Gospel-soul singer James Brown, right, cuts a cake in honor of is 58th birthday with his daughter Diana, left, and his wife Adrienne at a party in New York City, Friday, May 3, 1991. (AP Photo/Luiz Ribeiro)

Today is Sunday, May 1, the 121st day of 2022. There are 244 days left in the year.

•••

Today’s Highlight in History

On May 1, 2011, President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden during a U.S. commando operation. (Because of the time difference, it was early May 2 in Pakistan, where the al-Qaida leader met his end.)

•••

Secretariat, with jockey Ron Turcotte up, passes the twin spires of Churchill Downs during the running of the 99th Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Ky. on May 5, 1973. (AP Photo)

On this date

In 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain was created as a treaty merging England and Scotland took effect.

In 1866, three days of race-related rioting erupted in Memphis, Tennessee, as white mobs targeted Blacks, 46 of whom were killed, along with two whites. (The violence spurred passage of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining American citizenship and equal protection under the law.)

In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance plane over Sverdlovsk and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

In 1963, James W. Whittaker became the first American to conquer Mount Everest as he and Sherpa guide Nawang Gombu reached the summit.

Sen. Robert Kennedy temporarily loses his balance when an ever-enthusiastic fan pulls his arm almost causing the senator to fall off track platform in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 4, 1968, during campaign for Indiana’s primary. Kennedy spent at street corner rally’s and shopping centers in Indianapolis. A staff member saved the presidential hopeful by pulling him back onto the platform. (AP Photo)

In 1964, the computer programming language BASIC (Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was created by Dartmouth College professors John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz.

In 1971, the intercity passenger rail service Amtrak went into operation.

In 1991, Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers threw his seventh no-hitter at age 44, shutting out the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0.

In 1992, on the third day of the Los Angeles riots, a visibly shaken Rodney King appeared in public to appeal for calm, pleading, “Can we all get along?”

In 2009, Supreme Court Justice David Souter announced his retirement effective at the end of the court’s term in late June. (President Barack Obama chose federal judge Sonia Sotomayor to succeed him.)

Singer Elvis Presley gives his new bride, the former Priscilla Beaulieu, a kiss for photographers just after their wedding May 1, 1967, in Las Vegas. Presley, 32, and Miss Beaulieu, 21, met while he was stationed in Germany with the Army. It is the first wedding for each. They plan to live in Memphis, the hometown of both. (AP Photo)

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II, moving his predecessor a step closer to sainthood in a Vatican Mass attended by some 1.5 million pilgrims.

In 2015, Baltimore’s top prosecutor charged six police officers with felonies ranging from assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray, a Black man who’d suffered a spinal injury while riding in a police van. (None of the officers would be convicted.)

In 2020, U.S. regulators allowed emergency use of remdesivir, the first drug that appeared to help some COVID-19 patients recover faster.

Ten years ago: In a swift and secretive trip to the Afghan war zone, President Barack Obama signed an agreement vowing long-term ties with Afghanistan after America’s combat forces returned home.

Five years ago: Erasing the threat of a disruptive government shutdown, the White House and top lawmakers endorsed a $1.1 trillion spending bill to carry the nation through September 2017. Ryan Seacrest made his debut as the new co-host of the morning chat show “Live” with Kelly Ripa.

One year ago: The final phase of ending the U.S. military role in Afghanistan formally began; President Joe Biden had set May 1 as the official start of the withdrawal of the remaining U.S. and NATO troops. Utah Republicans narrowly rejected an effort to censure Sen. Mitt Romney for his votes against President Donald Trump at his impeachment trials. Olympia Dukakis, a veteran stage and screen actor who won an Oscar as Cher’s mother in the romantic comedy “Moonstruck,” died at her New York home at 89. Medina Spirit, trained by Bob Baffert, won the Kentucky Derby by a half-length over Mandaloun. (A post-race drug test was positive for a banned steroid, which would lead to the horse’s disqualification and Baffert’s suspension. Medina Spirit collapsed and died in December 2021 after a workout.)

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Judy Collins is 83. Actor Stephen Macht is 80. Singer Rita Coolidge is 77. Pop singer Nick Fortuna (The Buckinghams) is 76. Actor-director Douglas Barr is 73. Actor Dann Florek is 71. Singer-songwriter Ray Parker Jr. is 68. Actor Byron Stewart is 66. Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen is 62. Actor Maia Morgenstern is 60. Actor Scott Coffey is 58. Country singer Wayne Hancock is 57. Actor Charlie Schlatter is 56. Country singer Tim McGraw is 55. Rock musician Johnny Colt is 54. Rock musician D’Arcy Wretzky is 54. Movie director Wes Anderson is 53. Actor Julie Benz is 50. Actor Bailey Chase is 50. Country singer Cory Morrow is 50. Gospel/R&B singer Tina Campbell (Mary Mary) is 48. Actor Darius McCrary is 46. Actor Jamie Dornan is 40. Actor Kerry Bishe is 38. TV personality Abby Huntsman is 36. Actor Lizzy Greene is 19.

•••

MAY 2

On May 2, 1994, Nelson Mandela claimed victory in the wake of South Africa’s first democratic elections; President F.W. de Klerk acknowledged defeat.

In 1932, Jack Benny’s first radio show, sponsored by Canada Dry, made its debut on the NBC Blue Network.

In 1941, General Mills began shipping its new cereal, “Cheerioats,” to six test markets. (The cereal was later renamed “Cheerios.”)

In 2011, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who’d been killed hours earlier in a raid by elite American forces at his Pakistan compound, was buried at sea.

•••

MAY 3

On May 3, 1979, Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher was chosen to become Britain’s first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labour government in parliamentary elections.

In 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.

In 1937, Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, “Gone with the Wind.”

•••

MAY 4

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire during an anti-war protest at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others.

In 1776, Rhode Island declared its freedom from England, two months before the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

In 1904, the United States took over construction of the Panama Canal from the French.

•••

MAY 5

On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America’s first space traveler as he made a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard Mercury capsule Freedom 7.

In 1494, during his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus landed in Jamaica.

In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte, 51, died in exile on the island of St. Helena.

•••

MAY 6

On May 6, 1937, the hydrogen-filled German airship Hindenburg caught fire and crashed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey; 35 of the 97 people on board were killed along with a crewman on the ground.

In 1882, President Chester Alan Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese immigrants from the U.S. for 10 years (Arthur had opposed an earlier version with a 20-year ban).

In 1910, Britain’s Edwardian era ended with the death of King Edward VII; he was succeeded by George V.

•••

MAY 7

On May 7, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims (rams), France, ending its role in World War II.

In 1889, the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore opened its doors.

In 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner RMS Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans, out of the nearly 2,000 on board.

In 1928, the minimum voting age for British women was lowered from 30 to 21 — the same age as men.