This Day in History
03 May 1374
BC Solar eclipse (2m 07s) seen at Ugarit by Mesopotamian astronomers On the day of the new moon in the month of Hiyar the Sun was put to shame and went down in the daytime with Mars in attendance.
03 May 1342
Count Hartmann II becomes ruler of Vaduz (Liechtenstein)
03 May 1382
Battle of Beverhoutsveldn near Bruges - Ghent town army beats drunken Bruges militia
03 May 1491
Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries adopting the baptismal name of Joo I
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Japanese war crimes trial begins
In Tokyo Japan the International Military Tribunals for the Far East begins hearing the case against 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of ...
New Japanese constitution goes into effect
On May 3 1947 Japans postwar constitution goes into effect. The progressive constitution granted universal suffrage stripped Emperor Hirohito of all ...
Joseph Fletcher lands first aircraft on the North Pole
A ski-modified U.S. Air Force C-47 piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph O. Fletcher of Oklahoma and Lieutenant Colonel William P. Benedict of California becomes...
Niccolo Machiavelli born
On this day in 1469 the Italian philosopher and writer Niccolo Machiavelli is born. A lifelong patriot and diehard proponent of a unified Italy Machiavelli be...
Paris is chosen as site for peace talks
After 34 days of discussions to select a site the United States and North Vietnam agree to begin formal negotiations in Paris on May 10 or shortly thereafter....
173rd Airborne Brigade deploys to South Vietnam
The lead element of the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Sky Soldiers) stationed in Okinawa departs for South Vietnam. It was the first U.S. Army ground ...
Shoemaker becomes oldest man to win Kentucky Derby
On May 3 1986 54-year-old Willie Shoemaker aboard 181 shot Ferdinand becomes the oldest jockey ever to win the Kentucky Derby. The victory was just one of ...
JFK receives honorary degree from George Washington University
On this day in 1961 President John F. Kennedy receives an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from George Washington University the same institution from which his...
FDR addresses thousands of Democratic women
On this day in 1940 President Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomes approximately 4000 women attending a womens division meeting of the Democratic National C...
Cowboy author Andy Adams is born
Andy Adams one of the most accurate chroniclers of the authentic Old West is born in Columbia City Indiana.While still in his teens Adams ran ...
Funk master, James Brown, is born
Soul Brother 1The Godfather of Soul Mr. Dynamite Sex Machine The Minister of the New New Super Heav...
Lord Byron swims across tumultuous Hellespont strait in Turkey
On this day George Gordon Lord Byron swims across the Hellespont a tumultuous strait in Turkey now called the Dardanelles. Legendary Greek hero Leander supp...
U.S. Supreme Court decides Paramount antitrust case
On this day in 1948 the U.S. Supreme Court issues a decision in U.S. v. Paramount Pictures et al. the governments long-running antitrust lawsuit agai...
Trains collide near Tokyo, killing more than 160 people
Two commuter trains and a freight train collide near Tokyo Japan killing more than 160 people and injuring twice that number on this day in 1962.It was Const...
Exxon executive is murdered
Exxon executive Sidney Reso dies in a storage vault in New Jersey. Four days earlier he was abducted from the driveway of his Morris Township New Jersey home...
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