This Day in History, May 1st

1751 - The first cricket match is played in the United States.

1834 - The British colonies abolish slavery.

1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.

1884 - Proclamation of the demand for 8-hour workday in the United States.

1898 - Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manilla Bay - The US Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war.

1930 - The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.

1931 - The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.

1941 - Orson Welles's Citizen Kane premiers in New York City. Citizen Kane is listed by the American Film Institute as #1 on the Top 100 list.

1956 - The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.

1960 - Cold War: U-2 Crisis (not the band) - Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 Spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union, sparking off a diplomatic crisis. It has long been speculated that JFK patsy Lee Harvey Oswald, while working as a dual agent for the CIA and the KGB, gave the Russians military secrets, including the location of Powers' spy plane.

1989 - Disney-MGM studios opens in Orlando, FL.

1991 - Rickey Henderson would steal this 939th base, making him the all-time leader in this category. However, his accomplished would be overshadowed later that evening by Nolan Ryan, who would pitch his 7th career No-Hitter (breaking his own record).

2003 - 2003 Invasion of Iraq: In what would become known as the "MISSON ACCOMPLISHED" speech, Pres. George Bush declares "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" on board the USS War Criminal (Abraham Lincoln) off the coast of California.
Little did we know that major combat operations would still be going on 4 years later. Now, Iran looms in the horizon.