ON THIS DAY: MAY 3

Pour yourself something warm. May 3 is a date with extraordinary range — from the most consequential election result in modern British history to a piece of Coral Sea history that belongs to Australia, with a literary classic and the birth of something we all deeply regret in between.

1979 — The Iron Lady arrives

On May 3, 1979, Margaret Thatcher of the Conservative Party was elected British Prime Minister, becoming the first woman in Europe to hold that post. She would go on to become the longest continuously serving British Prime Minister since 1827, holding the office for eleven years.

Whatever your view of Margaret Thatcher’s politics — and views remain extremely strong in both directions — her arrival in Downing Street was a cultural earthquake. Britain in 1979 was a country paralysed by strikes, economic crisis and a sense of national decline so deep it had become a kind of identity. Thatcher’s response was to dismantle much of what postwar Britain had built and rebuild it on entirely different foundations. The trade unions, the nationalised industries, the old industrial heartlands — all transformed, in ways that are still being argued about today.

She was handbag, conviction, and an absolute refusal to apologise for any of it. “The lady’s not for turning,” she said in 1980, and she wasn’t. She later became the longest continuously serving British premier since 1827. Love her or loathe her — and generations of British people do both with equal intensity — she changed the country permanently.

1942 — Australia’s Pacific turning point

On May 3, 1942, the five-day Battle of the Coral Sea commenced between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces in the Coral Sea between Australia and the Solomon Islands. Wealth Lab

The battle was, by the unusual standards of naval warfare, largely inconclusive in tactical terms — both sides suffered significant losses, and neither could claim a clear victory. But strategically, it was one of the most important moments of the Pacific War. The Japanese invasion force heading for Port Moresby — which would have placed enemy forces within striking distance of the Australian mainland — was turned back. It never came again. For Australians living through the fear of 1942, when Darwin had already been bombed and the Japanese advance seemed unstoppable, the Coral Sea was the moment the tide began to turn.

1958 — A book that became a film that became a cultural moment

On May 3, 1958, Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s was published. The novella about Holly Golightly — rootless, glamorous, heartbreaking and entirely unforgettable — became one of the defining texts of mid-century American literary culture. The 1961 film starring Audrey Hepburn in the black Givenchy dress and long cigarette holder gave Holly a face that became one of the most iconic images in cinema history. Moon River. The cat with no name. The back-of-the-taxi ending that made an entire generation cry. Truman Capote reportedly hated what Hollywood did to his book. He was wrong, though he would never have admitted it.

1978 — The invention that ruined everything

On May 3, 1978, the Digital Equipment Corporation sent the world’s first spam email. A representative sent 600 unsolicited emails promoting a computer product and reportedly generated $12 million in sales. He was apparently delighted with the results. The rest of the world has been paying for that enthusiasm ever since.

Also on this day…

On May 3, 1980, 13-year-old Cari Lightner was killed by a drunk driver in California. Her mother, Candy Lightner, founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in response. What began as one mother’s grief became one of the most effective public safety campaigns in American history, saving hundreds of thousands of lives over the decades that followed.

Some days contain multitudes — an Iron Lady, a naval battle, a little black dress and the origin of every unsolicited email you have ever received. May 3 is definitely one of them.

Come back tomorrow for another spin through the calendar.