Events in History
Event of Interest
1621 Francis Bacon accused of bribery
Francis Bacon
- 1624 Spanish silver fleet sails to Panama
- 1629 French huguenot leader Duke De Rohan signs accord with Spain
- 1640 English Upper house accepts Act of Attainder
- 1654 Bridge at Rowley, Massachusetts begins charging tolls for animals
- 1660 Sweden, Poland, Brandenburg & Austria sign Peace of Oliva
- 1661 Johannes Hevelius observes 3rd transit of Mercury ever to be seen
- 1662 Royal charter granted to Connecticut
- 1678 French conquering fleet at Curacao, 1200 die
Event of Interest
1715 Edmond Halley observes total eclipse phenomenon "Baily's Beads"
Edmond Halley
- 1722 Pierre de Marivaux' "La Double Inconstance" premieres in Paris
- 1747 Willem IV appointed viceroy of Holland/Utrecht
- 1765 1st North American medical college opens in Philadelphia
- 1791 Constitution of May 3 is proclaimed by the Great Sejm (Parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, becoming the 1st modern constitution in Europe
- 1802 Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city
The Third of May 1808
1808 Day depicted by Spanish painter Goya in his "The Third of May", painted 1814
Learn More >>
Event of Interest
1810 English poet Lord Byron swims the Hellespont (modern day Dardanelles)
Lord Byron
- 1815 Battle at Tolentino: Austria beats King Joachim of Naples
- 1822 Society for the Propagation of the Faith founded in Lyon, France
- 1830 1st regular steam train passenger service starts
- 1837 The University of Athens is founded
- 1841 New Zealand proclaimed a colony independent of New South Wales
- 1845 1st African American lawyer, Macon B Allen, admitted to the bar in Massachusetts
- 1845 Fire kills 1,600 in popular theater in Canton, China
- 1846 Mexican Army begins the Siege of Fort Texas near Brownsville, Texas, during the Mexican-American War
- 1849 The May Uprising in Dresden begins - the last of the German revolutions of 1848
- 1851 Sixth major fire in San Francisco destroys 1500-2000 buildings
- 1855 Antwerp-Rotterdam railway opens
- 1860 Charles XV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden
- 1861 General Winfield Scott presents his Anaconda Plan for the North against the South in American Civil War
- 1861 Lincoln asks for 42,000 Army Volunteers and another 18,000 seamen
- 1863 Battle of Salem Church, Virginia
- 1863 The Second Battle of Fredericksburg occurs in Virginia, part of the Chancellorsville Campaign of the American Civil War
- 1864 3rd day in Battle at Alexandria Louisiana: Confederate assault
- 1867 The Hudson's Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island.
- 1886 M A Maclean elected 1st mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia
- 1898 Camp Merriman forms at Presidio San Francisco (see 0517)
- 1901 Fire destroys 1,700 buildings in Jacksonville, Florida
- 1906 British-controlled Egypt takes Sinai peninsula from Turkey
Event of Interest
1915 John McCrae writes the poem "In Flanders Fields"
John McCrae
- 1916 Irish Nationalists Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh and Thomas Clarke are executed by firing squad following their involvement in the Easter Rising
- 1917 Ernest Bloch's "Schelomo" premieres in Carnegie Hall, NYC
- 1919 Afghanistan Emir Amanoellah begins war against Great Britain
- 1921 West Virginia imposes 1st state sales tax
- 1922 Mayor Hylan closes streets for building of Yankee Stadium
- 1922 Salt layer find at Winterswijk
- 1923 1st nonstop north American transcontinental flight (NY-San Diego) completed
- 1924 Aleph Zadik Aleph is formed in Omaha, Nebraska by Sam Beber
Volunteers Help Defeat General Strike
1926 Britain's Trade Union Congress calls for the country's first ever general strike, begins at 1 minute to midnight in support striking coal miners, lasts 9 days
Read the Article >>
- 1926 Pulitzer prize awarded to Sinclair Lewis (Arrowsmith)
- 1926 US Marines land in Nicaragua (9 months after leaving), stay until 1933
- 1928 Japanese atrocities in Jinan, China.
- 1929 Prussia bans anti-fascists
- 1932 24 tourists begin 1st air-charter holiday (London-Basle, Switzerland)
- 1933 Nellie T Ross the 1st female director of the US Mint takes office
- 1936 French People's Front wins elections
Event of Interest
1937 Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for "Gone With the Wind"
Margaret Mitchell
Event of Interest
1938 Vatican recognizes Franco-Spain
Francisco Franco
- 1939 The All India Forward Bloc is formed by Subhash Chandra Bose
- 1941 -4] German air raid on Liverpool
- 1942 Japanese troop attack Tulagi, Gavutu & Tanambogo, Solomon Islands during WWII
- 1942 German Luftwaffe again bombs Exeter, destroying its town centre
- 1942 Nazis execute 72 OD'ers in reprisial in Sachsenhausen, Netherlands
- 1942 Nazis require Dutch Jews to wear a Jewish star
Event of Interest
1943 Pulitzer prize awarded to Upton Sinclair (Dragon's Teeth)
Upton Sinclair
- 1943 Strike against obligatory labor camps ends, after 200 killed
- 1943 US 1st armour division occupies Mateur Tunisia
- 1944 Meat rationing ends in US
- 1945 1st Polish Armoured Division of the Polish Armed Forces in the West occupies Wilhelmshafen in Germany
- 1945 Allies arrest German physicist Werner Heisenberg
- 1945 British troop join in Rangoon
- 1945 World War II: German ship "Cap Arcona" laden with prisoners sunk by Royal Air Force in East Sea, 5,800 killed - one of largest maritime losses of life
- 1946 International military tribunal in Tokyo begins
Event of Interest
1948 Pulitzer prize awarded to James Michener & Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Event of Interest
1954 Pulitzer prize awarded to Charles A Lindbergh & John Patrick
Charles Lindbergh
Event of Interest
1960 The Anne Frank House opens in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Anne Frank
Birthdays in History
- 612 Constantine III, Byzantine Emperor from January to April or May 641 (d. 641)
- 1415 Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England, born in Raby Castle, Durham, England (d. 1495)
- 1428 Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman, born in Guadalajara, Spain (d. 1495)
- 1446 Margaret of York [Margaret of Burgundy], English wife of Charles I, Duke of Burgundy, born in Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire, England (d. 1503)
Niccolo Machiavelli
1469 Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian politician and writer (Prince), born in Florence, Italy (d. 1527)
Niccolo Machiavelli
- 1514 Bartholomaeus of Braga [Fernandez], Dominican theologian and Archbishop Emeritus of Braga, born in Mártires, Santa Maria Maior, Lisbon (d. 1590)
- 1647 Joannes Antonides van der Goes, Dutch poet (Bellone aen bant), born in Goes, Netherlands (d. 1684)
- 1662 Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect, born in Herford, Germany (d. 1736)
- 1692 Jan Jacob Mauricius, Dutch governor-general of Suriname (1742-51), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1768)
- 1695 Henri Pitot, Italian-French engineer, born in Aramon, France (d. 1771)
- 1713 Alexis Clairaut, French mathematician (Clairaut's theorem), born in Paris (d. 1765)
- 1761 August von Kotzebue, German dramatist, born in Weimar, Germany (d. 1819)
- 1764 Élisabeth of France, princess of France, youngest sister of king Louis XVI, born in Versailles, France (d. 1794)
- 1768 Charles Tennant, Scottish chemist and industrialist, born in Laigh Corton, Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland (d. 1838)
- 1773 Giuseppe Acerbi, Italian traveller and naturalist, born in Castel Goffredo, Milan, Italy (d. 1846)
- 1815 Hermanus Willem Witteveen, Dutch theologist, born in Boornbergum, Netherlands (d. 1884)
- 1816 Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1892)
- 1826 Charles XV, King of Sweden and Norway (1859-72), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1872)
- 1844 Édouard Drumont, French anti-semitic journalist, born in Paris (d. 1917)
- 1849 Jacob Riis, Danish-American social reformer and "muck raking" reporter (NY Tribune, NY Evening Sun), born in Ribe, Denmark (d. 1914)
- 1849 Bernhard von Bülow, Chancellor of Germany, born in Klein-Flottbeck, Germany (d. 1929)
- 1859 Andy Adams, American writer (Log of a Cowboy), born in Indiana (d. 1935)
- 1860 John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1936)
- 1860 Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist, born in Ancona, Italy (d. 1940)
- 1861 Emmett Dalton, American outlaw, member of the Dalton Gang in the American Old West, born in Belton, Missouri (d. 1937)
- 1870 Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the U.K., born in Frogmore House, Windsor, England (d. 1948)
- 1873 Nicoline Magdalene Roll Anker, Norwegian author (Kvinnen og Den), born in Møre og Romsdal, Norway (d. 1942)
- 1873 Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian politician and general, born in Wiesbaden, Germany (d. 1945)
- 1874 François Coty, French perfume manufacturer, born in Ajaccio, Corsica, France (d. 1934)
- 1874 V. Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1954)
- 1877 Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst, born in Bremen, Germany (d. 1925)
- 1879 Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman and aviation pioneer (Qantas), born in Morinish, Queensland (d. 1950)
- 1890 B. Traven, (German?) writer (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) whose real identity is disputed (possible date)
- 1891 Tadeusz Peiper, Polish poet, born in Kraków, Poland (d. 1969)
- 1892 George Paget Thomson, English pysicist, demonstrated electron diffraction (Nobel 1937), born in Cambridge (d. 1943)
- 1893 Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian writer and public benefactor, born in Abasha, Kutais Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1975)
- 1895 Ernst Kantorowicz, German-American historian (Laudes regiae), born in Posen, Prussia (d. 1963)
- 1895 Cornelius Van Til, Dutch philosopher and Christian apologist, Grootegast, Netherlands (d. 1987)
- 1896 Dodie Smith, English novelist and playwright (101 Dalmatians), born in Whitefield, Lancashire, England (d. 1990)
- 1896 Karl Allmenröder, German World War I flying Ace, born in Wald, Rhine Province, Germany (d. 1917)
- 1897 V. K. Krishna Menon, Indian nationalist, Minister of Defense (1957-62), born in Tellicherry, British India (d. 1974)
Golda Meir
1898 Golda Meir [Mabovitch], Israeli teacher, stateswoman and 4th Prime Minister of Israel (1969-74) known as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics, born in Kiev, Ukraine (d. 1978)
Golda Meir
- 1898 Septima Poinsette Clark, American educator and civil rights activist, born in CHarleston, South Carolina (d. 1987)
- 1902 Alfred Kastler, French physicist (Nobel 1966 - Hertzian resonances within atoms), born in Guebwiller, Alsace, German Empire (d. 1984)
- 1905 Albrecht Luitpold Ferdinand Michael, duke of Bavaria, born in Munich, German Empire (d. 1996)
- 1907 Earl Wilson, American journalist and columnist (Midnight Earl), born in Rockford, Ohio (d. 1987)
- 1912 Eleanore "May" Sarton, Belgian-American writer (Land of Silence), born in Wondelgem, Belgium (d. 1995)
- 1913 Earl Blackwell, American society impresario (Celebrity Register), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1995)
- 1913 William M. Inge, American playwright (Picnic-Pulitzer 1953), born in Independence, Kansas (d. 1973)
- 1916 Henry B. González, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Texas (1961-99), born in San Antonio, Texas (d. 2000)
- 1916 Pierre Emmanuel [Noël Mathieu], French poet (Sodome), born in Gan, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France (d. 1984)
- 1917 Kiro Gligorov, 1st President of the Republic of Macedonia (1991-99), born in Štip, Kingdom of Serbia (d. 2012)
- 1919 John Cullen Murphy, American comic strip artist, born in NYC, New York (d. 2004)
- 1921 Vasco Gonçalves, Portuguese army officer and 103rd Prime Minister of Portugal (1974-75), born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. 2005)
- 1923 Ralph Hall, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Texas (1981-2005), born in Fate, Texas
- 1924 Yehuda Amichai, Israeli poet (Now and in Other Days), born in Würzburg, Germany (d. 2000)
- 1929 Hendrik L van Beek, Dutch vice-admiral
- 1929 Jahanara Imam, Bangladeshi writer and political activist, born in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India (d. 1994)
- 1930 Juan Gelman, Argentine poet, born in Buenos Aires (d. 2014)
- 1931 Joe Layton, American director and choreographer, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1994)
- 1931 Thomas Sutherland, American hostage (Lebanon) and academic, born in Falkirk, Scotland (d. 2016)
- 1935 Donald P Hodel, US Secretary of Interior (1985-89), born in Portland, Oregon
- 1937 Nélida Piñon, Brazilian writer (The Republic of Dreams), born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 1940 David Koch, American businesman and philanthropist (Koch Industries billionaire), born in Wichita, Kansas
- 1941 Edward Malloy, 16th president of the University of Notre Dame, born in Washington, D.C.
- 1942 Dave Marash, American television journalist, born in Atlanta, Georgia
- 1942 Butch Otter, American politician, 32nd governor of Idaho, born in Caldwell, Idaho
- 1943 John Costello, British military historian, born in Greenock, Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1995)
- 1944 Ian Peter Leslie Smith, British journalist, born in Bristol, England (d. 1997)
- 1944 Pete Staples, English rocker (Troggs-Wild Thing), born in Andover, Hampshire, England
- 1945 Jeffrey C. Hall, American geneticist (Nobel Prize 2017 behavioral rhythms of the fly), born in New York City
- 1947 Doug Henning, Canadian magician, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 2000)
- 1949 Albert Sacco Jr., American chemical engineer and astronaut (STS 73), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- 1949 Ron Wyden, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon (1981-96), born in Wichita, Kansas
- 1951 Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian writer, born in St Petersburg, Russia
- 1956 Marc Bellemare, French-Canadian lawyer and politician, born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec
Akio Toyoda
1956 Akio Toyoda, Japanese president of Toyota Motor Corporation, born in Nagoya, Japan
Akio Toyoda
- 1959 Uma Bharati, Indian politician, Minister of Drinking Water & Sanitation, born in Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, India
- 1961 Joe Murray, American cartoonist (Rocko's Modern Life), born in San Jose, California
- 1961 David Vitter, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana (1999-2005), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- 1962 Anders Graneheim, Swedish bodybuilder, born in Timrå, Sweden
- 1969 Daryl F. Mallett, American writer and editor, born in Los Angeles, California
- 1971 Damon Dash, American entrepreneur and label executive (Roc-A-Fella Records), born in NYC, New York
- 1972 Shonie Carter, American MMA fighter, born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1974 Princess Haya bint Hussein of Jordan, daughter of King Hussein of Jordan and his third wife, Queen Alia, born in Amman, Jordan
- 1977 Mashima Hiro, Japanese Mangaka of Rave Master and Fairy Tail, born in Nagano, Japan
- 1977 Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian mathematician, born in Tehran, Iran (d. 2017)
- 1980 Marcel Vigneron, American chef (Top Chef), born in Bainbridge Island, Washington
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1884 Mechanical engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (28) weds Louise M. Spooner
Frederick Winslow Taylor
Wedding of Interest
1906 Waldof Astor marries fellow American Nancy Langhorne Shaw at All Souls Church in London, England
Nancy Astor
Deaths in History
- 1010 Ansfried, 9th bishop of Utrecht (995-1010)/saint, dies at about 69
- 1152 Matilda of Boulogne, Queen of England (b. 1105)
- 1160 Peter Lombard, Italian scholar and bishop (b. c.1100)
- 1270 King Béla IV of Hungary (b. 1206)
- 1294 John I, Duke of Brabant and Limburg and poet, dies murdered aged 41 or 42
- 1410 Alexander V, [Petros Philargi], Kreta's Pope (1409-10), dies
- 1442 Engelbert I, Earl of Nassau-Dillenburg, dies
- 1481 Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1432)
- 1606 Henry Garnet, English Jesuit (executed) (b. 1555)
- 1614 Sasbout Vosmeer, Dutch Catholic theologist and apostole vicar, dies at 66
- 1622 Pedro Páez, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1564)
- 1654 François de Kinschot, Dutch jurist and chancellor of Brabant, dies at 77
- 1679 James Sharp, English archbishop (assassinated) (b. 1613)
- 1693 Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French courtier (b. 1607)
- 1703 Eglon van de Down, still-life painter, dies
- 1707 Michiel de Swaen, South Netherlands physician/poet, dies at 53
- 1724 John Leverett the Younger, American President of Harvard, dies at 61
- 1737 Abraham Patras, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1735-37), dies at 65
- 1750 John Willison, Scottish minister and writer (b. 1680)
- 1752 Samuel Ogle, British provincial Governor of Maryland (b. c. 1692)
- 1758 Benedict XIV, [Prospero L Lambertini], Pope (1740-58), dies at 83
- 1763 George Psalmanazar, British impostor (b. 1679)
- 1764 Francesco Algarotti, Italian art collector and encyclopedist (Viaggio in Russia), dies at 53
- 1779 John Winthrop, American astronomer (b. 1714)
- 1783 Pieter Valck(x), South Netherlands sculptor, dies at 49
- 1841 Cornelis T Elout, Dutch minister of Finance/Navy/Colonies, dies at 74
- 1863 Elisha Franklin "Bull" Paxton, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 35
- 1880 Jonathan Homer Lane, American astrophysicist who mathematically analyzed the Sun as a gaseous body, dies at 60
- 1881 Josip Jurcic, Slovic writer (Schone Vida), dies
- 1902 David R Capriles, Curacaos director of psychiatric, dies at 64
- 1910 Howard T Ricketts, American pathologist (studied typhus fever), dies of typhus at 39
- 1918 Charlie Soong, Chinese Methodist missionary and key player in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, dies at 55
- 1926 Victor, Prince Napoléon [Napoléon V], French pretender to the throne, dies at 63
- 1932 Anton Wildgans, Austrian poet and playwright (Armut), dies at 51
- 1932 Charles Fort, American writer and researcher (specialized in anomalous phenomena), dies at 57
- 1939 [Karl Eduard] Wilhelm Groener, German general, dies at 71
Henry Ossian Flipper
1940 Henry Ossian Flipper, American soldier, former slave and first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, dies at 84
Henry Ossian Flipper
- 1942 Johan H. Westerveld, Dutch WW II resistance fighter and leader of Order Service (OD), executed at 61
- 1942 Thorvald Stauning, Prime Minister of Denmark (1924-26, 1929-42), dies at 68
- 1955 Philips C Visser, explorer/ambassador to Moscow, dies
- 1955 Rudolf Schlichter, German artist and writer, dies at 64
- 1961 Maurice [Jean Jacques] Merleau-Ponty, French philosopher, dies at 53
- 1964 Diana Wynyard, dies at 58
- 1965 Howard Spring, British author (Heaven Lies About Us), dies at 76
- 1965 Otto Forst de Battaglia, Austrian diplomat and genealogist, dies at 75
- 1966 Wylie Watson, dies at 77
- 1969 Zakir Husain, 3rd President of India (1967-69) and scholar, dies at 72
- 1975 Samuel Gonard, Swiss lawyer and chairman (International Red Cross), dies at 78
- 1976 Ernie Nevers, American College, Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback, coach (Stanford, Chicago Cardinals), dies of heart & kidney ailments at 72
- 1978 Wim van Doorne, Dutch auto manufacturer (DAF Trucks), dies at 71
- 1983 Vaughn Taylor, act (Jailhouse Rock), dies of cerebal hemmorrhage at 72
- 1988 Lev Pontryagin, Russian mathematician, dies at 79
- 1988 Walther Vanbeselaere, Flemish art historian, dies at 79
- 1989 Christine Jorgensen, 1st transsexual, dies at 62
- 1989 Edward Ochab, Polish Communist politician (b. 1906)
- 1990 Pimen, [Sergei Irzyekov], patriarch of Rus-orthodox church, dies at 79
- 1991 Gerrit Mik, Dutch psychiatrist and politician (D66), dies
- 1991 Jerzy Kosiński, Polish-American novelist (The Painted Bird, Being There), dies at 57
- 1992 Peter Bruni, dies of heart failure at 60
- 1994 Gustaaf Vincent Willem van Hemert tot Dingshof, Dutch Mayor of Maarn, dies at 78
- 1994 Haty Tegelaar-Boonacker, Dutch politician and 2nd chamber member (CDA), dies at 63
- 2000 John Joseph Cardinal O'Connor, Catholic Archbishop of New York (b. 1920)
- 2002 Barbara Castle, British politician (b. 1910)
- 2006 Karel Appel, Dutch painter (Vragende Children), dies at 85
- 2006 Pramod Mahajan, Indian politician (b. 1949)
- 2007 Warja Honegger-Lavater, Swiss illustrator (b. 1913)
- 2007 Wally Schirra, American astronaut (b. 1923)
- 2008 Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, Spanish former Primer Minister (b. 1926)
- 2009 Ram Shewalkar, Indian Marathi writer, cardiac arrest.(b.1931)
- 2014 Gary Becker, American economist (Nobel 1992) and recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom 2007, dies from complications following surgery at 83
- 2014 Jim Oberstar, American politician, dies at 79
- 2016 Thomas W. Libous, American politician (Senate-R-New York 1989-2015) brought down by scandal, dies of cancer at 63
- 2016 Carl Fredrik Reutersward, Swedish artist (knotted-gun sculpture), dies at 81
- 2018 Jim Argue, American politician (Arkansas Senate, 1996–2008), dies of kidney cancer at 66
- 2018 Monica Barnes, Irish politician (Teachta Dála, 1982–1992, 1997–2002; Senator, 1982), dies at 82
- 2018 H. Basil S. Cooke, South African-Canadian geologist and paleontologist, dies at 102
- 2018 Doina Cornea, Romanian human rights activist and professor, dies at 88
- 2018 Alfonso Dhlakama, Mozambican politician and opposition leader (RENAMO), dies of a heart attack at 65
- 2018 David Pines, American physicist, dies at 93
- 2018 Junior Rodriguez, American politician, dies at 82
- 2018 Demetrio Túpac Yupanqui, Peruvian academic and Quechua translator, dies at 94