By The Associated Press
                - Today is Wednesday, May 5, the 125th day of 1999. There are 240 days
                  left in the year.

                - On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America's first
                  space traveler as he made a 15-minute, sub-orbital flight in a
                  capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
                - In 1818, political philosopher Karl Marx was born in Prussia.
                - In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St.
                  Helena.
                - In 1891, Carnegie Hall (then named "Music Hall") had its opening
                  night in New York City.
                - In 1893, panic hit the New York Stock Exchange; by year's end, the
                  country was in the throes of a severe depression.
                - In 1925, John T. Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching
                  Darwin's theory of evolution.
                - In 1942, sales of sugar resumed in the U.S. under a rationing
                  program.
                - In 1945, in the only fatal attack of its kind during World War II, a
                  Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon,
                  killing the pregnant wife of a minister and five children.
                - In 1955, West Germany became a sovereign state.
                - In 1981, Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died at
                  the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland in his 66th day without food.
                - Ten years ago: A federal judge ordered sweeping changes in the FBI's
                  promotion system, months after the judge found the bureau had
                  systematically discriminated against its Hispanic employees in
                  advancements and assignments.
                - Five years ago: Singapore caned American teen-ager Michael Fay for
                  vandalism, a day after the sentence was reduced from six lashes to
                  four in response to an appeal by President Clinton, who considered
                  the punishment too harsh.
                - One year ago: An exasperated Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
                  called on Israel to hand over an additional 13% of the West Bank to
                  the Palestinians, on top of the 27% already relinquished. Israel,
                  however, continued to balk at the proposal.

                *Happy Birthday*
                - Actress Ann B. Davis is 73.
                - Actress Pat Carroll is 72.
                - AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney is 65.
                - Saxophonist Ace Cannon is 65.
                - Singer Johnnie Taylor is 61.
                - Country singer-musician Roni Stoneman is 61.
                - Actor Michael Murphy is 61.
                - Comedian-actor Michael Palin is 56.
                - Actor Jean-Pierre Leaud is 55.
                - Actor John Rhys-Davies is 55.
                - Actor Roger Rees is 55.
                - Actor Richard E. Grant is 42.
                - Actress Tina Yothers is 26.
                - Actress Danielle Fishel ("Boy Meets World") is 18.