May fifth

Today's Highlight in History:
On May fifth, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Junior became America's first space traveler as he made a 15-minute sub-orbital flight in a capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

On this date:
In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St. Helena.

In 1891, Carnegie Hall (then named "Music Hall") had its opening night in New York City.

In 1893, panic hit the New York Stock Exchange; by year's end, the country was in the throes of a severe depression.

In 1925, John T. Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.

In 1942, sales of sugar resumed in the United States under a rationing program.

In 1945, during World War Two, Japanese forces landed on the Philippine island of Corregidor.

In 1955, West Germany became a sovereign state.

In 1955, the baseball musical "Damn Yankees" opened on Broadway.

In 1980, a siege at the Iranian embassy in London ended as British commandos and police stormed the building.

In 1981, Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland in his 66th day without food.

Ten years ago: "Unbridled" won the 116th running of the Kentucky Derby.

Five years ago: As rescue workers ended their search for bodies in the Oklahoma City bombing, President Clinton denounced self-styled anti-government militias, saying, "How dare you call yourselves patriots and heroes." Talks collapsed between the United States and Japan on averting a bitter trade fight over automobiles. Powerful thunderstorms began tearing through North Texas, claiming two dozen lives.

One year ago: President Clinton began a morale-boosting trip to Europe that included a visit to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he met the three American soldiers just released by Yugoslavia. The first Kosovo refugees brought to the United States, 453 of them, arrived at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people."

-- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, "father" of America's nuclear navy (1900-1986).