1931: The Empire State Building opens.

 

1May 1945

With Soviet forces occupying central Berlin, newly appointed Reich Chancellor Joseph Goebbels and his wife committed suicide after murdering their six children. German Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt was captured by Allied forces. Both Italy and Germany were nearing full occupation by Soviet and Western Allied Forces.

 

1955 Showgirl Linda Lawson is crowned "Miss-Cue" in the Atomic Pageant, after the Operation Cue test is repeatedly delayed by high winds.

Miss Atomic Pageant

 

(1st May) First day of unified Vietnamese rule (1975)

(The night before) V

At 4:03 a.m., two U.S. Marines are killed in a rocket attack at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut airport. They are the last Americans to die in the Vietnam War. At dawn, the last Marines of the force guarding the U.S. embassy lift off. Only hours later, looters ransack the embassy, and North Vietnamese tanks role into Saigon, ending the war. In 15 years, nearly a million NVA and Vietcong troops and a quarter of a million South Vietnamese soldiers have died. Hundreds of thousands of civilians had been killed.

 

And Americans.
Don't forget the 60,000 Americans who died.

 

On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden was shot and killed by U.S. forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The leader of Seal Team Six who fired the shots was Robert J. Oneill:


The scumbag who finally got to find out if there really were 72 virgins waiting for him was this guy:



Kirsten? You're up, baby...

 

This thread sure is gonna be boring next year when we have already used up all the good historical stuff.

 

1814: Napoleon landed at the island of Elba to serve the first of two exiles.

 

Today will be a sad day in our history.
R.I.P Gordon Lightfoot.

 

2May 1945

In Europe, as the Germans unconditionally surrendered the city of Berlin to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov, the Soviets occupied the Reichstag building and raised the Soviet flag. Former Hitler Henchmen Hans Krebs, Martin Bormann, and Wilhelm Burgdorf committed suicide. In Southern Europe, over 1,000,000 Axis forces in northern Italy and Austria surrendered.

 

On this day in history, May 2, 1611, King James Bible published, helped fuel revolution in American colonies.
The King James Bible, the most famous version of the world’s most influential book, was published on this day in history, May 2, 1611.

Portrait of King James I of England (1566-1625). Found in the collection of National Museum Stockholm. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

 

On May 3, 1979, Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister of Great Britain - the first woman in history to hold the office. The 'Iron Lady' won re-election in 1983 and 1987 - both by a landslide.

My favorite of her quotes:

 

1948: CBS Television News' (later 'CBS Evening News') debuts as a 15-minute show anchored by Douglas Edwards.

 

On this day in history, May 3, 1937, Margaret Mitchell's Civil War saga 'Gone with the Wind' wins Pulitzer
Bestselling epic of love and war inspired top-grossing movie in world history, but book's author never wrote again.

Novelist Margaret Mitchell sits at her desk at home in Georgia following the announcement that her novel "Gone with the Wind" had won a Pulitzer Prize.

 

3May 1945

In Europe, US Ninth Army connected with Soviet forces while US Third Army crossed the Inn River in Germany. The Allies start preliminary plans for a provisional government within Germany.

In the Pacific, the Japanese continued their assault on the US Naval Task Forces off Okinawa, sinking the destroyer USS Little and damaging three other vessels, two beyond repair. Loss of life was over 75 with over 150 injured. Battle fatigue had set in among the US Fifth Fleet officers and enlisted. In a recent visit, CINCPAC Fleet Commander Admiral Chester Nimitz determined, after an assessment of the situation, that a command change was in order with the more aggressive Admiral Halsey replacing the more conservative Admiral Spruance.

 

1945 German forces in Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands surrender unconditionally to British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery at Luneburg Heath.

Bernard Montgomery

 

This Day In History
May 4, 1970
National Guard kills four students in Kent State Shootings

On May 4, 1970, in Kent, Ohio, 28 National Guardsmen fire their weapons at a group of anti-war demonstrators on the Kent State University campus, killing four students, wounding eight, and permanently paralyzing another. The tragedy was a watershed moment for a nation divided by the conflict in Vietnam, and further galvanized the anti-war movement.

Two days earlier, on May 2, National Guard troops were called to Kent to suppress students rioting in protest of the Vietnam War and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. The next day, scattered protests were dispersed by tear gas, and on May 4 class resumed at Kent State University. By noon that day, despite a ban on rallies, some 2,000 people had assembled on the campus. National Guard troops arrived and ordered the crowd to disperse, fired tear gas, and advanced against the students with bayonets fixed on their rifles. Some of the protesters, refusing to yield, responded by throwing rocks and verbally taunting the troops.

 

This Day In History
May 4, 1776
Rhode Island becomes first colony to declare independence from England

On May 4, 1776, Rhode Island, the colony founded by the most radical religious dissenters from the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony, becomes the first North American colony to renounce its allegiance to King George III. Ironically, Rhode Island would be the last state to ratify the new American Constitution more than 14 years later on May 29, 1790.

Rhode Island served as a mercantile center of the transatlantic slave trade in the 18th century. West Indian molasses became rum in Rhode Island distilleries, which was then traded on the West African coast for enslaved workers. After taking their human cargo across the notorious middle passage from Africa across the Atlantic to the Caribbean islands, Rhode Island merchants would then sell those who survived the boats’ wretched conditions and rough ocean crossing to West Indian plantation owners for use as enslaved workers in exchange for a fresh shipment of molasses.

 

3May 1945

The US Naval Task Forces (5th Fleet) off Okinawa again come under major attack from the Japanese, this time losing two destroyers USS Luce and USS Morrison. The cruiser USS Birmingham and the CVE carrier USS Sangamon plus six other vessels were also damaged, with those killed and wounded approaching nearly 1000.

 

On May 4, 1959, the first Grammy Awards were presented at a Black-Tie dinner. Among the winners were Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Henry Mancini (for the 'Peter Gunn' theme!), and The Kingston Trio.

'The Chipmunk Song' by David Seville (Ross Bagdasarian) & The Chipmunks won 1 of the 5 'Record of the Year' awards.



One of my favorite performance videos ever: