Today in History

Today is Sunday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2015. There are 242 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 3, 1765, the first school of medicine in the American colonies, the Medical School of the College of Philadelphia (now the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania), was founded.

On this date:

In 1515, Pope Leo X promulgated the bull "Inter sollicitudines" allowing the Catholic Church to review and censor books.

In 1791, Poland adopted a national constitution.

In 1802, Washington D.C. was incorporated as a city.

In 1916, Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse and two others were executed by the British for their roles in the Easter Rising.

In 1933, Nellie T. Ross became the first female director of the U.S. Mint.

In 1945, during World War II, Allied forces recaptured Rangoon (Yangon) from the Japanese.

In 1952, the Kentucky Derby was televised nationally for the first time on CBS; the winner was Hill Gail.

In 1960, the Harvey Schmidt-Tom Jones musical "The Fantasticks" began a nearly 42-year run at New York's Sullivan Street Playhouse.

In 1975, America's oldest operational aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, was commissioned.

In 1979, Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher was chosen to become Britain's first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections.

In 1986, in NASA's first post-Challenger launch, an unmanned Delta rocket lost power in its main engine shortly after liftoff, forcing safety officers to destroy it by remote control.

In 1999, some 70 tornadoes roared across Oklahoma and Kansas, killing 46 people and injuring hundreds.

Ten years ago: The first democratically elected government in the history of Iraq was sworn in. Iran told a United Nations nonproliferation conference it would press on with its uranium-enrichment technology.

Five years ago: BP declared it would pay all "legitimate and objectively verifiable" claims related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Faisal Shahzad, who later admitted to an attempted car bombing in Times Square, was apprehended aboard a flight preparing to depart New York for Dubai. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton exchanged heated words at the United Nations, the site of a monthlong debate over nuclear weapons. An Indian court convicted a Pakistani man (Mohammed Ajmal Kasab) of murder and other charges for his role in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that left 166 people dead.

One year ago: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, during a visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said the U.S. was ready to help increase its ties with Africa, but that nations across the continent needed to take stronger steps to ensure security and democracy for its people. California Chrome pulled away down the stretch for a dominant win at the 140th Kentucky Derby. Floyd Mayweather Jr. retained his welterweight title with a majority decision over Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas.

Today's Birthdays: Actor George Gaynes is 98. Movie historian and TV host Robert Osborne is 83. Actor Alex Cord is 82. Singer Frankie Valli is 81. Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 69. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is 66. Pop singer Mary Hopkin is 65. Singer Christopher Cross is 64. Country musician Cactus Moser (Highway 101) is 58. Rock musician David Ball (Soft Cell) is 56. Country singer Shane Minor is 47. Actor Bobby Cannavale is 45. Music and film producer-actor Damon Dash is 44. Country musician John Driskell Hopkins (Zac Brown Band) is 44. Country-rock musician John Neff (Drive-By Truckers) is 44. Country singer Brad Martin is 42. Actress Christina Hendricks is 40. Actor Dule Hill is 40. Country singer Eric Church is 38. Dancer Cheryl Burke is 31. Soul singer Michael Kiwanuka is 28. Actress Jill Berard is 25.

Thought for Today: "Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil." -- Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian political philosopher (born this date in 1469, died 1527).

Copyright 2015, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.