Some 76 tornadoes tore through parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, leveling entire neighborhoods. 49 people were killed and 795 injured. Over 10,000 homes in Oklahoma and 4,000 homes in Kansas were damaged or destroyed. Total damage estimates were in the neighborhood one billion dollars.
2000 - The trial of two Libyan intelligence agents accused of blowing Pan Am Flight 103 out of the sky over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 opened in the Netherlands. (In Jan 2002 Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi was convicted of murder; the other defendant, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted.)
2000 - U.S. General Wesley Clark left his post as supreme allied commander of NATO. He was replaced by U.S. General Joseph Ralston.
2000 - Cardinal John O’Connor, the archbishop of New York, died at 80 years of age.
2001 - The U.S. lost its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947. (The U.S. regained its seat the following year.)
2002 - These motion pictures opened in the U.S.: Deuces Wild, with Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro and Fairuza Balk; Hollywood Ending, starring Woody Allen (also director), George Hamilton, Tea Leoni, Debra Messing, Mark Rydell, Tiffani Thiessen and Treat Williams; and Spider-Man, featuring Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris and J.K. Simmons.
2003 - Jose Santos rode Funny Cide to victory in the 129th running of the Kentucky Derby.
2003 - Model, actress Suzy Parker (Funny Face) died in Montecito, CA. She was 69 years old. Parker was the first model to make more than $100 an hour, and the first to make $100,000 a year.
2004 - The Sasser computer worm infected hundreds of thousands of PCs around the world. The nasty virus caused error messages to appear on infected machines and, in many cases, made computers reboot repeatedly.
2005 - Shiite Arab leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari was sworn in as prime minister as Iraq’s first democratically elected government took office.
2006 - Mexican President Vicente Fox refused to sign the drug decriminalization bill, hours after U.S. officials warned the plan could encourage “drug tourism.”
2006 - Sotheby’s auction house sold Dora Maar au Chat, a painting by Pablo Picasso, for $95.2 million, the second highest amount paid (to that time) for a painting at auction.
2007 - Wally Schirra, one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts, died in La Jolla, CA; he was the only person to fly in all of the first three U.S. space programs (Mercury, Gemini and Apollo); from 1962 to 1968 he logged a total of 295 hours and 15 minutes in space.
2008 - Thousands of marijuana enthusiasts marched in downtown Toronto, many openly smoking joints as part of a globally coordinated rally to celebrate cannabis culture and push for its legalization.
2008 - Big Brown won the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby -- by nearly 5 lengths. Marring the day’s excitement was the tragic story of second-place finisher, Eight Belles. The first filly to run the Derby in nine years had to be euthanized following the race after fracturing both front ankles while galloping. It was the first fatality in Kentucky Derby history.
2010 - Energy company BP vowed to pay “all necessary and appropriate clean-up costs” from the U.S. oil pollution disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil had been spewing into the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, operated by BP, exploded and sank on April 20.
2010 - Prosecutors said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had agreed to pay $27.6 million to settle charges that it improperly handled and dumped hazardous waste at stores across California. The case that led to changes in the retailer’s practices nationwide.
2011 - Pakistan’s president acknowledged for the first time that his security forces were left out of a U.S. operation to kill Osama bin Laden. But President Asif Ali Zardari did little to dispel questions over how the al Qaeda leader was able to live in comfort near Islamabad.
2011 - The Centers for Disease Control reported that nearly one in ten U.S. children have asthma and one in twelve Americans of all ages suffer from the disease.
2012 - The U.S. journal Science reported that a single gene mutation was responsible for the unique pairing of blond hair and dark skin in Solomon Islanders. Previous theories had held that interbreeding with European explorers was the cause, while locals often attributed their golden locks to a diet rich in fish or the constant exposure to the Sun.
2013 - Iron Man 3 opened in U.S. movie houses. The sci-fi action thriller stars Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, William Sadler, Bingbing Fan, Stan Lee, James Badge Dale, Yvonne Zima, Stephanie Szostak and Dale Dickey.
2013 - Also opening in the U.S. this day: Caroline and Jackie, with Marguerite Moreau, Bitsie Tulloch, David Giuntoli, Valerie Azlynn, Jason Gray-Stanford and David Fuit; Desperate Acts of Magic, starring Joe Tyler Gold, Valerie Dillman, Jonathan Levit, Sascha Alexander, John Getz, Stephen Wastell, William Salyers and Jordi Caballero; Kiss of the Damned, with Joséphine de La Baume, Roxane Mesquida, Milo Ventimigli, Anna Mouglalis, Michael Rapaport and Riley Keough; and What Maisie Knew, starring Alexander Skarsgård, Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan, Emma Holzer, Joanna Vanderham, Trevor Long and Diana García.
2014 - California Chrome became the first California-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby since Decidedly in 1962. California Chrome went on to win the Preakness Stakes, but came in fourth (after a starting-gate injury) in the Belmont Stakes, falling one race short of the illusive Triple Crown
2015 - Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake lifted a nightly curfew that was implemented after residents rioted following the death of a man in police custody. The violence had been replaced with largely peaceful demonstrations in response to the mysterious death of Freddie Gray. First detained for running from police, Gray suffered a spinal injury during a police transport and died days later.
2016 - Transparency International reported that almost a third of the people in nine countries surveyed in the Middle East have had to pay a bribe to access some kind of public service. Institutions that were supposed to be the guardians of public welfare and justice, including emergency medical care, were reported to be the worst offenders among bribe-takers.
2016 - Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani was released from prison after an appeals court reduced her initial 12-year prison sentence to 18 months. What dastardly crime did she commit, you ask? She had portrayed some lawmakers as animals to criticize a law that restricted contraception and criminalized voluntary sterilization.
2017 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was withholding $1 million in payments to the United Nations following a resolution adopted by the U.N. cultural agency that Netanyahu said diminishes Jewish ties to Jerusalem. He called the UNESCO resolution “absurd” and said the agency’s “systematic harassment” of Israel had a price. Netanyahu said Israel would not sit idly by as a U.N. organization tried to negate its sovereignty in Jerusalem.
2018 - Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano erupted, belching ash into the sky and spewing fountains of lava in a residential area after a series of earthquakes over the previous several days. Hundreds of people on the Big Island of Hawaii were ordered to evacuate their homes.
2018 - CBS News anchor Charlie rose was fired after more than two dozen women came forward with sexual misconduct allegations. This, while the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences closed the door on Roman Polanski, announcing that it had revoked his nearly 50-year membership, along with that of Bill Cosby. Both were kicked out of AMPAS because of sexual abuse crimes they committed in the past.
2019 - New movies in the U.S. included: El Chicano, with Logan Arevalo, Jose Pablo Cantillo and David Castañeda; The Intruder, starring Meagan Good, Dennis Quaid and Michael Ealy; Long Shot, with Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen and June Diane Raphael; the animated UglyDolls, with characters voiced by Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Janelle Monáe, Blake Shelton, Pitbull, Gabriel Iglesias and Wanda Sykes; Bolden, with Gary Carr, Erik LaRay Harvey and Ian McShane; The Convent, starring Michael Ironside, Clare Higgins and Hannah Arterton; and Dead Trigger, with Dolph Lundgren, Autumn Reeser and Romeo Miller.
2019 - The U.N.’s top food agencies said about 10 million people in North Korea are facing “severe food shortages” after the East Asian nation had one of the worst harvests in a decade.
2019 - A federal court Ohio ruled that the state’s congressional map was unconstitutional and ordered a new one to be drawn. The three-judge Southern District of Ohio panel said the map had been intentionally drawn “to disadvantage Democratic voters and entrench Republican representatives in power.”
2020 - COVID-19 news: 1)Thousands of migrants around the world were reported to be trapped in limbo and at risk of death without food, water or shelter as governments closed off borders and ports. 2)Norwegian Air said it had secured support from enough bondholders for a $1.2 billion debt-for-equity swap to help it survive the coronavirus crisis. 3)Russia reported 10,633 new cases in the last 24 hours; more than half were in Moscow. 4)Swiss-based Roche said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared a coronavirus antibody test produced by the company for emergency use. Roche said its test had proven 100 percent accurate at detecting antibodies in the blood and 99.8 percent accurate at ruling out the presence of those antibodies.
2021 - Bill and Melinda Gates said they were divorcing - after 27 years of marriage. “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the couple said.
2021 - Cafes and restaurants reopened in Greece for sit-down service for the first time in nearly six months. Businesses were allowed to serve seated customers outdoors, with maximum six persons per table and with safe distances between tables. Waiters were obliged to wear protective face masks and take two coronavirus tests per week.
2022 - President Biden called a woman’s right to obtain an abortion “fundamental” and urged voters to elect candidates who support that right. Biden said electing those candidate would pave the way for Congress to pass legislation protecting access to the procedure nationwide.
2022 - Unprecedented measures were put in place to boost water levels at Lake Powell, an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River, that was so low as to endanger the production of hydroelectric power for seven Western states.
2023 - Two explosive drones that appeared to have targeted the Kremlin in Moscow were shot down. The Kremlin accused Ukraine of perpetrating the incident and called it an act of terrorism and an assassination attempt. U.S. officials said it was likely that a Ukrainian intelligence or special military unit was behind the attack. Until the Kremlin chose to publicize the incident some 12 hours later, social media footage of the incident had gained little attention. So, the entire episode remains very mysterious.
2023 - Los Angles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani joined New York Yankee legend Babe Ruth as the only pitcher to strike out 500 batters -- and hit over 100 career home runs as a pitcher. This, in a 6-4 win over the Cardinals in St. Louis.
2024 - Movies opening in U.S. theatres included: The Fall Guy, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt; and Tarot, with Avantika, Humberly González and Olwen Fouéré.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day May 3
1469 - Niccolò Machiavelli
philosopher, writer: The Prince; died June 22, 15271898 - Golda Meir
first woman ambassador, minister, Prime Minister of Israel [1969-1974]; one of only two women to sign the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel; was given Israel’s first passport; died Dec 8, 19781902 - Walter Slezak
actor: Treasure Island, Twenty-Four Hours to Kill, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, Pinocchio, Bedtime for Bonzo, The Fallen Sparrow; died Apr 21, 19831903 - Bing (Harry Lillis) Crosby
‘der Bingle’: Grammy Award-winning [Lifetime Achievement Grammy: 1962] crooner: White Christmas, I Surrender, Dear, Where the Blue of the Night [Meets the Gold of the Day]; about 2600 records, 120 LPs sold estimated 400 million [by 1975]; Academy Award-winning actor: Going My Way [1944]; Big Broadcast of 1932; over 60 films; According to Steven Lewis, in his WWW Bing Crosby page, “...During his lifetime, Bing claimed May 2, 1904 as his birthday. Bing had no birth certificate, and it was only after his death in 1977 that a Tacoma priest disclosed Roman Catholic Church baptismal records that revealed Bing’s actual birthdate [May 3, 1903].”; more1906 - Mary Astor
Academy Award-winning [supporting] actress: The Great Lie [1942]; Beau Brummel, Don Juan, The Prisoner of Zenda, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Hollywood, Little Women [1949], The Maltese Falcon, Page Miss Glory, No Time to Marry, A Stranger in My Arms; died Sep 25, 19871907 - Earl Wilson
entertainment writer, columnist: “JFK is the sexiest, swingingest President of the century...”; died Jan 16, 19871910 - Norman Lewis Corwin
radio writer, director, producer: We Hold These Truths, On a Note of Triumph, Columbia Workshop, Twenty-Six by Corwin, An American in England, Columbia Presents Corwin; NPR series: More By Corwin; professor: Univ. of Southern California; died Oct 18, 20111912 - Virgil Fox
organ virtuoso: credited for bringing the organ “to the forefront among classical concert instruments.”; died Oct 25, 19801913 - William Inge
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright: Picnic [1953]; Come Back, Little Sheba, Bus Stop, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs; died Jun 10, 19731917 - Betty Comden (Cohen)
screenwriter [w/Adolph Green]: It’s Always Fair Weather, On the Town, Singin’ in the Rain; actress: Greenwich Village, That Was the Week That Was, Garbo Talks, Slaves of New York; died Nov 23, 20061919 - Pete Seeger
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician: banjo, guitar, mandolin; singer: groups: groups: Almanac Singers, Weavers; solo: Little Boxes; songwriter: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, Turn, Turn, Turn, co-wrote: If I Had a Hammer; social, civil and political activist; died Jan 27, 20141921 - Joe Ames
singer: group: The Ames Brothers: Undecided, The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane, Ragmop, Tammy; died Dec 22, 20071921 - Sugar Ray Robinson
International Boxing Hall of Fame middleweight champ: only boxer to win world title at one weight five times; died Apr 12, 19891924 - Mary Carver
actress: Simon & Simon, Nothing Lasts Forever, Family Album, Arachnophobia, Protocol, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, Dream No Evil; died Oct 18, 20131926 - Jimmy Cleveland
composer, musician: trombone: group: Jay & Kai Octet, played with Quincy Jones, Thelonious Monk; died Aug 23, 20081928 - Dave Dudley (Pedruska)
country singer: groups: The Dave Dudley Trio, The Country Gentlemen, The Roadrunners: Six Days On the Road, Mad, Truck Drivin’ Sun of a Gun, Vietnam Blues; died Dec 22, 20031931 - Joe Layton (Lichtman)
choreographer: Thoroughly Modern Millie; director: Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip, The Littlest Angel, Androcles and the Lion; died May 5, 19941933 - James Brown
The Godfather of Soul: singer: Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, Please, Please, Please, I Got You (I Feel Good), It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World, Living in America; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer [1986]; died Dec 25, 2006; more1933 - Alex Cord
actor: Airwolf, The Brotherhood, Stiletto, The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission, The Naked Truth, CIA Code Name: Alexa, Hologram Man; died Aug 9, 20211934 - Frankie Valli (Francis Castellucio)
falsetto singer: group: The Four Seasons: Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Rag Doll, Let’s Hang On; solo: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, My Eyes Adored You, Swearin’ to God, December ’63 [Oh What a Night], Grease; more1944 - Pete Staples
musician: bass: group: The Troggs: Wild Thing, I Can’t Control Myself, With a Girl like You, Give It to Me, Any Way that You Want Me, Night of the Long Grass, Hi Hi Hazel, Love is All Around, Little Girl; more1946 - Greg Gumbel
TV sports host: CBS1946 - Davey Lopes
baseball: LA Dodgers [World Series: 1974, 1977, 1978, 1981/all-star: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981], Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros1947 - Doug Henning
magician, illusionist: The World of Magic [TV], The Magic Show [Broadway rock musical]; died Feb 7, 20001948 - Garfield Heard
basketball: Univ. of Oklahoma, Phoenix Suns; Asst Coach: Philadelphia 76ers1948 - Chris Mulkey
actor: Patti Rocks, Against the Wall, Cloverfield, Knight Rider, Friday Night Lights, Boomtown, Justified, Baretta, Twin Peaks, Wing Commander, The Hidden, First Blood1950 - Mary Hopkin
singer: Those Were the Days, Goodbye, Temma Harbour, If You Love Me1951 - Christopher Cross (Geppert)
Oscar-winning singer: Arthur’s Theme (Best that You can Do); 5 Grammy Awards [1981]; singer, songwriter: Sailing, Ride like the Wind, Say You’ll be Mine, Think of Laura1953 - Bruce Hall
musician: bass: group: REO Speedwagon: Keep on Loving You, Take It on the Run, Keep the Fire Burnin’, Can’t Fight This Feeling1955 - Steve Jones
musician: guitar; singer: founding member of Sex Pistols: Anarchy in the U.K., God Save the Queen, Holidays in the Sun, My Way, Road Runner1958 - Kevin Kilner
actor: Earth Final Conflict, Almost Perfect, Dollhouse, One Tree Hill, Twenty Bucks, Under Surveillance, House of Cards1959 - Dave Ball
musician: keyboards: group: Soft Cell: Tainted Love, Bed Sitter, Torch, What1963 - Jeff Hornacek
basketball [guard]: Phoenix Suns, Philadelphia 76ers Utah Jazz1970 - Bobby Cannavale
Emmy-winning Supporting Actor: Will & Grace [2005], Boardwalk Empire [2013]; Nurse Jackie, Third Watch, Blue Jasmine, The Station Agent, Modern Family, Chef, Snakes on a Plane1970 - Kristin Lehman
actress: Judging Amy, The Sentinel, Damages, Lie With Me, Rapid Fire, The Chronicles of Riddick, Verdict in Blood, The Way of the Gun1972 - Vyacheslav Kozlov
hockey [left wing]: Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Atlanta Thrashers1975 - Willie Geist
TV co-host: Morning Joe, Today; author: American Freak Show, Loaded! Become a Millionaire Overnight and Lose 20 Pounds in 2 Weeks or Your Money Back!1975 - Christina Hendricks
actress: Mad Men, Kevin Hill, Beggars and Choosers, Life, South of Pico, Hunger Point, Sorority1975 - Dulé Hill
actor: The West Wing, Psych, Holes, She’s All That, Whisper, Remarkable Power, Miss Dial, Gayby1977 - Eric Church
singer: Drink in My Hand, Springsteen, Creepin’, The Only Way I Know, Two Pink Lines; more1977 - Ryan Dempster
baseball [pitcher]: Florida Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs1977 - Tyronn Lue
basketball [guard]: Univ of Nebraska; NBA: LA Lakers, Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks1981 - Charlie Brooks
actress: EastEnders, Bleak House, Take 3 Girls, The Bill, London’s Burning, Jonathan Creek, The Demon Headmaster1982 - Rebecca Hall
actress: The Town, The Prestige, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord [2010 BAFTA Supporting Actress award], Lay the Favorite, Closed Circuit, Iron Man 31984 - Cheryl Burke
dancer: Dancing With the Stars [2005-2014], The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, My Crazy Love1985 - Greg Raposo
musician: drums, singer, actor: Broadway: Broadway on Broadway, Dream Street; commercials: Kit Kat, Frosted Flakes, Ford, Ovaltine1986 - Homer Bailey
baseball [pitcher]: Cincinnati Reds [2007– ]: pitched no-hitters in 2012, 20131986 - Pom Klementieff
actress: The Easy Way, Sleepless Night, Oldboy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 31990 - Brooks Koepka
golf champ: 2017, 2018 U.S. Open, 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open; 2018, 2019, 2023 PGA Championship; more1996 - Noah Munck
actor: iCarly, Phineas and Ferb, ER, The Troop, Rules of Engagement, Bad Teache, The Rainbow Tribe, Victorious, Figure It Out, Gibby, Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, Swindle2001 - Rachel Zegler
actress: West Side Story [2021], Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day May 3
1949Cruising Down the River (facts) - The Russ Morgan Orchestra (vocal: The Skyliners)
Forever and Ever (facts) - Perry Como
1958
1967
1976
1985
1994
2003
2012
2021
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
TWtD Calendar
