History for May 1

History for May 1 - On-This-Day.com:
Kate Smith 1909 - Singer, Glen Ford 1916 - Actor ("Gilda", "The Courtship of Eddie's Father"), Jack Paar 1918 - Radio and television comedian, talk show host ("The Tonight Show")


Joseph Heller 1923 - Novelist, short story writer, playwright, Scott Carpenter 1925 - One of NASA's original seven astronauts, Judy Collins (Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins) 1939 - Singer and songwriter


1707 - England, Wales and Scotland were united to form Great Britain.


1889 - Asa Candler published a full-page advertisement in The Atlanta Journal, proclaiming his wholesale and retail drug business as "sole proprietors of Coca-Cola ... Delicious. Refreshing. Exhilarating. Invigorating." Mr. Candler did not actually achieve sole ownership until 1891 at a cost of $2,300.


1944 - The Messerschmitt Me 262, the first combat jet, made its first flight.


1948 - The People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was proclaimed.


1958 - James Van Allen reported that two radiation belts encircled Earth.


1960 - Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. Powers was taken prisoner.


1961 - Fidel Castro announced there would be no more elections in Cuba.


2011 - U.S. President Barack Obama announced that U.S. soldiers had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.