May 5

Events

Pre-1600

* 553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins.
* 1215 – Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta.
* 1260 – Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
* 1494 – On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica, landing at Discovery Bay and declares Jamaica the property of the Spanish crown.

1601–1900

* 1609 – ''Daimyō'' (Lord) Shimazu Tadatsune of the Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in Okinawa.
* 1640 – King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.
* 1654 – Cromwell's Act of Grace, aimed at reconciliation with the Scots, proclaimed in Edinburgh.
* 1762 – Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg.
* 1789 – In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614.
* 1809 – Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
* 1821 – Emperor Napoleon dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
* 1821 – The first edition of ''The Manchester Guardian'', now ''The Guardian'', is published.
* 1835 – The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
* 1862 – Cinco de Mayo: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico.
* 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County.
* 1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate government was declared dissolved at Washington, Georgia.
* 1866 – Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York.
*1877 – American Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
*1886 – Workers marching for the Eight-hour day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin were shot at by Wisconsin National Guardsmen in what became known as the Bay View Massacre.
* 1887 – The Peruvian Academy of Language is founded.
* 1891 – The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.

1901–present

* 1904 – Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
* 1905 – The trial in the Stratton Brothers case begins in London, England; it marks the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to gain a conviction for murder.
*1912 – The first issue of the Bolshevik newspaper '' Pravda'' was published.
* 1920 – Authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder.
* 1930 – The 1930 Bago earthquake, the former of two major earthquakes in southern Burma kills as many as 7,000 in Yangon and Bago.
*1936 – Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
* 1940 – World War II: Norwegian Campaign: Norwegian squads in Hegra Fortress and Vinjesvingen capitulate to German forces after all other Norwegian forces in southern Norway had laid down their arms.
* 1941 – Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots' Victory Day.
* 1945 – World War II: The Prague uprising begins as an attempt by the Czech resistance to free the city from German occupation.
* 1945 – World War II: A Fu-Go balloon bomb launched by the Japanese Army kills six people near Bly, Oregon.
* 1945 – World War II: Battle of Castle Itter, one of only two battles in that war in which American and German troops fought cooperatively.
*1946 – The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo with twenty-eight Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
* 1955 – The General Treaty, by which France, Britain and the United States recognize the sovereignty of West Germany, comes into effect.
* 1961 – Project Mercury: Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight.
* 1964 – The Council of Europe declares May 5 as Europe Day.
*1972 – Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 aboard, making it the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy.
*1973 – Secretariat wins the 1973 Kentucky Derby in 1:59.4, an as-yet-unbeaten record.
*1980 – Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege.
* 1981 – Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27.
* 1985 – Ronald Reagan visits the military cemetery at Bitburg and the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he makes a speech.
*1987 – Iran–Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States of America
* 1991 – A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man.
*1994 – The signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively freezes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
* 1994 – American teenager Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism.
* 2006 – The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army.
* 2007 – Kenya Airways Flight 507 crashes after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, killing all 114 aboard, making it the deadliest aircraft disaster in Cameroon.
*2010 – Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek government-debt crisis.
* 2023 – The World Health Organization declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency.

Births

Pre-1600

* 1210 – Afonso III of Portugal (died 1279)
* 1282 – Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena (died 1348)
* 1310 – Preczlaw of Pogarell, Cardinal and Bishop of Wrocław (died 1376)
* 1352 – Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (died 1410)
* 1479 – Guru Amar Das, Indian 3rd Sikh Guru (died 1574)
* 1504 – Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (died 1579)
* 1530 – Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, French nobleman (died 1574)
* 1542 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (died 1623)
* 1582 – John Frederick, Duke of Württemberg (died 1628)

1601–1900

* 1684 – Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné, French wife of Adrien Maurice de Noailles (died 1739)
* 1747 – Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1792)
* 1749 – Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, French pianist and composer (died 1794)
* 1764 – Robert Craufurd, Scottish general and politician (died 1812)
* 1800 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (died 1864)
* 1813 – Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher and author (died 1855)
*1818 – Karl Marx, German philosopher, sociologist, and journalist (died 1883)
* 1826 – Eugénie de Montijo, French wife of Napoleon III (died 1920)
* 1830 – John Batterson Stetson, American businessman, founded the John B. Stetson Company (died 1906)
* 1832 – Hubert Howe Bancroft, American ethnologist and historian (died 1918)
* 1833 – Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer and academic (died 1905)
* 1834 – Viktor Hartmann, Russian painter and architect (died 1873)
*1843 – William George Beers, Canadian dentist and patriot (died 1900)
* 1846 – Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1916)
* 1858 – John L. Leal, American physician (died 1914)
* 1859 – Charles B. Hanford, American Shakespearean actor (died 1926)
* 1864 – Nellie Bly, American journalist and author (died 1922)
* 1865 – Helen Maud Merrill, American litterateur and poet (died 1943)
* 1866 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish businessman (died 1938)
* 1869 – Fabián de la Rosa, Filipino painter and educator (died 1937)
* 1869 – Hans Pfitzner, German composer and conductor (died 1949)
* 1873 – Leon Czolgosz, American assassin of William McKinley (died 1901)
* 1874 – Thomas Bavin, New Zealand-Australian politician, 24th Premier of New South Wales (died 1941)
* 1882 – Sylvia Pankhurst, English women's suffrage movement leader and socialist activist (died 1960)
* 1883 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English general and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (died 1950)
* 1883 – Anna Johnson Pell Wheeler, American mathematician (died 1966)
* 1884 – Chief Bender, American baseball player and coach (died 1954)
* 1885 – Kingsley Fairbridge, South African-Australian scholar and politician (died 1924)
* 1887 – Mervyn S. Bennion, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1941)
* 1889 – Herbie Taylor, South African cricketer and soldier (died 1973)
*1890 – Christopher Morley, American journalist and author (died 1957)
* 1892 – Dorothy Garrod, British archaeologist (died 1968)
* 1898 – Elsie Eaves, American engineer (died 1983)
* 1898 – Blind Willie McTell, American Piedmont blues singer and guitar player (died 1959)
* 1899 – Freeman Gosden, American actor and screenwriter (died 1982)
*1900 – Helen Redfield, American geneticist (died 1988)

1901–present

* 1901 – Janne Mustonen, Finnish politician (died 1964)
* 1903 – James Beard, American chef and author (died 1985)
* 1905 – Floyd Gottfredson, American author and illustrator (died 1986)
*1907 – Daryna Dmytrivna Polotniuk, Bukovinian (Ukrainian) journalist and author (died 1982)
* 1910 – Leo Lionni, American author and illustrator (died 1999)
*1911 – Andor Lilienthal, Russian-Hungarian chess player (died 2010)
* 1911 – Pritilata Waddedar, Indian educator and activist (died 1932)
* 1913 – Duane Carter, American race car driver (died 1993)
* 1914 – Tyrone Power, American actor (died 1958)
* 1915 – Alice Faye, American actress and singer (died 1998)
* 1916 – Zail Singh, Indian politician, 7th President of India (died 1994)
* 1919 – Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, 169th Prime Minister of Greece (died 1999)
* 1921 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1999)
* 1922 – Irene Gut Opdyke, Polish nurse and humanitarian (died 2003)
* 1923 – William C. Campbell, American golfer (died 2013)
* 1923 – Cathleen Synge Morawetz, Canadian mathematician (died 2017)
* 1925 – Leo Ryan, American soldier, educator, and politician (died 1978)
* 1927 – Pat Carroll, American actress (died 2022)
* 1929 – Ilene Woods, American actress (died 2010)
*1932 – Stan Goldberg, American illustrator (died 2014)
*1933 – Collie Smith, Jamaican cricketer (died 1959)
* 1934 – Henri Konan Bédié, Ivorian politician, 2nd President of Côte d'Ivoire (died 2023)
* 1934 – Victor Garland, Australian accountant and politician, 26th Australian Minister for Veterans' Affairs (died 2022)
*1935 – Eddie Linden, Scottish poet and magazine editor (died 2023)
* 1935 – Bernard Pivot, French journalist, talk show host, and producer (died 2024)
*1936 – Sandy Baron, American actor and comedian (died 2001)
* 1937 – Beryl Burton, English racing cyclist (died 1996) Clifford, Tim, (7 May 1996), Beryl Burton Obituary, The Independent
Retrieved 20 July 2015
* 1937 – Delia Derbyshire, English musician, arranger and composer (died 2001)
*1938 – Michael Murphy, American actor
* 1939 – Ray Gosling, English journalist, author, and activist (died 2013)
* 1940 – Lance Henriksen, American actor
*1942 – Jean Corston, Baroness Corston, English lawyer and politician
* 1942 – Tammy Wynette, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1998)
*1943 – Michael Palin, English actor and screenwriter
* 1943 – Ignacio Ramonet, Spanish journalist and author
*1944 – Bo Larsson, Swedish footballer (died 2023)
* 1944 – John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor and screenwriter
* 1944 – Roger Rees, Welsh-American actor and director (died 2015)
* 1945 – Kurt Loder, American journalist, author, and critic
* 1946 – Jim Kelly, American actor, athlete, and martial artist (died 2013)
*1948 – Bill Ward, English drummer and songwriter
*1950 – Maggie MacNeal, Dutch singer
* 1952 – Ed Lee, American politician and attorney, 43rd Mayor of San Francisco (died 2017)
* 1955 – Jon Butcher, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and freelance multimedia producer
*1956 – Steve Scott, American runner and coach
* 1957 – Richard E. Grant, Swazi-English actor, director, and screenwriter
* 1958 – Robert DiPierdomenico, Australian footballer and sportscaster
* 1959 – Bobby Ellsworth, American singer and bass player
* 1959 – Ian McCulloch, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1959 – Brian Williams, American journalist
* 1960 – Doug Hawkins, Australian footballer and sportscaster
* 1961 – Marg Downey, Australian actress
* 1961 – Hiroshi Hase, Japanese wrestler and politician
*1963 – James LaBrie, Canadian singer-songwriter
* 1963 – Simon Rimmer, English chef and author
* 1963 – Scott Westerfeld, American author and composer
* 1964 – Jean-François Copé, French politician, French Minister of Budget
* 1964 – Heike Henkel, German high jumper
* 1964 – Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (died 2013)
* 1964 – Minami Takayama, Japanese voice actress and singer
*1966 – Shawn Drover, Canadian drummer
* 1966 – Sergei Stanishev, Bulgarian politician, 46th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
* 1966 – Josh Weinstein, American screenwriter and producer
*1967 – Adam Hughes, American author and illustrator
* 1967 – Charles Nagy, American baseball player
* 1967 – Alexis Sinduhije, Burundian journalist and politician
*1971 – Harold Miner, American basketball player
*1972 – James Cracknell, English rower
* 1972 – Žigmund Pálffy, Slovakian ice hockey player
* 1972 – Mikael Renberg, Swedish ice hockey player
*1975 – Meb Keflezighi, American runner
*1976 – Dieter Brummer, Australian actor (died 2021)
* 1976 – Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentinian footballer and sportscaster
* 1977 – Tiffany Roberts, American footballer
*1979 – Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
*1980 – Yossi Benayoun, Israeli footballer
* 1980 – Hank Green, American entrepreneur, educator, and vlogger
* 1981 – Craig David, English singer-songwriter, musician and producer
* 1981 – Danielle Fishel, American actress
* 1982 – Vanessa Bryant, American philanthropist and model
* 1982 – Corey Parker, Australian rugby league footballer
*1983 – Henry Cavill, English actor
* 1985 – Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese actress and singer
* 1985 – Emanuele Giaccherini, Italian footballer
* 1985 – P. J. Tucker, American basketball player
*1987 – Graham Dorrans, Scottish footballer
* 1988 – Adele, English singer-songwriter
* 1989 – Chris Brown, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
* 1989 – Agnes Knochenhauer, Swedish curler
* 1991 – Raúl Jiménez, Mexican footballer
*1994 – Celeste, British singer
* 1995 – James Conner, American football player
* 1996 – Christopher Eubanks, American tennis player
* 1996 – Mayar Sherif, Egyptian tennis player
*1997 – Logan Gilbert, American baseball player
* 1997 – Mitch Marner, Canadian hockey player
*1998 – Aryna Sabalenka, Belarusian tennis player
*1999 – Nathan Chen, American figure skater
* 1999 – Justin Kluivert, Dutch footballer
* 2003 – Carlos Alcaraz, Spanish tennis player
*2004 – Jenna Davis, American actress and YouTuber
* 2004 – Kirsty Muir, Scottish freestyle skier

Deaths

Pre-1600

* 465 – Gerontius, Archbishop of Milan
* 1194 – Casimir II the Just, Polish son of Bolesław III Wrymouth (born 1138)
* 1243 – Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, English justiciar (born )
* 1306 – Constantine Palaiologos, Byzantine general (born 1261)
* 1309 – Charles II of Naples (born 1254)
* 1316 – Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of King Edward I of England (born 1282)
* 1338 – Prince Tsunenaga, son of the Japanese Emperor (born 1324)
* 1380 – Saint Philotheos, Coptic martyr
* 1432 – Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola, Italian adventurer
* 1525 – Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (born 1463)
* 1582 – Charlotte of Bourbon, Princess consort of Orange, married to William I of Orange (born 1547)
* 1586 – Henry Sidney, Irish politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland (born 1529)

1601–1900

* 1671 – Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, English general and politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom (born 1602)
* 1672 – Samuel Cooper, English painter and linguist (born 1609)
* 1700 – Angelo Italia, Italian architect (born 1628)
* 1705 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1640)
* 1760 – Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English politician (born 1720)
*1766 – Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (born 1684)
* 1808 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (born 1757)
* 1821 – Napoleon, French general and emperor (born 1769)
* 1827 – Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (born 1750)
* 1833 – Sophia Campbell, English-Australian painter (born 1777)
* 1855 – Sir Robert Inglis, 2nd Baronet, English politician (born 1786)
* 1859 – Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician and academic (born 1805)
* 1860 – Jean-Charles Prince, Canadian bishop (born 1804)
* 1883 – John O'Shanassy, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Victoria (born 1818)
* 1892 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic (born 1818)
* 1896 – Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (born 1839)

1901–present

* 1901 – Mariano Ignacio Prado, Peruvian general, twice President of Peru (born 1825)
* 1902 – Bret Harte, American short story writer and poet (born 1836)
*1907 – Şeker Ahmed Pasha, Turkish soldier and painter (born 1841)
* 1913 – Henry Moret, French painter (born 1856)
* 1916 – John MacBride, Irish soldier and rebel (born 1865)
* 1916 – Maurice Raoul-Duval, French polo player (born 1866)
* 1921 – Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian journalist and publicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1864)
* 1924 – A. Sabapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and politician (born 1853)
* 1931 – Glen Kidston, English pilot and race car driver (born 1899)
* 1941 – Platon of Banja Luka, Serbian Orthodox bishop (born 1874)
*1942 – Qemal Stafa, Albanian politician (born 1920)
*1947 – Ty LaForest, Canadian-American baseball player (born 1917)
* 1957 – Leopold Löwenheim, German mathematician and logician (born 1878)
* 1959 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentinian academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1878)
*1962 – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (born 1889)
*1965 – Nikos Gounaris, Greek tenor and composer (born 1915)
* 1965 – John Waters, American director and screenwriter (born 1893)
*1971 – Violet Jessop, Argentinean-English nurse (born 1887)
*1973 – Zekai Özger, Turkish poet and academic (born 1948)
* 1977 – Ludwig Erhard, German economist and politician, Chancellor of Germany (born 1897)
* 1981 – Bobby Sands, PIRA volunteer and hunger striker (born 1954)
*1983 – Horst Schumann, German physician (born 1901)
* 1983 – John Williams, English-American actor (born 1903)
* 1985 – Donald Bailey, English engineer, designed the Bailey bridge (born 1901)
* 1988 – Michael Shaara, American author and academic (born 1928)
* 1993 – Irving Howe, American literary and social critic (born 1920)
*1994 – Mário Quintana, Brazilian poet and translator (born 1906)
* 1995 – Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player and coach (born 1911)
*1999 – Vasilis Diamantopoulos, Greek actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1920)
*2000 – Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (born 1914)
* 2000 – Bill Musselman, American basketball player and coach (born 1940)
*2001 – Morris Graves, American painter and educator (born 1910)
* 2001 – Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, created '' CliffsNotes'' (born 1918)
* 2002 – Hugo Banzer, Bolivian general and politician, 62nd President of Bolivia (born 1926)
* 2002 – Paul Wilbur Klipsch, American engineer, founded Klipsch Audio Technologies (born 1904)
* 2002 – George Sidney, American director and producer (born 1916)
* 2002 – Louis C. Wyman, American lawyer and politician (born 1917)
* 2003 – Sam Bockarie, Sierra Leonean commander (born 1964)
* 2003 – Walter Sisulu, South African activist and politician (born 1912)
* 2006 – Naushad Ali, Indian composer and producer (born 1919)
* 2006 – Atıf Yılmaz, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1925)
* 2007 – Theodore Harold Maiman, American-Canadian physicist and engineer, created the laser (born 1927)
* 2008 – Irv Robbins, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins

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