May 3 in history — What Happened Today in History

Twenty-one people are killed and forty-one are injured after a bomb explodes on Air Lanka Flight 512 at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka.

The Conservative Party wins the United Kingdom general election. The following day, Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female British Prime Minister.

The first unsolicited bulk commercial email (which would later become known as "spam") is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.

Erich Honecker becomes First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, remaining in power until 1989.

Eighty-five people are killed when Braniff International Airways Flight 352 crashes near Dawson, Texas.

The police force in Birmingham, Alabama switches tactics and responds with violent force to stop the "Birmingham campaign" protesters. Images of the violent suppression are transmitted worldwide, bringing new-found attention to the civil rights movement.

Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

Two men are rescued from a semitrailer that crashed over the side of the Pit River Bridge before it fell into the Sacramento River. Amateur photographer Virginia Schau photographs "Rescue on Pit River Bridge", the first and only winning submission for the Pulitzer Prize for Photography to have been taken by a woman.

Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the United States land a plane at the North Pole.

The Kentucky Derby is televised nationally for the first time, on the CBS network.

London's Royal Festival Hall opens with the Festival of Britain.

The United States Senate Committee on Armed Services and United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations begin their closed door hearings into the relief of Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry Truman.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Shelley v. Kraemer that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities are legally unenforceable.

New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.

World War II: Sinking of the prison ships Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay, resulting in more than 7,000 deaths.

World War II: Japanese naval troops invade Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands during the first part of Operation Mo that results in the Battle of the Coral Sea between Japanese forces and forces from the United States and Australia.

The All India Forward Bloc is formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

The Jinan incident begins with the deaths of twelve Japanese civilians by Chinese forces in Jinan, China, which leads to Japanese retaliation and the deaths of over 2,000 Chinese civilians in the following days.

Ireland is partitioned under British law by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, creating Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.

West Virginia becomes the first state to legislate a broad sales tax, but does not implement it until a number of years later due to enforcement issues.

A Bolshevik coup fails in the Democratic Republic of Georgia.

Raja Harishchandra, the first full-length Indian feature film, is released, marking the beginning of the Indian film industry.

The Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, Florida.

American adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with about 60 men to conquer Nicaragua.

The May Uprising in Dresden begins: The last of the German revolutions of 1848–49.

The boar-crested Anglo-Saxon Benty Grange helmet is discovered in a barrow on the Benty Grange farm in Derbyshire.

The University of Athens is founded in Athens, Greece.

The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway is opened; it is the first steam-hauled passenger railway to issue season tickets and include a tunnel.

Austin Meadows, American baseball player

Samuel Seo, South Korean musician

Harvey Guillén, American actor

Brooks Koepka, American golfer

James Pattinson, Australian cricketer

Jesse Bromwich, New Zealand rugby league player

Katinka Hosszú, Hungarian swimmer

Ben Revere, American baseball player

Paddy Holohan, Irish mixed martial artist

Damla Sönmez, Turkish actress

Homer Bailey, American baseball player

Pom Klementieff, French actress

Ezequiel Lavezzi, Argentinian footballer

Jim Oberstar, American educator and politician (born 1934)

Joe Astroth, American baseball player (born 1922)

Herbert Blau, American engineer and academic (born 1926)

Cedric Brooks, Jamaican-American saxophonist and flute player (born 1943)

Keith Carter, American swimmer and soldier (born 1924)

Brad Drewett, Australian tennis player and sportscaster (born 1958)

David Morris Kern, American pharmacist, co-invented Orajel (born 1909)

Curtis Rouse, American football player (born 1960)

Branko Vukelić, Croatian politician, 11th Minister of Defence for Croatia (born 1958)

Jorge Illueca, Panamanian politician, 30th President of Panama (born 1918)

Felix Werder, German-Australian composer, conductor, and critic (born 1922)

Jackie Cooper, American actor, television director, producer and executive (born 1922)

Sergo Kotrikadze, Georgian footballer and manager (born 1936)