- 535 John II's reign as Catholic Pope ends
- 589 Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo
- 615 St Boniface IV's reign as Catholic Pope ends
- 685 St Benedict II's reign as Catholic Pope ends
- 1360 Treaty of Brétigny signed by English & French, ending the first phase of the Hundred Years' War
- 1450 Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI
The Protestant Reformation
1521 Parliament of Worms installs edict against Martin Luther
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Historic Discovery
1541 Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovers the Mississippi River
Hernando de Soto
Event of Interest
1660 English parliament declares Charles Stuart to be King Charles II of England
Charles II
- 1721 Michelangiolo dei Conti succeeds Pope Clement XI, as Innocent XIII
- 1741 France & Bavaria sign Covenant of Nymphenburg
- 1784 Only known deaths by hailstones in US (Winnsborough, South Carolina)
- 1792 British Captain George Vancouver sights and names Mt Rainier, Washington
- 1792 US establishes the military draft
- 1821 Greek War of Independence: Greeks defeat the Turks in Gravia
- 1823 "Home! Sweet Home!" by John Howard Payne is 1st sung in London
- 1834 Prussia, Austria and Russia sign classified accord about Belgium
Historic Publication
1835 1st installment of Hans Christian Andersen "Fairy Tales" published by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark
Hans Christian Andersen
Conference of Interest
1858 John Brown holds antislavery convention
John Brown
- 1861 Richmond, Virginia, is named the capital of the Confederacy
- 1862 Valley Campaign: Federals repulsed at Battle of McDowell, Virginia
- 1863 Confederación Granadina becomes Estados Unidos de Colombia
- 1864 Actions at Stony Creek/Nottoway bridge, Virginia (Drewry's Bluff)
- 1864 Atlanta Campaign: Severe fighting near Dalton
- 1864 Battle of Spotsylvania Court House begins
- 1871 British-US treaty ends Alabama dispute
- 1877 1st Westminster Dog Show held
- 1878 1st unassisted triple play in organized baseball, by Paul Hines
Event of Interest
1878 David Edward Hughes' paper on the idea for a microphone is read before the Royal Society of London by Thomas Henry Huxley
David Edward Hughes
- 1879 George Selden files for 1st patent for a gasoline-driven automobile
Contract of Interest
1881 Henry Morton Stanley signs the first of many contracts with the Congolian monarch
Henry Morton Stanley
- 1882 David Belasco's "La Belle Russe" premieres in NYC
- 1885 Sarah Ann Henley survives 76-m jump from Clifton Bridge in Bristol, England
- 1886 Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta sells the first Coca-Cola (contained cocaine)
- 1895 China cedes Taiwan to Japan under Treaty of Shimonoseki
- 1896 Yorkshire Cricket all out for 887 against Warwickshire
- 1897 22nd Preakness: T Thorpe aboard Paul Kauvar wins in 1:51¼
- 1898 The first games of the Italian Football League are played
- 1899 The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin opens
Scientific Discovery
1899 Ernest Rutherford publishes his discovery of two different kinds of radiation (Alpha and Beta Particles)
Ernest Rutherford
- 1900 John McGraw & Wilbert Robinson sign with Cardinals
- 1901 In their long-delayed AL home opener, Boston defeats Philadelphia 12-4
- 1901 A British appointed commission estimates today that some 1,250,000 Indians have died after a severe drought, lasting since 1899
- 1902 Mount Pelée on the French overseas island of Martinique erupts, wiping out the city of Saint-Pierre, killing 30,000 and leaving only two survivors
- 1905 Union of Unions organizes In Russia under the chairmanship of Paul Miliukov and joins liberal groups demanding parliamentary government and universal suffrage
- 1906 Philadelphia A's pitcher Chief Benders plays outfield & hits 2 HRs
- 1907 Boston's Big Jeff Pfeffer no-hits Cincinnati Reds, 6-0
Boxing Title Fight
1907 Tommy Burns beats Jack O'Brien in 20 for heavyweight boxing title
Tommy Burns
- 1909 Albert Raines runs world record marathon (2:46:04.6)
- 1909 Frederick Barrett runs world record marathon (2:42:31)
- 1912 Film and television production and distribution studio Paramount Pictures is founded
- 1915 41st Kentucky Derby: Joe Notter aboard Regret wins in 2:05.4
- 1916 German munitions bunker in Fort Douaumont explodes killing 679 German soldiers
- 1916 Irishmen Eamon Kent, Michael Mallin, Con Colbert and Sean Houston are executed by British authorities following the Easter Rising at Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin
- 1919 1st transatlantic flight take-off by a navy seaplane
- 1919 Appingedam soccer team forms
End of World War I
1919 Edward George Honey first proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate The Armistice of World War I, leads to the creation of Remembrance Day
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- 1920 46th Kentucky Derby: Ted Rice aboard Paul Jones wins in 2:09
- 1921 Sweden abolishes capital punishment
- 1923 Hobbs scores his 100th 100, 116* v Somerset at Bath
- 1924 Arthur Honegger's "Pacifica 231" premieres
- 1924 Memel territories given to Lithuania
- 1924 Workers at Werkspoor in Amsterdam strike against 3rd wage cut
- 1925 50th Preakness: Clarence Kummer aboard Coventry wins in 1:59
- 1925 French colonial army beats Rifkabylen in Morocco
- 1926 A Philip Randolph organizes Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
- 1926 Fire breaks out in Fenway Park, home of Boston Red Socks baseball team
- 1929 Jan Mayen island, 500 km NNE of Iceland, incorporated into Norway
- 1929 NY Giant Carl Hubbell no-hits Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-0
Contract of Interest
1929 Soviet government contract Albert Kahn Associates architectural firm to design the USSR's 1st tractor plant
Albert Kahn
- 1931 Operette "Land of Smiles" premieres in London
Event of Interest
1933 Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest against British oppression in India
Mahatma Gandhi
- 1935 Cincinnati Red Ernie Lombardi doubles in 6th, 7th, 8th & 9th beat Phils 15-4
- 1936 Jockey Ralph Neves unexpectedly revived after being declared dead after a fall. His wife faints when he returned to track
- 1937 63rd Kentucky Derby: Charley Kurtsinger on War Admiral wins 2:03.2
- 1938 Stravinsky's "Dumbarton Oaks" premieres in Washington, D.C.
- 1941 German Q-ship Pinguin sinks in Indian Ocean
- 1942 Aircraft carrier USS Lexington sunk by Japanese air attack in Coral Sea
- 1942 German summer offensive opens in Crimea
- 1942 1st twilight game in 24 years, the Dodgers top Giants 7-6 raising $60,000 for Navy Relief Fund
- 1943 68th Preakness: Johnny Longden aboard Count Fleet wins in 1:57.4
- 1943 Admiral Cunningham of British fleet: "Sink, burn & destroy; let nothing pass"
- 1944 33 communist resistance fighter sentenced to death
- 1945 Canadian troops move into Amsterdam
- 1945 Chinese counter attack at Tsjangte, supports by 14th air fleet
Nazi Germany Surrenders
1945 German General Wilhelm Keitel formally surrenders to the Allies represented by the United States, the UK, France and the Soviet Union in Berlin
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Event of Interest
1947 A movement among Card players to protest its 1st meeting with Jackie Robinson & the Dodgers is aborted by a talk from owner Sam Breadon
Jackie Robinson
Event of Interest
1947 Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki, who had volunteered to be imprisoned in Auschwitz to gain information about the Holocaust, is arrested by Polish communist police
Witold Pilecki
Donald Bradman
- 1949 West German constitution approved
Event of Interest
1950 Chiang Kai-shek asks US for weapons
Chiang Kai-shek
- 1951 Dacron men's suits introduced
- 1951 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
- 1952 "Of Thee I Sing" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 72 performances
- 1952 "Shuffle Along" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 4 performances
- 1952 5th British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAS): "La Ronde" Best Film
- 1953 WIPB TV channel 49 in Muncie, IN (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1954 1st shot-put over 60' (18.29 m)-Parry O'Brien, Los Angeles, CA
- 1956 John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger" premieres in London
Event of Interest
1957 South Vietnamese President, Ngô Đình Diệm, arrives in the United States on a state visit
Ngô Đình Diệm
Event of Interest
1958 US President Eisenhower orders National Guard out of Central HS, Little Rock, Arkansas
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Event of Interest
1958 US VP Richard Nixon is shoved, stoned, booed and spat upon by protesters in Peru
Richard Nixon
Film Release
1958 "Dracula" film starring Christopher Lee as the eponymous vampire, directed by Terence Fisher is the first Hammar Horror film released
Christopher Lee
- 1959 3-deck Nile excursion steamer springs a leak panicking passengers who capsized ship. 200 drown just yards from shore
- 1960 USSR & Cuba resume diplomatic relations
- 1961 1st practical sea water conversion plant-Freeport, Texas
- 1961 Alan Shepard receives NASA Distinguished Service Medal, Washington
- 1962 "Funny Thing Happened" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 965 performances
- 1962 1st Atlas Centaur Launch
- 1962 London trolley buses (electrically powered buses using overhead supply) go out of service
- 1963 "Dr No" premieres in US
John F. Kennedy
Event of Interest
1967 Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in US Army
Muhammad Ali
- 1970 Beatles release "Let it Be" album
- 1970 Construction workers break up an anti-war rally in NYC's Wall Street
- 1970 NBA championship: Knicks beat Lakers, 113-99
- 1970 Thousands of students protest against the Vietnam War following the Kent State shootings in Ohio
- 1971 "Earl of Ruston" closes at Billy Rose Theater NYC after 5 performances
- 1972 Sabena aircraft at Lod International Airport, Tel Aviv, captured by Palestinians
Event of Interest
1973 Ernie Banks fills in for Cubs managerr Whitey Lockman who is ejected during the game, technically becoming baseball's 1st African American manager
Ernie Banks
Event of Interest
1973 Indians holding South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrender
Ralph Abernathy
- 1974 50 MPH speed limit in Britain lifted
Event of Interest
1974 Canadian government of Pierre Trudeau falls
Pierre Trudeau
- 1974 FC Magdenburg of East Germany win 14th European Cup Winner's Cup against AC Milan of Italy 2-0 in Rotterdam
- 1976 "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" closes at Mark Hellinger NYC after 7 performances
- 1976 The rollercoaster Revolution (roller coaster), the first steel coaster with a vertical flip, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain
- 1978 ABC TV airs "Stars Salute Israel at 30"
- 1979 Radio Shack releases TRSDOS 2.3
Album Release
1979 The Cure release their debut album "Three Imaginary Boys" (Boys Don't Cry in US, Australia)
Robert Smith
- 1980 Sabres take only 15 shots, Islanders 22, in a playoff game
- 1980 World Health Organization announces smallpox has been eradicated
- 1980 1st non-stop trans-North American balloon flight departs Fort Baker, California. Maxie Anderson and son Kristian pilot the Kitty Hawk for five days.
- 1981 Ron Davis pitches 10th consecutive strike out, 1 short of record
- 1984 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
Event of Interest
1984 Minnesota Twins Kirby Puckett debuts with 4 singles
Kirby Puckett
- 1984 Thames Barrier to stop flooding in London officially completed
- 1984 The Soviet Union announces it will not participate in Los Angeles Summer Olympics in retaliation for the American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics
- 1985 20th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, George Strait, and Reba McEntire win
- 1985 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1987 Gary Hart quits US democratic presidential race due to affair with Donna Rice
- 1987 The Loughgall ambush: The SAS kill 8 IRA members and 1 civilian, in Loughgall, Northern Ireland
- 1988 "Oba Oba" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 46 performances
Election of Interest
1988 Francois Mitterrand elected President of France
Francois Mitterrand
Event of Interest
1988 Mike Tyson crashes his $183,000 Bently on Varick St in New York City
Mike Tyson
- 1988 Amateur referees work NJ Devil-Boston Bruin playoff games, as NHL referees walk-off, due to a restraining order brought by Devils
Event of Interest
1989 Paul McCartney releases remake of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" in aid of those affected by the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 95 Liverpool football fans
Paul McCartney
Boxing Title Fight
1993 Lennox Lewis beats Tony Tucker in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
Lennox Lewis
- 1993 16 year old Keron Thomas disguises himself as a motorman & takes NYC subway train and 2,000 passengers on a 3 hour ride
- 1994 "Rise & Fall of Little Voice" closes at Neil Simon NYC after 9 performances
- 1994 500th commentary by Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes
- 1994 Colorado Silver Bullets (all-female pro baseball team) 1st game
- 1994 Ernesto Perez Balladares elected president of Panama
- 1994 Jose Maria Figueres becomes president of Costa Rica
Event of Interest
1994 President Clinton announces US will no longer repatriate boat people
Bill Clinton
- 1994 Erling Kagge becomes the first person to complete the Three Poles Challenge.
- 1996 NY Yankee Dwight Gooden wins his 1st AL game beating Tigers 10-3
- 1996 South Africa's Constitutional Assembly adopts permanent post-apartheid constitution
- 1996 Paris Saint-Germain of France win 36th European Cup Winner's Cup against Rapid Wien of Austria 1-0 in Brussels
- 1999 Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel military college.
Music Awards
2001 36th Academy of Country Music Awards: Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill & Toby Keith win
Faith Hill
Event of Interest
2008 Dmitry Medvedev appoints Vladimir Putin as Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin
Dmitry Medvedev
Appointment of Interest
2012 Dmitry Medvedev is confirmed as Russian Prime Minister by the State Duma, after being nominated by Vladimir Putin
Dmitry Medvedev
Vladimir Putin
- 2013 33 people are killed after an overloaded bus falls into a river in Himachal Pradesh, India
- 2013 Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi receives a four year prison sentence for fraud
- 2013 Sir Alex Ferguson announces his retirement as Manchester United's manager at the end of the season
- 2014 NFL Draft: South Carolina outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney first pick by Houston Texans
Event of Interest
2014 World's oldest astrolabe (mariner's navigator tool) c. 1498 from Portugeuese shipwreck of explorer Vasco da Gama found near Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman
Vasco da Gama
- 2016 Sadiq Khan (L) is elected Mayor of London, - 1st Muslim mayor of a major Western city
Event of Interest
2018 President Trump pulls the US out of the multilateral Iran nuclear deal
Donald Trump
- 2018 Ebola outbreak declared in north-west Democratic Republic of Congo with 2 confirmed cases and 17 deaths
- 2018 Paris St-Germain seals the French domestic football treble with a 2-0 win over 3rd Div Les Herbiers in the French Cup Final at the Stade de France
- 2018 Seattle Mariners MLB left-hander James Paxton hurls a no-hitter in a 5-0 win over the Blue Jays in Toronto
- 2018 Largest-ever wave at 23.8m recorded in the South Hemisphere at Campbell Island by New Zealand scientists
May in History
![Latest Wonder of the World]()
Latest Wonder of the World
Often referred to as "the Chunnel", the 31-mile undersea tunnel linking England to France has been hailed as one of the "seven wonders of the modern world".
May 6, 1994![Suicide Woman Floats To Safety]()
Suicide Woman Floats To Safety
Nobody could expect to survive a fall from the 100-metre high Clifton Suspension Bridge. But one woman was saved on this day by her billowing skirt.
May 8, 1885![Botched Crown Jewels Theft Pays Off]()
Botched Crown Jewels Theft Pays Off
Thomas Blood, who tried to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London on this day was not only forgiven by the King, but given a reward.
May 9, 1671![Gardener Grows Into Architectural Legend]()
Gardener Grows Into Architectural Legend
Starting a new job at 4.30am, organising the workforce at 6am and meeting his future wife over breakfast: all in a day's work for Joseph Paxton.
May 9, 1826
