Today is Tuesday, May 5, the 125th day of 2009. There are 240 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America's first space traveler as he made a 15-minute suborbital flight in a capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

On this date:

1818, political philosopher Karl Marx was born in Prussia.

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

1862, Mexican forces loyal to Benito Juarez defeated French troops sent by Napoleon III in the Battle of Puebla.

1904, Cy Young pitched the American League's first perfect game as the Boston Americans defeated the Philadelphia Athletics 3-0.

1925, schoolteacher John T. Scopes was charged in Tennessee with violating a state law that prohibited teaching the theory of evolution. (Scopes was found guilty, but his conviction was later set aside.)

1981, Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland in his 66th day without food.

Today's Birthdays: Comedian-actor Michael Palin is 66. Rock correspondent Kurt Loder is 64. NBC News anchor Brian Williams is 50. Rock musician Shawn Drover (Megadeth) is 43. Actor Vincent Kartheiser is 30. Actress Danielle Fishel is 28. Actor Henry Cavill is 26. Soul singer Adele is 21. Rock singer Skye Sweetnam is 21. R&B singer Chris Brown is 20.

The Associated Press