May 3rd Major News Events

1939 U.S.A. "Roll Out the Barrel"

1939 : "Beer Barrel Polka" was recorded by The Andrews Sisters. The song, also known as "Roll Out the Barrel" became a popular standard during World War II and became a favorite of music lovers around the world. More about the year 1939

1944 U.S.A. Meat Rationing Ends

1944 : Meat Rationing ends for all meats, except for beef steaks and beef roasts.

1946 Japan War Crimes Trials

1946 : The International Military Tribunals for the Far East starts conducting trials for those military and government officials accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during World War II. At the end of the trial seven are sentenced to death including General Hideki Tojo ( Japanese premier during the war) Iwane Matsui ( who organized the Rape of Nanking ) , and Heitaro Kimura ( Who brutalized Allied prisoners of war ) sixteen others are sentenced to life imprisonment.

1948 U.S.A. Sale Of Property Covenants

1948 : The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities were legally unenforceable.

1950 U.S.A. Chrysler Strike Ends

1950 : The United Auto Workers Union called off their 100 day strike against Chrysler Corporation sending 144,000 back to work.

1951 UK Festival of Britain

1951 : The Festival of Britain is opened at the Royal Festival Hall by King George VI. The festival marks the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

1962 Japan Train Crash

1962 : Two commuter trains and a freight train collide near Tokyo, Japan, killing more than 160 people and injuring over 350.

1968 UK First Heart Transplant

1968 : The first heart transplant in Britain is successfully carried out by a team of 18 doctors and nurses at the National Heart Hospital in Marylebone, London.

1971 U.S.A. Anti War Demonstrators Arrested

1971 : More than 6000 anti war demonstrators were arrested in Washington D.C. when they tried to disrupt commuter traffic.

1979 Margaret Thatcher Becomes England's Prime Minister

1979 : Margaret Thatcher, leader of Britain's Conservative Party, won the general election to become the country's first female prime minister.

1986 U.S.A. Bill Shoemaker Wins Kentucky Derby

1986 : Bill Shoemaker becomes the oldest person ( 54 ) to win the famous Kentucky Derby on Ferdinand.

1986 Sri Lanka Terrorists Bomb Plane

1986 : A bomb explodes on an Air Lanka Tristar at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka. Tamil guerrillas who are fighting for a separate homeland are blamed for the bomb attack.

1990 Latvia Press For Independence

1990 : The Soviet republic of Latvia's new parliament has declared they will press for independence from Moscow following neighbors Lithuania passing a unilateral declaration of independence earlier in the year. In 1991 Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Axerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus and Estonia all gain independence from the Soviet Union.

2000 London Stock Exchange

2000 : The London Stock Exchange and Germany's Deutsche Boerse confirm they are to merge, creating the world's second largest stock market. Four months later following problems with the merger it is cancelled.

2000 Malaysia Tourist Kidnapping By Abu Sayyaf

2000 : Abu Sayyaf guerrillas kidnap 21 hostages from the holiday resort of Sipadan, the terrorist group are demanding $2.4 million for the release of the hostages which include at least 10 foreigners.

2001 U.N. Human Rights Commission

2001 : The United States lost its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947 when the countries of France, Sweden and Austria are chosen for the three seats allocated to Western countries on the 53-member commission.

2006 U.S.A. Zacarias Moussaoui

2006 : A federal jury in Alexandria, Va., rejected the death penalty for al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, deciding he should spend life in prison for his role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Zacarias Moussaoui was not directly involved in the terrorist attacks on 9/11 but was thought to be a possible replacement for one of the terrorists involved.

2006 Author Arrested in Tehran

2006 : Ramin Jahanbegloo, the Canadian-Iranian author, was arrested by authorities in Tehran, Iran. A well-known professor and journalist, Jahanbegloo was taken into custody at the airport in Tehran and had his home searched. The arrest sparked concerns about human rights and freedom of speech in the country.

2007 Venezuela Chavez Threatens Bank Nationalization

2007 : Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, threatened to nationalize the country's banking industry. Chavez declared that unless the banks concentrate on the "national interest" they will be nationalized. Chavez also threatened to nationalize the nation's largest steel producer unless they provide cheaper goods. These threats came after his somewhat successful nationalization of the Venezuelan media, electric, and oil industries.

2008 Cuba Easing of Restrictions

2008 : The new president of Cuba Raul Castro continues the easing of restrictions on previously banned consumer goods, including mobile phones, DVD players and personal home computers.

2008 U.S.A. Violent Storms

2008 : This years extremely violent storms and tornadoes continues when violent storms and tornadoes swept across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas leaving at least 8 dead and many more injured in the latest violent weather this year.

2008 Burma Cyclone

2008 : A tropical cyclone has devastated parts of the Irrawaddy region of Burma / Myanmar with three out of four buildings reportedly blown down in many areas of the country. Burma has declared Irrawaddy and four other regions, including the main city Rangoon, to be disaster areas. The world's richer nations have all offered aid to the region but the current military backed leaders of Burma are still hesitant to allow foreign aid workers in to the country to distribute the much needed aid. After 3 weeks more than 75,000 have been identified as dead with still a further 50,000 missing which could well take the death toll to over 100,000 making it one of the worst natural disasters in modern times.

2009 Italy Wife to Divorce Berlusconi

2009 : Veronica Lario, the wife of the Italian Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, announced that she would divorce her husband. The news of the divorce came after Berlusconi was caught up in multiple scandals involving other women and some minors.

2010 United States Actress Lynn Redgrave Dies

2010 : Oscar-nominated British actress Lynn Redgrave died of breast cancer at the age of sixty-seven. She was with her family in Connecticut at the time of her death. She was known for being in such films as Georgy Girl and Gods and Monsters.

2011 Somali Pirates Sentenced to Jail in Spain

2011 : Two Somali pirates convicted of hijacking a boat in 2009 were sentenced to four hundred and thirty-nine years each of prison time. The two men had held a tuna fishing boat hostage, detaining thirty-six crew members for nearly fifty days. Despite the lengthy sentence that was handed down, the hijackers will only have to serve a maximum of thirty years in prison due to Spanish laws.

2012 Lufthansa to Cut 3,500 Jobs

2012 : German airline Lufthansa announced that they would cut 3,500 jobs in order to reduce costs and save money. The cuts would be made over the next few years and focus on full-time administrative departments. The company stated that higher fees and taxes were the main reason for the cuts.

2013 Top Prosecutor Killed in Islamabad

2013 : Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, a prosecutor in the murder case of Pakistan's former leader Benazir Bhutto, was ambushed by gunmen while on his way to a court hearing related to the case. He was shot and eventually died of his wounds. Zulfiqar was also a top prosecutor in a case related to the 2008 Mumbai bombings.