May 3 in History: NPR Broadcasts First Show, Sears Tower Completed, and Geocaching Begins

Discover what happened on May 3 in history, along with notable events that shaped media, architecture, and modern technology.

What Happened on May 3 in History?

Important moments on this day include the first broadcast of National Public Radio, the completion of the Sears Tower as the world’s tallest building at the time, and the beginning of geocaching using GPS technology.

MAY 3 – TODAY IN HISTORY:

1802 – The city of Washington, DC was incorporated.

1881 – Leonidas G. Woolley received a patent for the first electric locomotive headlight.

1888 – Thomas Edison organized the Edison Phonograph Works.

1921 – West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax.

1927 – Francis E.J. Wilde of Meadowmere Park, NY, patented the electric sign flasher.

1933 – The U.S. Mint was under the direction of a woman for the first time when Nellie Ross took the position.

1937 – Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel “Gone with the Wind”.

1944 – Wartime rationing of most grades of meats ended in the U.S.

1948 – TV’s “The CBS Evening News” debuted as a 15 minute nightly telecast. It has gone on to become the longest running network newscast.

1948 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities were legally unenforceable.

1952 – The Kentucky Derby was televised nationally for the first time on CBS.

1952 – Joseph Fletcher and William Benedict become the first people to land a plane at the North Pole.

1966 – The game “Twister” was featured on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

1967 – Carl Wilson (Beach Boys) went to court on draft evasion charges.

1971 – National Public Radio broadcast for the first time.

1971 – James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King’s assassin, was caught in a jailbreak attempt.

1973 – The 108-story Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) in Chicago, IL was topped out at 1,451 feet as the world’s tallest building at the time.

1978 – Digital Equipment Corp. sent an unsolicited email to every west coast ARPANET address. It was the first SPAM email.

1986 – In NASA’s first post-Challenger launch, an unmanned Delta rocket lost power in its main engine shortly after liftoff. Safety officers destroyed it by remote control.

1986 – Dollywood (Dolly Parton’s theme park) opened in Pigeon Forge, TN.

1988 – The White House acknowledged that first lady Nancy Reagan had used astrological advice to help schedule her husband’s activities.

1991 – The final episode of TV’s “Dallas” airs on CBS television. It lasted 13 seasons in prime time.

1992 – Five days of rioting and looting ended in Los Angeles, CA. The riots, that killed 53 people, began after the acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King.

1999 – Mark Manes, at age 22, was arrested for supplying a gun to Eric Harris and Dylan Kleibold, who later killed 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado.

1999 – Hasbro released the first collection of toys for the Star Wars movie “Episode I: The Phantom Menace.”

1999 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 11,000 for the first time.

1999 – The southwestern portion of Oklahoma City, OK was destroyed by an F5 tornado that killed 45 people and injured 665. The storm caused $1 billion in damages. This tornado produced the highest wind speed every recorded at 301 +/- 20 miles per hour.

2000 – The sport of geocaching began. The first cache was placed with the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.

2000 – The trial of two Libyans accused of killing 270 people in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 (over Lockerbie) opened.

2001 – Tina Wesson, a 40 year old nurse from Tennessee, became the second “Survivor” grand prize winner, edging out Colby Donaldson for the million dollar prize. Nearly 34 million viewers tune in to the two hour live broadcast.

2002 – The movie Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, was released in theaters.

2006 – In Alexandria, VA, Al-Quaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was given a sentence of life in prison for his role in the terrorist attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.

2007 – A videotape of a bombed David Hasselhoff sitting on the floor eating a hamburger, shirtless and in jeans, is aired by the TV shows “The Insider”, “Entertainment Tonight” and “Extra”.

2018 – A black bear wandered into a west side neighborhood in Grand Rapids, MI. He had climbed a tree. He was tranquilized by the DNR, and relocated to the wild near Houghton Lake, MI the same day.

2018 – Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan became the NFL’s first $30 million per season player after agreeing to $150 million contract extension.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON MAY 3:

Frankie Valli – 92 years old (1934) – Singer and actor

Butch Otter – 84 years old (1942) – Soldier and politician, 32nd Governor of Idaho

Jim Risch – 83 years old (1943) – Lawyer and politician, 31st Governor of Idaho

Davey Lopes – 81 years old (1945) – Baseball player, coach, and manager

Norm Chow – 80 years old (1946) – Football player and coach

Ron Wyden – 77 years old (1949) – Academic and politician

Christopher Cross – 75 years old (1951) – Singer-songwriter and producer

Chuck Baldwin – 74 years old (1952) – Pastor and politician

Joseph W. Tobin – 74 years old (1952) – Cardinal

Rod Langway – 69 years old (1957) – Taiwanese-American ice hockey player and coach

Bill Sienkiewicz – 68 years old (1958) – Author and illustrator

David Vitter – 65 years old (1961) – Lawyer and politician

Jeff Hornacek – 63 years old (1963) – Basketball player and coach

Sterling Campbell – 62 years old (1964) – Drummer and songwriter

Ron Hextall – 62 years old (1964) – Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager

Willie Geist – 51 years old (1975) – Television journalist and host

Christina Hendricks – 51 years old (1975) – Actress and model

Jeff Halpern – 50 years old (1976) – Ice hockey player

Eric Church – 49 years old (1977) – Country music singer-songwriter

Tyronn Lue – 49 years old (1977) – Basketball player and coach

Ben Olsen – 49 years old (1977) – Soccer player and coach

Paul Banks – 48 years old (1978) – English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Lawrence Tynes – 48 years old (1978) – Football player

Igor Olshansky – 44 years old (1982) – Ukrainian-American football player

Joseph Addai – 43 years old (1983) – Football player

Homer Bailey – 40 years old (1986) – Baseball player

Ben Revere – 38 years old (1988) – Baseball player

Harvey Guillén – 36 years old (1990) – Actor

Brooks Koepka – 36 years old (1990) – Golfer

Austin Meadows – 31 years old (1995) – Baseball player

Mary Cain – 30 years old (1996) – Runner

Domantas Sabonis – 30 years old (1996) – Lithuanian-American basketball player

Noah Munck – 30 years old (1996) – Actor

Desiigner – 29 years old (1997) – Rapper

Ella Langley – 27 years old (1999) – Singer-songwriter

Rachel Zegler – 25 years old (2001) – Actress and singer

DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR MAY 3:

For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.