Today in History

Today is Monday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2021. There are 242 days left in the year.

Today's Highlights in History:

On May 3, 1948, the Supreme Court, in Shelley v. Kraemer, ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to Blacks or members of other racial groups were legally unenforceable.

On this date:

In 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.

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

In 1916, Irish nationalists Padraic Pearse, Thomas Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh were executed by a British firing squad; they were among 16 people put to death for their roles in the Easter Rising.

In 1937, Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, "Gone with the Wind."

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

In 1984, Michael Dell founded Dell Computer Corp. while a student at the University of Texas in Austin.

In 1987, The Miami Herald said its reporters had observed a young woman spending "Friday night and most of Saturday" at a Washington townhouse belonging to Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart. (The woman was later identified as Donna Rice; the resulting controversy torpedoed Hart's presidential bid.)

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

In 2006, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, rejected the death penalty for al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, deciding he should spend life in prison for his role in 9/11; as he was led from the courtroom, Moussaoui taunted, "America, you lost."

In 2007, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Virginia for the commemoration of Jamestown's 400th anniversary.

In 2009, Mexican President Felipe Calderon told state television that a nationwide shutdown and an aggressive informational campaign appeared to have helped curtail an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico.

In 2015, two gunmen were shot and killed by a police officer in Garland, Texas, after they opened fire outside a purposely provocative contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.

Ten years ago: The White House said that Osama bin Laden was unarmed when Navy SEALs burst into his room at his Pakistan compound and shot him to death, a change in the official account that raised questions about whether the U.S. ever planned to capture the terrorist leader alive. Chicago's Derrick Rose became at age 22 the NBA's youngest MVP. Actor-director Jackie Cooper died in Santa Monica, California, at age 88.

Five years ago: In a stunning triumph for a political outsider, Donald Trump all but clinched the Republican presidential nomination with a resounding victory in Indiana that knocked rival Ted Cruz out of the race.

One year ago: In a televised town hall, President Donald Trump increased his projection for the total U.S. coronavirus death toll to as many as 100,000, but insisted that states could gradually lift lockdowns and still protect people from the pandemic. An incursion by a few dozen Venezuelan military deserters hoping to overthrow the country's socialist leadership, backed by a former U.S. Green Beret, ended in failure on a Venezuelan beach with six insurgents dead and two former U.S. Special Forces soldiers behind bars.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Alex Cord is 88. Singer Frankie Valli is 87. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, is 78. Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 75. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is 72. Pop singer Mary Hopkin is 71. Singer Christopher Cross is 70. Rock musician David Ball (Soft Cell) is 62. Country singer Shane Minor is 53. Actor Amy Ryan is 53. Actor Bobby Cannavale is 51. Music and film producer-actor Damon Dash is 50. Country musician John Driskell Hopkins (Zac Brown Band) is 50. Country-rock musician John Neff is 50. Country singer Brad Martin is 48. Actor Marsha Stephanie-Blake is 46. TV personality Willie Geist (TV: "Today") is 46. Actor Christina Hendricks is 46. Actor Dule Hill is 46. Country singer Eric Church is 44. Actor Tanya Wright is 43. Dancer Cheryl Burke is 37. Soul singer Michael Kiwanuka is 34. Actor Zoe De Grand Maison is 26. Rapper Desiigner (cq) is 24.