May 1, 1947: The Portella della Ginestra Massacre

May 1, 1947: Separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano and his men shoot 38 people, killing 11, during May Day celebrations in Sicily. It is known as the Portella della Ginestra Massacre.

Giuliano was born in 1922 in Montelepre, a rural village in Sicily. In 1943, following the Allied invasion of Sicily, he became an outlaw, after shooting and killing a police officer who tried to arrest him for black market food smuggling, at a time when 70 per cent of Sicily's food supply was provided by the black market.

He maintained a band of subordinates for most of his career. He was a flamboyant, high-profile criminal, attacking the police at least as often as they sought him. In addition, he was a local power-broker in Sicilian politics between 1945 and 1948, including his role as a nominal colonel for the Movement for the Independence of Sicily. It might have seemed like a good idea when Benito Mussolini and his Fascists were in charge of Italy as a whole, but, following Mussolini's execution in 1945, Italy remaining united was the best thing for the country.

Giuliano and his band were held legally responsible for the Portella dell Ginestra Massacre, though there is some doubt about their role in the numerous deaths which occurred. The widespread international press coverage he attracted made him an embarrassment to the Italian government, and throughout his banditry, up to 2,000 police and soldiers were deployed against him.

Giuliano was called "the people's bandit," and was the first such figure to be covered in real time by modern mass media. He had the looks of a Rudolf Valentino, but the ruthlessness of a Lucky Luciano. He was less a Robin Hood, more a Pancho Villa -- or, perhaps more accurately, a cross between Lenin and John Dillinger. He was assassinated on July 5, 1950, in Castelvetrano, Sicily, dead at age 27. No great loss.

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May 1, 1947 was a Thursday. There were only 3 scores on this day, all in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5 at the Polo Grounds. Johnny Mize hit a home run. Stan Musial went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Ebbets Field. Jackie Robinson went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* And the St. Louis Browns beat the Washington Senators, 14-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.