Page One

Today is Friday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2002. There are 242 days left in the year. 

Highlight 

Two hundred years ago, on May 3, 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city. 

On this date: 

Two hundred years ago, on May 3, 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city. 

On this date: 

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

In 1921, West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax. 

In 1937, Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, “Gone With the Wind.” 

In 1944, U.S. wartime rationing of most grades of meats ended. 

In 1945, Indian forces captured Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese. 

In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks or members of other racial groups were legally unenforceable. 

In 1971, anti-war protesters began four days of demonstrations in Washington, D.C., aimed at shutting down the nation’s capital. 

In 1978, “Sun Day” fell on a Wednesday as thousands of people extolling the virtues of solar energy held events across the country. 

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.