Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female Prime Minister
MajorKnown as the 'Iron Lady,' Thatcher would serve for 11 consecutive years, the longest tenure of any British PM in the 20th century. Her conservative po...
May 3 in History
Significant events that happened on this day.
Historical Events
1979
1978
The first unsolicited bulk commercial email (spam) was sent to 400 recipients on ARPANET
A marketing representative from Digital Equipment Corporation sent the first spam email, promoting an open house for a new product. The recipients wer...
1968
Students in Paris began protests that would escalate into a nationwide general strike and nearly topple the French government
MajorWhat started as student demonstrations about university conditions grew into France's largest general strike ever, with 11 million workers (22% of the...
1952
A U.S. Air Force pilot landed his F9F Panther jet on a carrier with all wheels up and lived to tell about it
Lieutenant Commander George Duncan's landing gear failed completely, but he managed a belly landing on the USS Antietam during Korean War operations....
1947
Japan's post-war constitution went into effect, including Article 9 which forever renounced war
This American-drafted constitution made Japan the only major nation to constitutionally prohibit maintaining military forces for warfare. The document...
1937
Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for 'Gone with the Wind'
The former journalist's only novel became an instant phenomenon, selling over one million copies in its first six months. Mitchell was initially reluc...
1933
Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first female director of the U.S. Mint
Ross, who had previously served as Wyoming's governor (the first woman governor in U.S. history), took charge of all U.S. coin production. She held th...
1921
West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax in the United States
The tax started at a modest rate and was initially meant to be temporary, lasting only during an economic crisis. Like most 'temporary' taxes, it beca...
1913
Raja Harishchandra, India's first full-length feature film, premiered in Bombay
Director Dadasaheb Phalke created this silent film despite having no formal training and building his own camera equipment. Since women weren't allowe...
1898
Golda Meir, who would become Israel's first and only female Prime Minister, was born in Kyiv
Born Golda Mabovitch in the Russian Empire, she immigrated to the U.S. as a child and later moved to Palestine. She served as Prime Minister from 1969...
1855
American adventurer William Walker invaded Nicaragua with just 57 men and briefly became its president
This Tennessee-born filibuster actually succeeded in conquering the country and declared himself president in 1856, making English an official languag...
1849
A fire destroyed 280 buildings and 27 steamboats in St. Louis, causing $6 million in damage
The Great Fire of 1849 started on a steamboat and spread rapidly through the downtown area, fueled by strong winds and wooden structures. It remains o...
1802
Washington, D.C. was officially incorporated as a city
The nation's capital, which had been functioning as the seat of government since 1800, finally received its official city charter. At the time, it had...
1791
Poland adopted Europe's first modern constitution and the world's second oldest national constitution
MajorThe Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's Constitution of May 3rd was a progressive document that established political equality between townspeople and no...
1469
Niccolò Machiavelli, the father of modern political science, was born in Florence
MajorMachiavelli would go on to write 'The Prince,' a treatise so influential that his name became an adjective for cunning political manipulation. His pra...