The National Day of Prayer was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of
Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. In 1988,
the law was unanimously amended by both the House and the Senate
and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on Thursday, May 5,
1988, designating the first Thursday of May as a day of national prayer
and every president since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer
proclamation.

SANDY KOZEL

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (May 3, 1469 – June 21 1527) 

Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher,
humanist, and writer of the Renaissance period. He has often been
called the father of modern political science.

On this day in 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities
were legally unenforceable.

In his debut at Yankee Stadium against the St. Louis Browns on
this day in 1936, the “$75,000 rookie”, Joe DiMaggio recorded a
triple and two singles in six plate appearances, showcasing that consistently sweet swing that fans would come to know and love.

He was the only Yankees player to get a hit off of Browns’ relief
pitcher Russ Van Atta that day, as New York defeated St. Louis,
14-5.
 

Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014)

Pete Seeger had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member
of the Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead Belly‘s "Goodnight,
Irene", which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the
Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, Seeger
re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in
support of international disarmament, civil rights, counterculture, and environmental causes.

As a songwriter, Pete Seeger’s best-known songs include "Where Have
All the Flowers Gone?" (with Joe Hickerson), "If I Had a Hammer (The
Hammer Song)" (with Lee Hays of the Weavers), and "Turn! Turn! Turn!".

James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006)

Singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader,
James Brown is often referred to as the "Godfather of Soul". In a career
that lasted 50 years, he influenced the development of several music
genres. Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia.

James Brown & The Famous Flames At The Apollo.

The modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster was born when a
sighting makes local news on May 2, 1933. The Scottish newspaper
Inverness Courier relates an account of a local couple who claim to
have seen "an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface”
of Loch Ness, a large freshwater lake near Inverness, Scotland.

Revelations in 1994 that the famous 1934 photo (above) was a
complete hoax has only slightly dampened the enthusiasm of
tourists and investigators for the legendary beast of Loch Ness.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1945, the Russians took Berlin after 12 days of fierce house-to-house fighting. The Allies announced the surrender of
Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1919)

Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was wounded by his
own men in the battle of Chancellorsville, VA. on this day in 1863 and
died 8 days later.

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson
(January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863)

On this day in 1994, Nelson Mandela claimed victory after South
Africa’s first democratic elections.

John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972)

J. Edgar Hoover was the longtime director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He became involved in law
enforcement as a special assistant to the attorney general,
overseeing the roundups and deportations of suspected
communists during the post-World War I Red Scare. He
was named bureau director in 1924, Hoover emphasized
modern investigational techniques and earned renown
for challenging criminal syndicates. He also became
known for secretly monitoring the activities of various
organizations that were considered subversive, including
the Black Panthers, the Socialist Workers Party and the
Ku Klux Klan. Despite his controversial methods, Hoover
remained in power until his death.

Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington.

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 2003, President George W. Bush announced the end
of major combat in Iraq.

Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet
Union on this day in 1969. Powers was taken prisoner.

Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977)

The Empire State Building in New York was dedicated and opened
on this day in 1931. At 102 stories tall, it was the tallest building        
in the world at the time.

The movie "Citizen Kane," directed and starring Orson Welles,
premiered in New York on this day in 1941. It was Welles’s first
feature film and was nominated for Academy Awards in nine
categories, it won an Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles. The film is
Considered  by many critics, filmmakers, and fans to be the
greatest film of all time.       


    
    
    
   

Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu were married on this day in 1967
and were together until 1973.