Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

May 3

1988
Presidential astrologer: Excerpts from former chief of staff Donald Regan's book describing astrologer Joan Quigley's role in White House decisions are printed in Time magazine.

1973
The Sears Tower becomes the tallest building in the world, at 1,454-feet-high.

1937
Gone With The Wind: Margaret Mitchell's Civil War novel is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It sold a million copies in its first six months.

1845
First black lawyer admitted the bar: Macon B. Allen of Massachusetts.

1833
Mormons adopt the name "Latter Day Saints."

1820
Slavery: Missouri Compromise, banning slavery west of the Mississippi above the lower Missouri border, except in Missouri.

1798
U.S. Department of the Navy is established.

1765
First U.S. medical school: College of Philadelphia Department of Medicine (now the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) is established.

1654
First American toll bridge: Richard Thurlow opens his bridge over the Newbury River at Rowley, Massachusetts. The toll was for animals, people passed for free.

1494
Jamaica: Columbus discovers the island, naming it St. Jago.

1951
Christopher Cross (Christopher Geppert), American Grammy-winning singer. Music: Sailing (1980, #1) and Arthur's Theme (1981, #1 and Best Original Song Oscar).

1947     d. 2000
Doug Henning, Canadian magician.  He helped to revive magic shows in the 1970s. He later quit what he now called "fake magic" in order to pursue Transcendental Meditation (TM) in the attempt to learn to levitate.  When diagnosed with liver cancer, he chose to forego traditional medicine in favor of TM. He died five weeks later.

1944
Peter Staples, British guitarist, with the Troggs. Music: Wild Thing (1966, #1).

1937
Frankie Valli (Frank Castelluccio), American singer.

1928
James Brown, American soul singer. Music: I Feel Good (1965) and Living in America (1986).

1927
Mell Lazarus, American cartoonist, creator of Miss Peach (1957) and Momma (1970).

1921     d. 1989
Sugar Ray Robinson (Walker Smith Jr.), American welterweight boxing champion and five-time world middleweight champion.

1920     d. 1976
Dan Bankhead, American baseball player, first black pitcher in major league baseball (1947), with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1919
Pete Seeger, American folk singer. Music: If I Had a Hammer (1949, co-writer) and Turn! Turn! Turn!

1906     d. 1987
Mary Astor (Lucille Vasconcellos Langhanke), Oscar-winning actress, The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Great Lie (1941, Oscar).

1883     d. 1981
Beulah Bondi, American actress. Film: It's a Wonderful Life (George Bailey's mother).

1989     b. 1926
Christine Jorgensen (George Jorgensen), American sex change recipient (1952). The first to go public.

1758     b. 1675
Benedict XIV, Italian religious leader, 247th Pope (1740-58).

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