3 MAY
611 Constantine III or Heraclius Constantine (3 May 611) was the shortest reigning Byzantine emperor, ruling for four months in 641.
reinvigorating the Portuguese economy, and renewing his country’s exploration of Africa and Asia.
1816 Montgomery Cunningham Meigs( May 3, 1816 â January 2, 1892) was a career United States Army officer and civil engineer, who served as Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army during and after the American Civil War. Meigs strongly opposed secession and supported the Union; his record as Quartermaster General was regarded as outstanding, both in effectiveness and in ethical probity, and Secretary of State William H. Seward viewed it as a key factor in the Union victory. Meigs was one of the principal architects of Arlington National Cemetery; the choice of its location, on Robert E. Lee’s family estate, Arlington House, was partly a gesture to humiliate Lee for siding with the Confederacy.
1826 Charles XV also Carl (Carl LudvigEugen); Swedish: Karl XV and Norwegian: Karl IV (3 May 1826 â 18 September 1872) was King of Sweden (Charles XV) and Norway, there often referred to accurately as Charles IV, from 1859 until his death. Though known as King Charles XV in Sweden (and also on contemporary Norwegian coins[1]), he was actually the ninth Swedish king by that name, as his predecessor Charles IX (reigned 1604â1611) had adopted a numeral according to a fictitious history of Sweden.
1896 Leutnant Karl Allmenröder (3 May 1896 â 27 June 1917) was a German World War I flying ace credited with 30 aerial victories. The medical student son of a preacher father was seasoned in the trenches as an 18-year-old artilleryman in the early days of the First World War, earning promotion via battlefield commission to Leutnant on 30 March 1915. After transferring to aviation and serving some time as an artillery spotter in two-seater reconnaissance airplanes, he transferred to flying fighter aircraft with Jagdstaffel 11 in November 1916. As Manfred von Richthofen’sprotege, Karl Allmenröder scored the first of his 30 confirmed victories on 16 February 1917. Flying a scarlet Albatros D.III trimmed out with white nose and elevators, Allmenröder would score a constant string of aerial victories until 26 June 1917, the day before his death. On 27 June 1917, Karl Allmenröder fell to his death near Zillebeke, Belgium. His posthumous legacy of patriotic courage would later be abused as propaganda by the Nazis.
1903 Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 â October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian and actor. During World War II, Crosby, too old for the draft, entertained American GIs while touring with the USO. His popularity with the boys was obvious. They voted him the person who did the most for their morale overseas in a Yank magazine poll at the end of the war.
1921 Sugar Ray Robinson (born Walker Smith Jr.; May 3, 1921 â April 12, 1989) had already notched up a pro record of 40-1 by the time he was drafted to the US Army on Feb 27th, 1943. Throughout his 15 month military career, Walker Smith aka Sugar would perform in exhibition boxing matches alongside his friend and inspiration Joe Louis, who was also drafted into the US Army around the same time. The pair would go out on tours to perform in front of US Army troops to boost morale. These exhibitions, during an intense war-torn era, were seen as vital events to keep soldiers spirits high.
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