Today in History: May 5, Alan Shepard becomes first American in space

This day is Monday May the th day of There are days left in the year This day in history On May astronaut Alan B Shepard Jr became America s first space traveler as he made a -minute suborbital flight aboard Mercury capsule Freedom Also on this date In Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St Helena Related Articles Overlooked No More Joyce Brown Whose Struggle Redefined the Rights of the Homeless In current times in History May four killed during anti-war protest at Kent State University tornadoes hit Twin Cities on night of terror in leaving dead In the current era in History May Old Man of the Mountain collapses In current times in History May Nelson Mandela asserts polling supremacy In Mexican troops repelled French attacks on the city of Puebla de los ngeles in the Battle of Puebla also known as the Battle of Cinco de Mayo In schoolteacher John T Scopes was charged in Tennessee with violating a state law that prohibited teaching the theory of evolution Scopes was exposed guilty but his conviction was later set aside In in the only fatal attack on the U S mainland during World War II a Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon killing a pregnant woman and five children In Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby the first of his Triple Crown victories in a time of a record that still stands In Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died at age at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland on his th day without food In Singapore caned American teenager Michael Fay for vandalism a day after the sentence was reduced from six lashes to four in response to an appeal by President Bill Clinton In Lonnie Franklin Jr was convicted of counts of murder in the Grim Sleeper serial killings in Los Angeles that targeted poor young Black women over two decades This day s Birthdays Actor Lance Henriksen is Comedian-actor Michael Palin is Actor Richard E Grant is R B singer Raheem DeVaughn is Actor Vincent Kartheiser is Actor Danielle Fishel is Actor Henry Cavill is Singer-songwriter Adele is R B singer Chris Brown is Tennis player Aryna Sabalenka is Olympic figure skating gold medalist Nathan Chen is Tennis player Carlos Alcaraz is