Today in History: May 3, Oklahoma City struck by historic tornado

Today is Saturday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2025. There are 242 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 3, 1999, the Bridge Creek–Moore tornado struck the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, causing 41 deaths and nearly 600 injuries; the tornado’s top wind speed of 321 miles per hour (517 km/hour) was the highest ever recorded on earth.

Also on this date:

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.”

In 1948, the Supreme Court, in Shelley v. Kraemer, ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to Blacks or members of other racial groups were legally unenforceable.

In 1979, the Conservative Party ousted the incumbent Labour government in British parliamentary elections; Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher would become the first female U.K. Prime Minister the following day.

In 1986, aboard the longshot horse Ferdinand, Bill Shoemaker became the oldest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby at age 54.

In 2003, the “Old Man of the Mountain,” a 40-foot-tall granite outcropping in Franconia, N.H. that bore the resemblance of a human face in profile, collapsed despite decades of preservation efforts.

In 2015, two gunmen were killed by a SWAT team in Garland, Texas, after they opened fire outside a purposely provocative contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.

In 2016, in a stunning triumph for a political outsider, Donald Trump all but clinched the Republican presidential nomination with a resounding victory in the Indiana primary election that knocked rival Ted Cruz out of the race.

In 2018, a federal grand jury in Detroit indicted former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn on charges stemming from the company’s diesel emissions cheating scandal. (Under Germany’s constitution, he could not be extradited to the U.S. to face charges.)

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Frankie Valli is 91. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, is 82. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is 76. Singer Christopher Cross is 74. Actor Amy Ryan is 57. Actor Bobby Cannavale (ka-nuh-VAL’-ee) is 55. Music executive-entrepreneur Damon Dash is 54. Actor Christina Hendricks is 50. Actor Dule (doo-LAY’) Hill is 50. Country musician Eric Church is 48. Golfer Brooks Koepka is 35. Actor Rachel Zegler is 24.

By The Associated Press