May 5
is the 125th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (126th in
leap years). There are 240 days remaining.
The Northern Hemisphere is considered halfway through
spring on
, since there are usually 92 days in that season of the year.
*
1260 -
Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the
Mongol Empire.
*
1640 - King
Charles I of England disbands the
Short Parliament.
*
1646 - King
Charles I of England and
Scotland surrenders to the
Scottish Presbyterian Army at
Newark.
*
1762 -
Russia and
Prussia sign the
Treaty of St. Petersburg.
*
1789 - In
France, the
Estates-General convenes for the first time in 150 years.
*
1809 -
Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a
U.S. patent, for a technique of
weaving straw with
silk and
thread.
* 1809 - The
Swiss canton of
Aargau denies citizenship to
Jews.
*
1835 - In
Belgium, the first railway in
continental Europe opens between
Brussels and
Mechelen.
*
1862 -
Cinco de Mayo in
Mexico: Troops led by
Ignacio Zaragoza halt a
French invasion in the
Battle of Puebla.
*
1864 -
American Civil War: The
Battle of the Wilderness begins in
Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
*
1865 - In
North Bend, Ohio (a suburb of
Cincinnati), the first
train robbery in the
United States takes place.
*
1877 -
Indian Wars:
Sitting Bull leads his band of
Lakota into
Canada to avoid harassment by the
United States Army under
Colonel Nelson Miles.
*
1891 - The
Music Hall in
New York (now known as
Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
*
1893 -
Panic of 1893: Crash on the
New York Stock Exchange starts a
depression.
*
1904 -
Pitching against the
Philadelphia Athletics at the
Huntington Avenue Grounds,
Cy Young of the
Boston Americans threw the first
perfect game in the modern era of
baseball.
*
1916 -
American marines invade the
Dominican Republic.
*
1925 -
Scopes Trial:
John T. Scopes is served an arrest warrant for teaching
evolution in violation of the
Butler Act.
* 1925 -
Afrikaans established as an official language in South Africa.
*
1936 -
Italian troops occupy
Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
*
1940 -
World War II: In
London, a
Norwegian government-in-exile is formed.
*
1941 -
Emperor Haile Selassie returns to
Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia; this date has been since commemorated as
Liberation Day.
*
1944 -
Mohandas Gandhi is freed from prison.
*
1945 -
World War II:
**
German troops in the
Netherlands and
Denmark capitulate to
Canadian and
British forces, liberating these countries from
Nazi occupation.
**
Prague uprising against the
Nazis.
**
Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
**
Admiral Karl Dönitz orders all
U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
** A
Japanese bomb, launched by
balloon and called a
fire balloon, explodes near
Lakeview,
Oregon,
United States, killing a woman and five children who were examining it during a church picnic.
*
1948 -
PFC CSKA Sofia football club is established.
*
1949 - The
Council of Europe is formed.
*
1950 -
Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King
Rama IX of Thailand.
*
1954 - A
coup d'état carries
General Alfredo Stroessner to power in
Paraguay.
*
1955 -
West Germany gains full
sovereignty.
*
1961 -
Mercury program:
Mercury-Redstone 3 –
Alan Shepard becomes the first
American to travel into
space, making a sub-orbital flight of 15 minutes.
*
1978 -
Pete Rose of the
Cincinnati Reds hits his 3000th major league hit.
*
1980 -
Operation Nimrod: The
Special Air Service storm the
Iranian
embassy in
London after a six day siege.
*
1987 -
Iran-Contra affair: Start of
Congressional televised hearings.
*
1991 - A
riot breaks out in the
Mt. Pleasant section of
Washington, DC after a
Salvadoran man is shot by police.
*
1992 -
Wolfenstein 3D is released, the first-ever
first-person shooter computer game.
*
1994 -
American Michael P. Fay is caned in
Singapore as punishment for spray-painting two cars.
*
2005 -
Disneyland kicks off it's 50th anniversary celebration, even though the park opened on July 17, 1955.
*
2005 - The
United Kingdom general election takes place, in which
Tony Blair's Labour Party are re-elected for a third, consecutive term.
*
2006 -
Porter Goss announces his resignation as CIA director.
* 2006 - The government of
Sudan signed an accord with the
Sudan Liberation Army (
SLA).
*
867 -
Uda,
Emperor of Japan (d.
931)
*
1210 - King
Afonso III of Portugal (d.
1279)
*
1546 -
Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician (d.
1623)
*
1747 -
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d.
1792)
*
1764 -
Robert Craufurd, British general (d.
1812)
*
1813 -
Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (d.
1855)
*
1818 -
Karl Marx, German political philosopher (d.
1883)
*
1826 -
Empress Eugenie of France, wife of
Napoleon III (d.
1920)
*
1832 -
H.H. Bancroft, American historian and publisher (d.
1918)
*
1833 -
Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer (d.
1905)
*
1834 -
Viktor Hartmann, Russian architect and painter (d.
1873)
*
1846 -
Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish author,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1916)
*
1865 -
Elizabeth Jane Cochran, American journalist and writer (d.
1922)
*
1866 -
Thomas B. Thrige, Danish industrialist (d.
1938)
*
1869 -
Hans Pfitzner, Russian-born composer (d.
1949)
*
1883 -
Archibald Wavell, British general (d.
1950)
*
1887 -
Geoffrey Fisher,
Archbishop of Canterbury (d.
1972)
*
1890 -
Christopher Morley, American writer (d.
1957)
*
1899 -
Freeman Gosden, American radio comedian (Amos-
Amos 'n' Andy) (d.
1982)
*
1901 -
Blind Willie McTell, American singer (d.
1959)
*
1903 -
James Beard, American chef and cookbook writer (d.
1985)
*
1908 -
Kurt Böhme, German bass (d.
1989)
*
1914 -
Tyrone Power, American actor (d.
1958)
*
1915 -
Alice Faye, American actress (d.
1998)
*
1916 -
Zail Singh, President of India (d.
1994)
*
1921 -
Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1999)
*
1923 -
Richard Wollheim, British philosopher (d.
2003)
*
1926 -
Ann B. Davis, American actress
*
1935 -
Douglas Marland, American television writer (d.
1993)
*
1936 -
Patrick Gowers, British composer
*
1941 -
Alexander Ragulin, Russian hockey player (d.
2004)
*
1942 -
Marc Alaimo, American actor
* 1942 -
Tammy Wynette, American musician (d.
1998)
*
1943 -
Raphael, Spanish singer
*
1943 -
Michael Palin, British writer, actor, and comedian
*
1944 -
Roger Rees, Welsh actor
* 1944 -
John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor
*
1948 -
Bill Ward, British drummer (
Black Sabbath)
*
1952 -
Campbell McComas, Australian impersonator and broadcaster (d.
2005)
*
1954 -
Dave Spector, American television personality and commentator
*
1955 -
Wil Harris, American drummer
*
1957 -
Richard E. Grant, British actor
*
1958 -
Ron Arad, Israeli aircraft navigator missing in action.
*
1963 -
James LaBrie, Canadian singer (
Dream Theater)
*
1966 -
Shawn Drover, Canadian drummer (
Megadeth)
*
1967 -
Takehito Koyasu, Japanese
seiyu (voice actor)
*
1970 -
Kyan Douglas, American TV-personality, see
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy* 1970 -
Juan Acevedo, Baseball player
*
1971 -
David Reilly, American singer (
God Lives Underwater) (d.
2005)
*
1972 -
Devin Townsend, Canadian musician (
Strapping Young Lad)
* 1972 -
James Cracknell, British Rowing Champion, Double Olymipic Gold Medalist
*
1976 -
Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentine footballer
* 1976 -
Chad Patton, American wrestling referee
*
1979 -
Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
*
1981 -
Craig David, British R&B singer
* 1981 -
Danielle Fishel, American actress
* 1981 -
Marcelle Bittar, Brazilian supermodel
* 1981 -
Chris Duncan, baseball player
*
1982 -
Jay Bothroyd, English footballer
*
1984 -
Wade MacNeil, Canadian guitarist (
Alexisonfire)
*
1987 -
John Gotti Agnello, son of columnist and author
Victoria Gotti and grandson of mobster
John Gotti*
1988-
Brooke Hogan, American singer
*
1989 -
Chris Brown, American singer
*
200 -
Sun Ce, a warlord of the
Han Dynasty (b.
175)
*
311 -
Galerius,
Roman Emperor*
1028 - King
Alfonso V of Castile, León, and Galicia
*
1192 - Duke
Ottokar IV of Styria (b.
1163)
*
1194 - King
Casimir II of Poland (b.
1138)
*
1219 - King
Leo II of Armenia (b.
1150)
*
1309 - King
Charles II of Naples*
1525 -
Frederick III of Saxony (b.
1463)
*
1586 -
Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b.
1529)
*
1604 -
Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (b.
1533)
*
1671 -
Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, English politician (b.
1602)
*
1672 -
Samuel Cooper, English painter (b.
1609)
*
1705 -
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b.
1640)
*
1760 -
Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English murderer (hanged) (b.
1720)
*
1766 -
Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b.
1684)
*
1808 -
Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist (b.
1757)
*
1811 -
Robert Mylne, Scottish architect (b.
1734)
*
1821 -
Napoleon I of France (b.
1769)
*
1827 -
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b.
1750)
*
1855 -
Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (b.
1786)
*
1859 -
Peter Gustav Dirichlet, German mathematician (b.
1805)
*
1900 -
Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian painter (b.
1817)
*
1921 -
Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian writer and pacifist, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (b.
1864)
*
1941 -
Natalija Obrenović, Queen of Serbia (b.
1859)
*
1947 -
Ty LaForest, Canadian baseball player (b.
1917)
*
1959 -
Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (b.
1878)
*
1962 -
Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (b.
1889)
*
1971 -
Violet Jessop,
Titanic survivor (b.
1887)
*
1977 -
Ludwig Erhard, a
German politician (
CDU) and
Chancellor of Germany from
1963 until
1966 (b.
1897)
*
1981 -
Bobby Sands, Irish activist (b.
1954)
*
1985 -
Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b.
1901)
*
1988 -
Michael Shaara, American author (b.
1928)
*
1992 -
Jean-Claude Pascal, French singer (b.
1927)
*
1995 -
Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player (b.
1911)
*
1997 -
Walter Gotell, German actor (b.
1924)
*
2000 -
Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (b.
1914)
*
2001 -
Cliff Hillegass, American writer and publisher
* 2001 -
Raymond Kessler, American midget wrestler
*
2003 -
Walter Sisulu, South African activist (b.
1912)
*
2006 -
Naushad Ali, Indian composer (b.
1919)
*
International Midwives Day.
*
International No Pants Day.
*
Council of Europe:
Europe Day.
*
Albania:
Martyrs' Day.
*
Denmark:
Liberation Day (
1945).
*
Ethiopia:
Liberation Day (
1941).
*
Guyana:
Indian Immigration Day (
1838).
*
Hong Kong,
Macau,
South Korea and
Taiwan (
2006):
Buddha's Birthday.
*
Japan:
Tango no Sekku (
Boy's Day) or
Kodomo no hi (
Children's Day).
*
Mexico and (informally) the
United States:
Cinco de Mayo (
1862).
*
The Netherlands:
May 5, Liberation day (
1945).
*
Northern Territory,
Australia:
May Day.
*
South Korea:
Children's Day.
in the
Roman Catholic Church:
*
Ascension Day in
Western Christianity (
2005).
*
Saint Angelus of Jerusalem (d.
1222)
*
Saint Aventinus (d.
1189)
*
Saint Britto*
Saint Gerontius (d.
472)
*
Saint Godehart (d. 1038)
*
Saint Nicetius*
Saint Hilary of Arles (d.
449)
*
Saint Pius V (
1505-
1572)
*
Saint Jutta of Kulmsee, aka
Saint Jutta of Sangerhausen or
Saint Judith of Prussia (d.
1260)
*
Blessed AleidisOrthodox Christian saints:
* Adrian of Monzensk
* Great Martyr Irene
* Martyrs Neophytos, Gaius and Gaianus
* Euthymios the Wonderworker
* Barlaam of
Serpukhov* Martin and Heraclius of
Illyria* Eulogios the Confessor
* New Martyr Ephraim of
Nea Makri* Roly Poly of Georgia.
*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This Day*
The History Channel: On this day(to change the topic, use the scroll down menu and click "go")
May 4 -
May 6 -
April 5 -
June 5 –
listing of all days
