Today in History: May 3, Margaret Thatcher elected
Today in History: May 3, Margaret Thatcher elected
Mrs. Margaret Thatcher shown with her son, Mark, as she gives a jubilation wave at her party HQ on May 4, 1979 in London. (AP Photo/Dear)
Joseph Offutt, 20, holds a U.S. flag across the street from the Curtis Culwell Center, Tuesday, May 5, 2015, in Garland, Texas. A man whose social media presence was being scrutinized by federal authorities was one of two suspects in the Sunday shooting at this location that hosted a cartoon contest featuring images of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
An aerial view of subway cars dangle at an angle from a collapsed elevated section of the metro, in Mexico City, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. The elevated section collapsed late Monday killing at least 23 people and injuring at least 79, city officials said. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose smiles after being named the NBA basketball’s MVP on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, in Lincolnshire, Ill. Rose is the second Bull to win the award--Michael Jordan won it five times. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Mrs. Margaret Thatcher shown with her son, Mark, as she gives a jubilation wave at her party HQ on May 4, 1979 in London. (AP Photo/Dear)
Mrs. Margaret Thatcher shown with her son, Mark, as she gives a jubilation wave at her party HQ on May 4, 1979 in London. (AP Photo/Dear)
Joseph Offutt, 20, holds a U.S. flag across the street from the Curtis Culwell Center, Tuesday, May 5, 2015, in Garland, Texas. A man whose social media presence was being scrutinized by federal authorities was one of two suspects in the Sunday shooting at this location that hosted a cartoon contest featuring images of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Joseph Offutt, 20, holds a U.S. flag across the street from the Curtis Culwell Center, Tuesday, May 5, 2015, in Garland, Texas. A man whose social media presence was being scrutinized by federal authorities was one of two suspects in the Sunday shooting at this location that hosted a cartoon contest featuring images of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
An aerial view of subway cars dangle at an angle from a collapsed elevated section of the metro, in Mexico City, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. The elevated section collapsed late Monday killing at least 23 people and injuring at least 79, city officials said. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
An aerial view of subway cars dangle at an angle from a collapsed elevated section of the metro, in Mexico City, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. The elevated section collapsed late Monday killing at least 23 people and injuring at least 79, city officials said. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose smiles after being named the NBA basketball’s MVP on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, in Lincolnshire, Ill. Rose is the second Bull to win the award--Michael Jordan won it five times. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose smiles after being named the NBA basketball’s MVP on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, in Lincolnshire, Ill. Rose is the second Bull to win the award--Michael Jordan won it five times. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 3, 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.
On this date:
In 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.
In 1937, Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, “Gone with the Wind.”
In 1947, Japan’s postwar constitution took effect.
In 1948, the Supreme Court, in Shelley v. Kraemer, ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to Blacks or members of other racial groups were legally unenforceable.
In 1960, the Harvey Schmidt-Tom Jones musical “The Fantasticks” began a nearly 42-year run at New York’s Sullivan Street Playhouse.
In 1987, The Miami Herald said its reporters had observed a young woman spending “Friday night and most of Saturday” at a Washington townhouse belonging to Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart. (The woman was later identified as Donna Rice; the resulting controversy torpedoed Hart’s presidential bid.)
In 2006, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, rejected the death penalty for al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui (zak-uh-REE’-uhs moo-SOW’-ee), deciding he should spend life in prison for his role in 9/11; as he was led from the courtroom, Moussaoui taunted, “America, you lost.”
In 2009, Mexican President Felipe Calderon told state television that a nationwide shutdown and an aggressive informational campaign appeared to have helped curtail an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico.
In 2011, Chicago’s Derrick Rose became at age 22 the NBA’s youngest MVP.
In 2015, two gunmen were shot and killed by a police officer in Garland, Texas, after they opened fire outside a purposely provocative contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.
In 2016, in a stunning triumph for a political outsider, Donald Trump all but clinched the Republican presidential nomination with a resounding victory in Indiana that knocked rival Ted Cruz out of the race.
In 2017, President Donald Trump met at the White House with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (mahk-MOOD’ ah-BAHS’), promising “to do whatever is necessary” to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
In 2018, a federal grand jury in Detroit indicted former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn on charges stemming from the company’s diesel emissions cheating scandal. (Under Germany’s constitution, he could not be extradited to the U.S. to face charges.)
In 2021, an elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed as subway cars were passing over it, killing 26 people; investigations found that the failure was caused by construction defects.
In 2022, President Joe Biden blasted as “radical” a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion throwing out the Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling after 50 years. Chief Justice John Roberts said he had ordered an investigation into what he called an “egregious breach of trust.” Russian forces began storming the steel mill containing the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol, just as scores of civilians who evacuated the bombed-out plant reached relative safety in Ukrainian-held territory. Ron Galella, a photographer known for his visceral celebrity shots and his dogged pursuit of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who sued him and won a restraining order, died at age 91.