On May 3, 1942, during World War II, the first modern naval
engagement in history, the Battle of the Coral Sea, began. A
Japanese invasion force succeeds in occupying Tulagi of
the Solomon Islands in an expansion of Japan’s defensive
perimeter.

The United States, having broken Japan’s secret war code
and forewarned of an impending invasion of Tulagi and Port
Moresby, attempted to intercept the Japanese armada. Four
days of battles between Japanese and American aircraft
carriers resulted in 70 Japanese and 66 American warplanes
destroyed.

Atlanta magazine writer Margaret Mitchell (above) earned the
Pulitzer Prize in Novels for her breathtaking work of historical
fiction, "Gone with the Wind," on this day in history, May 3, 1937.

"Gone with the Wind," Mitchell’s 1,000-page Civil War saga, is
one of the world’s most successful novels. Even today, it enjoys
a global following.

“Soul Brother #1,”The Godfather of Soul,” “Mr. Dynamite,”
“Sex Machine,” “The Minister of the New New Super Heavy
Funk.” These are some of the names by which the world
would eventually know James Joseph Brown, Jr., the
revolutionary musical figure who was born on May 3, 1933.

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