5 May

Events

• 1640 - King Charles I of England disbands the Short Parliament.
• 1646 - King Charles I of England surrenders to the Scottish Presbyterian Army at Newark.
• 1762 - Peace treaty between Russia and Prussia.
• 1809 - Mary Kies becomes the first woman to be awarded a US patent (which was for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread).
• 1809 - The Swiss canton of Aargau denies Jews citizenship
• 1814 - War of 1812: The British attack Fort Ontario at Oswego, New York
• 1835 - In Belgium a railway is opened between Brussels and Mechelen. It is the first railway in continental Europe.
• 1862 - The Mexican army defeats the French army in the Battle of Puebla (on May 9 this day was made into the Cinco de mayo holiday).
• 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 took place.
• 1877 - 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 (now known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance (Tchaikovsky is the guest conductor).
• 1892 - The United States Congress passes the Geary Chinese Exclusion Act: All Chinese in the United States must register, if not they risk deportation.
• 1893 - Panic of 1893: Crash on the New York Stock Exchange starts a depression.
• 1912 - The 1912 Summer Olympics open in Stockholm, Sweden.
• 1916 - American marines invade the Dominican Republic.
• 1922 - In The Bronx, construction begins on Yankee Stadium.
• 1925 - Scopes Trial: Dayton, Tennessee biology teacher John Scopes is arrested for teaching Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution.
• 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.
• 1944 - Mohandas Gandhi is freed from prison.
• 1945 - World War II: A Japanese bomb, launched by balloon, explodes near Lakewood, Oregon, killing a women and five children who were examining it during a church picnic (the bomb exploded as the children were dragging it from the woods).
• 1945 - World War II: German troops in the Netherlands and Denmark capitulate
• 1945 - World War II: Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
• 1945 - World War II: Canadian soldiers liberate the city of Amsterdam from Nazi occupation
• 1949 - The Council of Europe is formed.
• 1950 - Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King Rama IX of Thailand.
• 1954 - General Alfredo Stroessner takes power in Paraguay by coup.
• 1955 - West Germany gains full sovereignty.
• 1961 - Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into space. He makes a space flight of 15 minutes, making less than one complete orbit
• 1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds has his 3000th major league hit
• 1980 - British police storm the Iranian embassy in London after a time of siege.
• 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings.
• 1992 - Computer game Wolfenstein 3D is released.
• 1994 - American Michael Fay is caned in Singapore as punishment for spray-painting two cars.
• 2000 - Conjunction of all traditional planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Moon and Sun).
• 2001 - Chandra Levy's parents report her missing to Washington, DC police.
• 2002 - The first "Free Comic Book Day" promotional event to promote popular interest in the medium in North America; timed to the premiere of the film, Spider-Man..

Births

• 1210 - King Afonso III of Portugal
• 1813 - Søren Kierkegaard, philosopher († 1855)
• 1818 - Karl Marx, political philosopher († 1883)
• 1826 - Empress Eugenie of France, empress as wife of Napoleon III († 1920)
• 1829 - Shusaku Honinbo, Go player († 1862)
• 1832 - H.H. Bancroft, historian and publisher
• 1833 - Ferdinand von Richthofen, geographer († 1905)
• 1846 - Henryk Sienkiewicz, author, recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature 1905 († 1916)
• 1865 - Elizabeth Jane Cochran ("Nellie Bly"), journalist, writer († 1922)
• 1869 - Hans Pfitzner, composer († 1949)
• 1883 - Archibald Wavell, World War II general
• 1890 - Christopher Morley, writer († 1957)
• 1901 - Blind Willie McTell, blues singer († 1959)
• 1903 - James Beard, chef, cookbook writer († 1985)
• 1913 - Tyrone Power, actor († 1958)
• 1915 - Alice Faye, actress († 1998)
• 1926 - Ann B. Davis, actress
• 1940 - Eric Burdon, rock singer ("The Animals")
• 1940 - Michael Lindsay-Hogg, director
• 1942 - Tammy Wynette, country music singer
• 1943 - Michael Palin, comedian ("Monty Python")
• 1944 - Roger Rees, actor
• 1944 - John Rhys-Davies, actor
• 1957 - Richard E. Grant, actor

Deaths

• 1028 - Alfonso V, king of León and Galicia
• 1194 - King Casimir II of Poland (ruled 1177-1194)
• 1309 - King Charles II of Naples, king of Naples
• 1525 - Frederick III of Saxony
• 1705 - Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1766 - Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar
• 1786 - King Pedro III of Portugal
• 1807 - P. D. Q. Bach, fictitious composer
• 1811 - Robert Mylne, architect
• 1821 - Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France (1799-1815)
• 1827 - Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (1806-1827)
• 1859 - Peter Dirichlet, mathematician
• 1902 - Bret Harte, author
• 1981 - Bobby Sands, Provisional IRA activist
• 1988 - Michael Shaara, author
• 1995 - Mikhail Botvinnik, world chess champion
• 2001 - Cliff Hillegass, creator of Cliffs Notes
• 2003 - Walter Sisulu, anti-apartheid activist

Holidays and observances

• Denmark: Liberation Day (1945)
• The Netherlands: May 5, Liberation day (1945)
• Ethiopia: Liberation Day (1941)
• Northern Territory, Australia: May Day
• Japan: Children's Day
• Mexico: Cinco de Mayo (1862)

May 4 - May 6 - April 5 - June 5 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By