Today in History
1978 Naomi Uemura becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone
The Japanese explorer is also credited with the first solo ascent of Mount McKinley and the first solo rafting down the Amazon. He vanished during a winter ascent of Mount McKinley in 1984.
1961 Fidel Castro declares Cuba a socialist nation and bans elections
A month after fighting off a US-backed military invasion at the Bay of Pigs, Castro declares, “The revolution has no time for elections.”
1945 Adolf Hitler’s death is announced on German radio
The German people are informed, as the Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, that “our leader, Adolf Hitler, has fallen for Germany, fighting to his last breath against Bolshevism.”
1925 The world’s largest trade union is founded
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions has more than 300 million members.
1840 The world’s first adhesive postage stamp is issued in the United Kingdom
A portrait of Queen Victoria appears on the Penny Black. Despite its historical significance, the stamp can be purchased for around £25 due to the distribution of over 68 million copies.
Births On This Day, May 1
1987 Shahar Pe’er
Israeli tennis player
1967 Tim McGraw
American singer-songwriter, actor
1924 Terry Southern
American author, screenwriter
1923 Joseph Heller
American author, playwright
1769 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Irish/English field marshal, politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Deaths On This Day, May 1
1994 Ayrton Senna
Brazilian race car driver
1990 Sergio Franchi
Italian/American singer, actor
1960 Charles Holden
English architect, designed the Bristol Central Library
1904 Antonín Dvořák
Czech composer
1873 David Livingstone
Scottish missionary, explorer
