This Day in History – May 1, 2011

1682 Louis XIV & his court inaugurate Paris Observatory 1751 1st American cricket match is played 1776 Adam Weishaupt founds the secret society of Illuminati 1840 1st adhesive postage stamps (“Penny Blacks” from England) issued 1844 Samuel Morse sends 1st telegraphic message 1851 Great Exhibition opens in London’s Hyde Park, at Crystal Palace 1861 Lee orders Confederate troops under T J Jackson to Harper’s Ferry 1862 Union captain David Farragut conquers New Orleans 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville VA (29,000 injured or died) 1863 Battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi 1863 Confederate “National Flag” replaces “Stars & Bars” 1864 Atlanta campaign, Georgia 1864 Battle at Alexandria LA (Red River Campaign) 1866 American Equal Rights Association forms 1867 Howard University chartered 1867 Reconstruction of South begins, black voter registration 1869 “Folies-Bergère” opens in Paris France 1869 A colt is reported killed by a meteorite near New Concord OH 1873 1st US postal card issued 1873 Emperor Franz Jozef opens 5th World’s Fair in Wien (Vienna) 1883 “Buffalo Bill” Cody put on his 1st Wild West Show 1883 Amsterdam World’s Fair opens 1884 Construction begins on Chicago’s 1st skyscraper (10 stories) 1884 Moses Walker became 1st black player in the major league 1886 US general strike for 8 hour day, begins 1901 Herb McFarland hit 1st grand slam in the American League 1912 Beverly Hills Hotel opens 1915 British Lusitania leaves New York, for Liverpool 1920 Babe Ruth’s 1st Yankee homerun & 50th of career, out of Polo Grounds 1920 Brooklyn Dodgers tie Boston Braves, 1-1, in 26 innings 1922 Charlie Robertson of Chicago pitches a perfect no-hit, no-run game 1926 Satchel Paige makes pitching debut in Negro Southern League 1927 1st British airliner to serve cooked meals (Imperial Airways) 1928 6 children die & 10 injured by hailstones in Klausenburg, Romania 1928 Lei Day begun (a Hawaiian celebration) 1929 Brooklyn’s Johnny Finn sets 100 yard sack race in 14.4 seconds 1931 Empire State Building opens in New York NY 1931 Norway claims Peter I Island 1935 Boulder Dam completed 1940 140 Palestinian Jews die as German planes bomb their ship 1940 The 1940 Olympics are canceled 1941 “Citizen Kane”, directed by & starring Orson Welles, premieres in New York 1941 General Mills introduces Cheerios 1950 Gwendolyn Brooks, is 1st Black awarded a Pulitzer Prize (poetry) 1951 Mickey Mantle’s 1st homerun 1952 Mr Potato Head, introduced 1957 Larry King’s 1st radio broadcast 1960 Russia shoots down Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane over Sverdlovsk 1967 Elvis Presley & Pricilla Beaulieu wed in Las Vegas 1971 Amtrak railroad begins operation 1971 Rolling Stones release “Brown Sugar” 1978 1st black mayor of New Orleans (Ernest Morial) inaugurated 1979 Elton John becomes 1st pop star to perform in Israel 1981 Radio Shack releases Model III TRSDOS 1.3 1982 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville TN opens 1983 Nolan Ryan surpasses Walter Johnson for most strikeouts (3,508) 1991 A’s Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brocks record with his 939th steal (vs Yankees) 1991 Texas Ranger Nolan Ryan pitches record 7th no hitter (beats Toronto 3-0) 1992 Rickey Henderson steals his 1,000th base 1994 Charles Kuralt retires as CBS newsman (On the Road) 1997 Toni Blair elected PM of UK ]]]]> ]]>