- 1091 Battle at Monte Levunium: Emperor Alexius I beats Petshegenes
Event of Interest
1429 Joan of Arc arrives at the siege of Orleans
Joan of Arc
- 1540 Emperor Charles declares all privileges of Ghent ended
- 1550 Emperor Charles V gives inquisiters additional authority
- 1553 Flemish woman introduces practice of starching linen into England
- 1587 Sir Frances Drake sails into Cadiz Spain & sinks Spanish fleet ("singeing the King of Spain's beard")
- 1623 11 Dutch ships depart for the conquest of Peru
- 1628 Sweden & Denmark sign defense treaty against Duke of Wallenstein
Event of Interest
1636 Prince Frederick Henry occupies Schenkenschans
Frederick Henry
- 1701 Drenthe, Netherlands, adopts Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is May 12, 1701
- 1706 Emperor Jozef I becomes monarch of Cologne and Bavaria
- 1707 English and Scottish parliaments accept Act of Union; creates the United Kingdom of Great Britain (comes into being 1st May)
- 1715 John Flamsteed observes Uranus for 6th time
Historic Invention
1769 Scottish engineer James Watt's patent for a steam engine with a separate condenser enrolled (Patent 913)
James Watt
Wolfang Amadeus Mozart
Event of Interest
1834 Charles Darwin's expedition sees the top of the Andes Mountains from Patagonia
Charles Darwin
- 1845 Macon B Allen & Robert Morris Jr are 1st African Americans to open a law practice in the US
Historic Publication
Peter Mark Roget
- 1853 Comet C/1853 G1 (Schweizer) approaches within 0.0839 AUs of Earth
- 1857 US Army, Pacific Div HQ permanently forms at Presidio (San Francisco)
- 1861 Maryland's House of Delegates votes against seceding from Union (US Civil War)
- 1862 100,000 federal troops prepare to march into Corinth, Mississippi
- 1862 New Orleans falls to Union forces during US Civil War
- 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia (Fredericksburg, Wilderness Tavern)
- 1864 -30] Skirmish at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas
- 1864 The Theta Xi fraternity is founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York
- 1864 Battle of Gate Pa (Pukehinahina): 1,700 British troops suffer their worst defeat of the New Zealand Wars at the hands of 230 entrenched Maori warriors in Tauranga
Event of Interest
1882 The "Elektromote" - forerunner of the trolleybus - is tested by Werner von Siemens in Berlin
Werner von Siemens
- 1886 1st public Dutch electricity opens
Meeting of Interest
1888 Old Kavallison, Congo: Henry Morton Stanley meets Emin Pasha
Henry Morton Stanley
- 1892 Charlie Reilly is baseball's 1st pinch hitter
- 1894 The 500-strong Commonwealth of Christ (Coxey's Army) arrives in Washington, D.C., to protest against unemployment; Coxey arrested for trespassing at Capitol
- 1901 27th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Winkfield on His Eminence wins in 2:07.75
- 1901 Antisemitic riot in Budapest
- 1902 Congress extends the Chinese Exclusion Act (of 1882) prohibiting immigration of Chinese laborers from territories to the mainland, a rule clearly aimed at Chinese in the Philippines
- 1903 Limestone slides at Turtle Mountain kill 9 in Frank, Alberta
- 1905 2" rain falls in 10 mins in Taylor, Texas
- 1905 Pierre de Brazza lands in Libreville, Gabon
Event of Interest
1910 Ex-US President Theodore Roosevelt visits Amsterdam
Theodore Roosevelt
Easter Proclamation of 1916
1916 Irish republicans abandon the post office in Dublin and surrender unconditionally, marking the end of the Easter Rising
- 1918 Tris Speaker ties career outfield record of 4 unassisted double plays
- 1922 1st official International Weightlifting Federation Champ in Tallinn, Estonia
- 1926 France and US reach accord on repayment of WW I
- 1927 Construction of Spirit of St Louis (the monoplane which Charles Lindburgh was to fly across the Atlantic) is completed
- 1930 123 runs are scored in 7 major league games
- 1930 North Sea floodgate at Ijmuiden (biggest in world) officially opens
- 1930 Telephone connection Britain-Australia goes into service
- 1931 Cleveland Indian Wes Ferrell no-hits St Louis Browns, 9-0
- 1934 Pittsburgh is last major league city to play a home game on a Sunday
- 1936 1st pro baseball game in Japan is played Nagoya defeats Daitokyo, 8-5
- 1939 Whitestone Bridge connecting the New York boroughs of Bronx and Queens opens
- 1940 1st radio broadcast of "Young Dr Malone" on CBS
- 1940 Norwegian King Haakon & government flee to Britain
- 1940 Robert Sherwood's "There Shall be No Night" premieres in NYC
- 1942 Japanese troop march into Lashio, cut off Burma Road
- 1942 Jews forced to wear a Jewish Star in Netherlands & Vichy-France
- 1943 Dietrich Bonhoeffer arrested by nazis
- 1943 Noel Coward's "Present Laughter" premieres in London
- 1943 US 34th Division occupies Hill 609, North Tunisia
- 1944 Raid by Dutch Resistance on the National Printing Office in The Hague to procure 10,000 Dutch identity cards.
- 1945 First food drop by RAF above Nazi-occupied Holland (Operation Manna)
- 1945 Japanese army evacuates Rangoon
- 1945 German armies in Italy sign an unconditional surrender to the Western Allies to be carried out on 2 May
- 1945 US Army liberates 31,601 in Nazi concentration camp in Dachau, Germany
- 1945 Venice & Mestre captured by the Allies
- 1946 28 former Japanese leaders indicted in Tokyo as war criminals
Donald Bradman
- 1951 China seizes the assets of the Asiatic Petroleum Company, a joint venture between the Shell and Royal Dutch oil companies in retaliation for the Hong Kong Government's requisitioning of the tanker Yung Hao
- 1953 Joe Adcock is 1st to homer into Polo Grounds' center field bleachers
- 1953 The first U.S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV
- 1953 6th Cannes Film Festival: "The Wages of Fear" directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
- 1955 Giovanni Gronchi elected third President of Italy
- 1956 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Open
- 1956 WLUC TV channel 6 in Marquette, MI (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1956 WSPA TV channel 7 in G'ville-Spartanburg, SC (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1956 WWBT TV channel 12 in Richmond, VA (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1957 1st military nuclear power plant dedicated at Fort Belvoir, Virginia
- 1961 ABC's "Wide World of Sports" debuts
- 1962 16th Tony Awards: "A Man For All Seasons" & "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" win
- 1962 Mickey Wright wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
- 1963 KRE-AM in Berkeley CA changes call letters to KPAT
- 1964 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1965 Australian government announces it would send troops to Vietnam
- 1965 Earthquake hits Seattle; 5 die
- 1965 Malta becomes 18th member of Council of Europe
Music Single
1967 "Respect" single released by Aretha Franklin (Billboard Song of the Year 1967)
Aretha Franklin
- 1968 "Hair" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 1750 performances
- 1969 "Trumpets of the Lord" opens at Brooks Atkinson NYC for 7 performances
- 1970 US and South Vietnamese forces launch an incursion into Cambodia, expanding the Vietnam War
- 1971 Bill Graham closes down Fillmore & Fillmore East
- 1971 Boeing receives contract for Mariner 10, Mercury exploration
- 1971 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1973 Gloria Ehret wins LPGA Birmingham Golf Classic
Event of Interest
1974 US President Richard Nixon said he will release edited tapes made in the White House
Richard Nixon
- 1975 Ethiopia nationalizes all land
The Fall of Saigon
1975 Vietnam War: US begins to evacuate its citizens from Saigon in Operation Frequent Wind in response to advancing North Vietnamese forces, bringing an end to US involvement in the war
- 1975 Charles McMahon and Darwin Judge are the last two United States servicemen killed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War
- 1976 Minister Irene Vorrink begins fluoridating Dutch drinking water
- 1977 British Aerospace forms
- 1979 Jane Blalock wins LPGA Otey Crisman Golf Classic
- 1980 Corazones Unidos Siempre Chi Upsilon Sigma National Latin Sorority Inc. is founded
- 1980 1980 NFL Draft: Billy Sims from University of Oklahoma first pick by Detroit Lions
- 1981 Peter Sutcliffe admits he is the Yorkshire Ripper (murdered 13 women)
- 1981 Phillie Steve Carlton is 1st lefty to strike out 3,000 batters
- 1981 1981 NFL Draft: George Rogers from University of South Carolina first pick by New Orleans Saints
Music Awards
1982 17th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, Merle Haggard, and Barbara Mandrell win
Merle Haggard
- 1982 Alfredo Magana elected President of El Salvador
Murder of Interest
1982 American mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski murders pharmacist Paul Hoffman by beating him with a tire iron
Richard Kuklinski
- 1983 Harold Washington sworn in as Chicago's 1st African American mayor
- 1984 "Oliver!" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 17 performances
- 1984 Betsy King wins LPGA Freedom/Orlando Golf Classic
- 1985 17th space shuttle mission (51-B)-Challenger 7 launched
- 1985 Ranger Larry Parrish is 5th to hit 3 HRs in a game in both leagues
- 1985 Tony Tubbs TKOs Greg Page in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
- 1986 800,000 books destroyed by fire in Los Angeles Central Library
Event of Interest
1986 Boston Red Sox Roger Clemens strikes out 20 Seattle Mariners
Roger Clemens
- 1986 1986 NFL Draft: Bo Jackson from University of Auburn first pick by Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Event of Interest
1987 Chicago Cub Andre Dawson hits for cycle
Andre Dawson
- 1987 Japan's premier Nakasone visits the US
- 1988 Orioles beat White Sox 9-0 for 1st 1988 win after 21 loses
- 1989 2nd government of Lubbers falls in the Netherlands
- 1990 "Change in the Heir" opens at Edison Theater NYC for 16 performances
- 1990 Dan Quisenberry (all-time AL save king, 238) announces his retirement
- 1990 STS-31 (Discovery 10) lands
- 1990 Wrecking cranes began tearing down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate
- 1991 "Our Country's Good" opens at Nederlander Theater NYC for 48 performances
- 1991 Croatia declares independence
- 1991 Cyclone strikes the Chittagong district in Bangladesh, killing 139,000 people and leaving 10 million homeless
- 1991 Earthquake in Georgia, kills 100
- 1991 "Don't Rock the Jukebox" single released by Alan Jackson (ASCAP Award Country Song of the Year 1992, Billboard Song of the Year 1991)
- 1992 "Falsettos" opens at John Golden Theater NYC for 487 performances
Music Awards
1992 27th Academy of Country Music Awards: Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire win
Garth Brooks
- 1992 Country singer Doug Stone, 35, undergoes quadruple bypass surgery
Event of Interest
1992 Jury acquits LA police officers of beating Rodney King, riots begin
Rodney King
- 1992 Sheena Easton collapses on stage while performing in "Man of LaMancha"
- 1992 Voting ends on choice of Elvis stamps
- 1994 Last day of voting in 1st multi-racial elections in South Africa
- 1994 Ferry boat smashes into Mombasa Harbor Kenya, kills over 300
- 1994 Israel & PLO sign economic accord
- 1995 Final TV broadcast of "Empty Nest" on NBC TV
- 1995 KC Royal John Nonely is 70th to HR on his 1st at bat
- 1995 Longest sausage ever, at 28.77 miles, made in Kitchener, Ontario
Film Release
1996 "Rent", starring Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs, opens at Nederlander Theater NYC
Idina Menzel
- 1996 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Fresno CA on KFRR 104.1 FM
- 1997 "Candide" opens at Gershwin Theater NYC for 103 performances
- 1997 KC Royal Chili Davis is 75th to hit 300 HRs
- 1997 The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 comes into force, outlaws production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons among its signatories.
- 1997 50th British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAS): "The English Patient" Best Film, Joel & Ethan Coen Best Director
- 1997 43rd British Academy Television Awards: "Only Fools and Horses" Best Comedy, "EastEnders" Best Drama
- 1999 Avala TV Tower near Belgrade is destroyed in NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
- 2002 The United States is re-elected to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, one year after losing the seat it had held for 50 years
9/11 Attack on New York's World Trade Towers
2004 Dick Cheney and George W. Bush testify before the 9/11 Commission in a closed, unrecorded hearing in the Oval Office
- 2004 Oldsmobile builds its final car ending 107 years of production
- 2005 Syria completes withdrawal from Lebanon, ending 29 years of occupation
- 2005 New Zealand's first civil union takes place
- 2006 2006 NFL Draft: Mario Williams from North Carolina State first pick from Houston Texans
- 2007 2nd Republic protest in support of state secularism held in Instanbul, Turkey
- 2012 International Chemical Weapons Convention deadline for chemical weapon stockpiles comes into effect
- 2013 7 people are killed after a Boeing 747 crashes in Bagram, Afghanistan
- 2015 Indonesia executes 8 prisoners, including 7 foreigners, for drug offences at Besi Prison on the island of Nusakambangan
- 2015 German Measles is declared eradicated from North and South America - 1st world region to do so
- 2016 Iranian run-off elections give moderates and reforms a majority in parliament
- 2016 "Views" 4th studio album by Drake is released
- 2016 "H.O.L.Y" single released by Florida Georgia Line (Billboard Song of the Year 2016)
- 2017 3 tornadoes hit south east of Dallas, Texas, killing 5