On This Day May 1

2005
Iraq War: Downing Street memo
The minutes of a British Prime Minister's meeting of July 2002 is published by the The Sunday Times. British officials did not dispute the document's authenticity. It states that "Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" and that "Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran."

2003
Iraq War: "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." President Bush speaking underneath a banner made by Whitehouse staff stating "Mission Accomplished" less than six weeks into the war.

1967
Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu. The only other entertainer to attend was Redd Foxx.

1960
U-2 incident: A U.S. U-2 spy plane is shot down in the Soviet Union. The pilot, Gary Powers, was convicted of spying by the USSR. In 1962 he was exchanged for a Russian spy.

1931
Empire State Building opens in New York City. At a height 1,250 feet, it was the world's tallest building.

1898
Spanish-American War - Battle of Manila Bay: George Dewey virtually destroys the Spanish fleet while American losses were minimal.

1841
First emigrant wagon train to California: It leaves Independence, Missouri with 47 people. It arrived the following November.

1707
Great Britain: The union of England and Scotland becomes effective, adopting the name Great Britain.

1949
Douglas Barr, actor. TV: The Fall Guy (Howie Munson) and Designing Women (Bill Stillfield).

1949 d. 1993
Yvonne and Yvette McCarthur, American Siamese twins, at the time of their death they were thought to be the world's oldest Siamese twins.

1945
Rita Coolidge, American Grammy-winning singer. Music: We're All Alone (1977) and The Way You Do The Things You Do (1978).

1939 d. 1988
Max Robinson, American newscaster, the first U.S. black network news anchor.

1925
Malcolm Scott Carpenter, American astronaut, one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts.

1917 d. 1996
John Beradino, American actor. TV: General Hospital (Dr. Steve Hardy from the show's inception in 1963 till his death). He also played major league baseball from 1939 to 1953.

1916
Glenn Ford (Gwyllyn Ford), Canadian-born actor. Film: Gilda (1946) and Blackboard Jungle (1955). TV: Cade's County (Sam Cade).

1865 d. 1930
Charles Kassell Harris, American songwriter. He wrote After the Ball (1892), the first million-seller song. Sold as sheet music, it eventually sold 10 million copies.

1830 d. 1930
Mother Jones (Mary Harris Jones), Irish-born American labor leader, agitator, and advocate for striking workers.

1769 d. 1852
Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley), British general, prime minister (1828-30). He defeated Napoleon at Waterloo (1815).

1965 b. 1911
Spike Jones (Lindley Armstrong Jones), American musician, All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth (1948, #1).

1945 b. 1897
Paul Josef Goebbels, German Nazi leader, Hitler's propaganda minister. He killed his family and himself when the Allies entered Berlin.

1873 b. 1813
David Livingstone, Scottish explorer, missionary. In 1871 he was found in Africa by reporter Henry Stanley, prompting the famous quote "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

1700 b. 1631
John Dryden, English poet, essayist. He instigated the rule of not ending a sentence with a preposition.

1572 b. 1504
Saint Pius V, Italian religious leader, 225th Pope (1566-72), canonized in 1712, excommunicated Elizabeth I of England, expelled the Jews from Church states and was dedicated to the extermination of the Huguenots.

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