Today is Saturday, May fifth, the 125th day of 2001. There are 240 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On May fifth, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Junior became America's first space traveler as he made a 15-minute sub-orbital flight in a capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. On this date: 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 United States under a rationing program. In 1945, during World War Two, Japanese forces landed on the Philippine island of Corregidor. In 1955, West Germany became a sovereign state. In 1955, the baseball musical "Damn Yankees" opened on Broadway. In 1980, a siege at the Iranian embassy in London ended as British commandos and police stormed the building. 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: President Bush continued to experience an irregular heartbeat, one day after he was taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital because of fatigue and shortness of breath. New York's Carnegie Hall celebrated its centennial with an all-day, all-star concert. Five years ago: Israel and the Palestinians began the final stage of their peace talks in Taba, Egypt. The FBI released preliminary figures showing that serious crimes reported to police fell for the fourth straight year in 1995. One year ago: President Clinton met at the White House with Japan's new prime minister, Yoshiro Mori. The Labor Department reported the nation's unemployment rate had hit a 30-year low of three-point-nine percent in April 2000, with blacks and Hispanics recording the lowest jobless rates in history. Reformers swept Iran's run-off elections, winning control of the legislature from conservatives for the first time since 1979 Islamic revolution. Today's Birthdays: Actress Ann B. Davis is 75. Actress Pat Carroll is 74. AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney is 67. Saxophonist Ace Cannon is 67. Country singer-musician Roni Stoneman is 63. Actor Michael Murphy is 63. Actor Lance Henriksen is 61. Comedian-actor Michael Palin is 58. Actor Jean-Pierre Leaud is 57. Actor John Rhys-Davies is 57. Actor Roger Rees is 57. Actor Richard E. Grant is 44. Rock singer Ian McCullough (Echo and the Bunnymen) is 42. Actress Tina Yothers is 28. Actress Danielle Fishel is 20. "When in doubt, duck." -- Malcolm Forbes, American publisher (1919-1990). (Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)