Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is April 29. It was on this date in 1992 that a jury in Simi Valley, Calif., failed to convict four white Los Angeles police officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. Their acquittal sparked rioting, looting and burning in South Central LA that spread to other cities across the country. 53 people eventually died in three days of unrest. Advertisement A milestone for women's liberation: on this date in 1885, women were admitted for the first time to examinations at England's Oxford University. American troops advancing through Germany liberated 32,000 prisoners from the Dachau concentration camp near Munich on this date in 1945. As Allied forces pushed through Nazi territory, the true scope of Hitler's horrors became known to the world for the first time. Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat announced on this date in 1999 that the Palestinians would not declare statehood on May 4, as they previously said they would. Advertisement And it was on this date in 1987 that a high school in South Beloit, Ill., moved up the time of its graduation ceremony -- so students could make it to the Bon Jovi concert that night. We now return you to the present, already in progress. ------------------ Today is April 30. George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States under the new Constitution on this date in 1789. Robert Livingston administered the oath of office to Washington on the balcony of Federal Hall, at the corner of Wall and Broad streets, in New York City. Remember, the city of Washington hadn't been built yet. It was on this date in 1945 that the burned corpse of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was found in a bunker in the ruins of Berlin. Hitler, his mistress Eva Braun and several of his ministers had been hiding out in the waning days of World War II as Allied troops closed in. When defeat became inevitable, Hitler shot himself and Braun took poison. His loyal staffers then burned his body. The United States more than doubled its land area on this date in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase. It bought all French territory west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. France's leader, Napoleon, apparently needed the money more than he needed land in the New World. Advertisement While resting at courtside during a tennis match in Hamburg, Germany, Monica Seles -- the world's top-ranked women's tennis player at the time -- was stabbed in the back and wounded on this date in 1993. Her attacker was identified as a fan of No.2-rated Steffi Graf. The Yugoslavian-born Seles spent three days in the hospital. And it was on this date in 1988 that Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" dropped off the Billboard Top-200 album chart for the first time in 725 weeks -- three weeks shorts of 14 YEARS. We now return you to the present, already in progress. ------------------- Today is May 1. It was on this date in 1960 that the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy plane flying over the central USSR. The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, survived -- as did large parts of the aircraft. The incident resulted in the cancellation of a summit scheduled for the next day between President Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who announced six days later that Powers had confessed he was on a mission for the CIA. In 1962, Powers was returned to the United States in exchange for an imprisoned Soviet spy. He was killed in a helicopter crash in 1977. Advertisement As the unrest continued in the wake of the acquittal of four white Los Angeles police officers in the Rodney King beating case, President Bush ordered 4,000 military troops into the riot-ravaged streets of LA on this date in 1992. At a few minutes past noon on this date in 1893, President Grover Cleveland opened the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. As nearly a quarter of a million people looked on, Cleveland pressed a golden key that activated a valve, allowing water to be pumped into the fair. The Empire State Building was dedicated in New York City on this date in 1931. It remained the world's tallest building for 40 years. And the King took a Queen on this date in 1967. In a lavish ceremony and reception, Elvis Presley married Priscilla Ann Beaulieu at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The wedding cake alone cost $3,500. We now return you to the present, already in progress. ------------------- Today is May 2. In the aftermath of the fiery end to the Branch Davidian standoff near Waco, Texas, authorities announced on this date in 1993 that the body of cult leader David Koresh had been identified among the 72 taken from the compound's charred rubble. Officials said Koresh had been shot in the head. He wasn't the only one -- forensic scientists said other cultists showed signs of having been shot or stabbed to death. Advertisement It was on this date in 1863 that Confederate Gen. Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own soldiers. Oops! He died eight days later. A meeting between the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on this date in 1999 led to the release of three U.S. soldiers captured a month earlier by Serbian troops. The Americans had been nabbed near the Serbian-Macedonian border in the early days of NATO's air campaign against Yugoslavia, which was meant to convince the Serbians to leave the ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo alone. Paving the way for such TV classics as "I Love Lucy" and "M*A*S*H," the Federal Communications Commission on this date in 1941 approved the regular scheduling of commercial television broadcasts. It would be a number of years before TV caught on, but once the tidal wave was unleashed, there was no stopping it. We now return you to the present, already in progress. ------------------ Today is May 3. The Plains states were raked by a "super outbreak" of tornadoes on this date in 1999. A total of 76 twisters spawned by a storm system tore through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota, killing about 50 people and injuring more than 700. The hardest hit was Oklahoma, where more than 40 funnels touched down. One tornado carved a path a mile wide and more than 20 miles long through the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Advertisement A standoff by armed separatists near Fort Davis, Texas, ended on this date in 1997 with the surrender of six people, including leader Richard McLaren. Two of the separatists escaped on foot; police shot to death one of them two days later. Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party won the British general election on this date in 1979, making her the first woman prime minister of a major European nation. It was about time! And it was on this date in 1919 that U.S. airplane passenger service began when pilot Robert Hewitt flew two women from New York to Atlantic City, N.J. We don't think there was an in-flight movie. We now return you to the present, already in progress. ------------------ Today is May 4. Say the words "Kent State" and most Baby Boomers will know right away what you're referring to. It was on this date in 1970 at Ohio's Kent State University that National Guardsmen opened fire during a demonstration against the Vietnam War, killing four students. The incident inspired the Crosby Stills Nash and Young anti-war anthem "Ohio." The Battle of the Coral Sea began on this date in 1942 in the South Pacific. It was a turning point in World War II -- with Japan losing 39 ships and the United States, only one. Advertisement It was the end of an era. On this date in 1980, Yugoslavia's Stalinesque leader, President Joseph Broz Tito, died at the age of 87. In another event marking the end of an era: the U.S. Supreme Court voted 7-0 on this date in 1987 to uphold a California law requiring the state's all-male Rotary Clubs to admit women. And there may not be reggae music today if Columbus, on his second expedition to the New World, hadn't discovered Jamaica on this date in 1494. We now return you to the present, already in progress. --------------------- Today is May 5. Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the tiny South Atlantic island of St. Helena on this date in 1821. The British had sent him there in 1815 -- they apparently wanted to make sure he didn't escape like he did from Elba, his first place of exile. It was a sad end to a crack military strategist, statesman and visionary who cheesed off a lot of people just because he wanted to rule the world. Go figure. For years, it was believed Napoleon died from stomach cancer, but the current theory is that he may have been poisoned with arsenic. Apparently, the British REALLY wanted to make sure he didn't get away again! Advertisement By the way, there are more books written about Napoleon than any other historical figure. Events leading to the Scopes "Monkey Trial" began on this date in 1925 when 24-year-old biology teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in violation of Tennessee state laws. The trial pitted two of America's best lawyers -- Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan -- against one another. Scopes was convicted and fined $100. The statute he was accused of violated was repealed in 1967. Alan Shepard became America's first astronaut in space -- and the second man in space -- on this date in 1961 in a brief, sub-orbital flight from Cape Canaveral, Fla. His space capsule was the Freedom 7. And Congress began hearings into the Iran-Contra affair on this date in 1987. The hearings, which were broadcast nationwide, captivated Americans almost as much as the Watergate hearings of 14 years earlier had -- and made a star out of White House aide Oliver North. We now return you to the present, already in progress.
