TODAY IN HISTORY - MAY 1ST

1846 – The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple.

1864 – Anna Jarvis, American founder of Mother's Day (d. 1948) is born.

1866 – The Memphis Race Riots begin. In three days time, 46 blacks and two whites were killed. Reports of the atrocities influenced passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

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

1884 – Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States.

1885 – The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opens for business.

1886 – Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket affair in Chicago, in commemoration of which May 1 is celebrated as International Workers' Day in many countries.

1893 – The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.

1894 – Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C.

1900 – The Scofield Mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.

1901 – The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York.

1930 – The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.

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

1949 – Paul Teutul, Sr., American motorcycle designer, co-founded Orange County Choppers is born.

1950 – Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth.

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

1965 – Spike Jones, American singer and bandleader (b. 1911) dies.

1967 – Tim McGraw, American singer-songwriter and actor is born.

1970 – Protests erupt in Seattle, following the announcement by U.S. President Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country.

1971 – Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service.

1982 – The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.

1989 – Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.

1991 – Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics steals his 939th base, making him the all-time leader in this category. However, his accomplishment is overshadowed later that evening by Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers, when he pitches his seventh career no-hitter, breaking his own record.

1999 – The body of British climber George Mallory is found on Mount Everest, 75 years after his disappearance in 1924.

1999 – Spongebob SquarePants premieres on Nickelodeon after the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards.

2003 – Miss Elizabeth, American wrestler and manager (b. 1960) dies.

2011 – Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks has been killed by United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Due to the time difference between the United States and Pakistan, bin Laden was actually killed on May 2.