May 5
May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). There are 240 days remaining.
There are usually 92 days in Spring. We are considered halfway through Spring on May 5.
| May | ||||||
| Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||
| 2005 | ||||||
| Contents |
Events
- 1260 - Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
- 1640 - King Charles I of England disbands the Short Parliament.
- 1646 - King Charles I of England and Scotland surrenders to the Scottish Presbyterian Army at Newark.
- 1762 - Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg.
- 1789 - In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time in 150 years.
- 1809 - Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a US patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
- 1809 - The Swiss canton of Aargau denies citizenship to Jews.
- 1835 - In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
- 1862 - Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halted a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.
- 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 takes place.
- 1877 - Indian Wars: 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 in New York (now known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
- 1893 - Panic of 1893: Crash on the New York Stock Exchange starts a depression.
- 1904 - Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans threw the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
- 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.
- 1923 - Coco Chanel introduces Chanel No. 5 perfume.
- 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, Ethiopia; this date has been since commemorated as Liberation Day.
- 1943 - The film curator of the Library of Congress, Howard Walls, announces that about 5,000 films will be preserved in the library.
- 1944 - Mohandas Gandhi is freed from prison.
- 1945 - World War II:
- German troops in the Netherlands and Denmark capitulate to Canadian and British forces, liberating these countries from Nazi occupation.
- Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
- Admiral Karl Dönitz orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
- A Japanese bomb, launched by balloon and called a fire balloon, explodes near Lakewood, Oregon, United States, killing a woman and five children who were examining it during a church picnic.
- 1949 - The Council of Europe is formed.
- 1950 - Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King Rama IX of Thailand.
- 1954 - A coup d'état carries General Alfredo Stroessner to power in Paraguay.
- 1955 - West Germany gains full sovereignty.
- 1961 - Mercury program: Mercury 3 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into space, making a sub-orbital flight of 15 minutes.
- 1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds hits his 3000th major league hit.
- 1980 - Operation Nimrod: The Special Air Service storm the Iranian embassy in London after a six day siege.
- 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings.
- 1990 - Capital punishment: Jesse Tafero is executed in Florida after three electric chair malfunctions cause flames to shoot from his head.
- 1990 - In Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), Toto Cutugno wins the thirty-fifth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing "Insieme: 1992" (Together: 1992).
- 1992 - Wolfenstein 3D is released, the first-ever first-person shooter computer game.
- 1994 - American Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore as punishment for spray-painting two cars.
- 1995 - British film producer Ray Santilli unveils his alien autopsy footage to a group of UFO researchers. The film is widely regarded as a hoax.
- 2005 - The United Kingdom general election takes place
Births
- 1210 - King Afonso III of Portugal (d. 1279)
- 1747 - Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1792)
- 1813 - Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (d. 1855)
- 1818 - Karl Marx, German political philosopher (d. 1883)
- 1826 - Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon III (d. 1920)
- 1832 - H.H. Bancroft, historian and publisher
- 1833 - Ferdinand von Richthofen, geographer (d. 1905)
- 1846 - Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish author, recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature 1905 (d. 1916)
- 1865 - Elizabeth Jane Cochran ("Nellie Bly"), journalist, writer (d. 1922)
- 1869 - Hans Pfitzner, composer (d. 1949)
- 1883 - Archibald Wavell, World War II general (d. 1950)
- 1887 - Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1972)
- 1890 - Christopher Morley, writer (d. 1957)
- 1901 - Blind Willie McTell, blues singer (d. 1959)
- 1903 - James Beard, chef and cookbook writer (d. 1985)
- 1908 - Kurt Böhme, German bass (d. 1989)
- 1914 - Tyrone Power, actor (d. 1958)
- 1915 - Alice Faye, actress (d. 1998)
- 1926 - Ann B. Davis, actress
- 1935 - Douglas Marland, television writer (d. 1993)
- 1936 - Patrick Gowers, composer
- 1940 - Michael Lindsay-Hogg, director
- 1941 - Alexander Ragulin, hockey player (d. 2004)
- 1942 - Marc Alaimo, actor
- 1943 - Michael Palin, British writer, actor, and comedian
- 1944 - Roger Rees, actor
- 1944 - John Rhys-Davies, actor
- 1952 - Campbell McComas, 52, Australian impersonator, broadcaster, chameleon
- 1957 - Richard E. Grant, actor
Deaths
- 311 - Galerius, Roman Emperor
- 1028 - Alfonso V, king of León and Galicia
- 1192 - Duke Ottokar IV of Styria, last independent ruler of Styria, which is henceforth under common rule with Austria
- 1194 - King Casimir II of Poland (b. 1138)
- 1309 - King Charles II of Naples, king of Naples (b. ca. 1248)
- 1525 - Frederick III of Saxony (b. 1463)
- 1705 - Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1640)
- 1766 - Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b. 1684)
- 1807 - P. D. Q. Bach, fictitious composer (b. 1742)
- 1811 - Robert Mylne, architect (b. 1734)
- 1821 - Napoleon Bonaparte, ruler of France (1799-1815) (b. 1769)
- 1827 - Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1750)
- 1855 - Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (b. 1786)
- 1859 - Peter Gustav Dirichlet, mathematician (b. 1805)
- 1981 - Bobby Sands, Provisional IRA activist (b. 1954)
- 1985 - Sir Donald Bailey, civil engineer invented the Bailey Bridge (b. 1901)
- 1988 - Michael Shaara, author (b. 1928)
- 1992 - Jean-Claude Pascal, French singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner (b.1927)
- 1995 - Mikhail Botvinnik, world chess champion (b. 1911)
- 1997 - Walter Gotell, actor (b. 1924)
- 2001 - Cliff Hillegass, creator of Cliffs Notes
- 2003 - Walter Sisulu, anti-apartheid activist (b. 1912)
Holidays and observances
- Ascension Day in Western Christianity (2005)
- Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Saint Angelus (d. 1222)
- Pius V (1505-1572)
- Jutta Kulmsee or Saint Judith of Prussia (d. 1260)
- Aventinus (d. 1189)
- Saint Gerontius (d. 472)
- Nicetius
- Hilary of Arles (d. 449)
- Denmark: Liberation Day (1945)
- The Netherlands: May 5, Liberation day (1945)
- Ethiopia: Liberation Day (1941)
- Northern Territory, Australia: May Day
- Japan: Tango no Sekku - Boy's Day; or Kodomo no hi - Children's Day
- Mexico and the Southwestern United States: Cinco de Mayo (1862)
- Guyana: Indian Immigration Day (1838)
- Council of Europe: Europe Day
- Albania: Martyrs' Day
External links
May 4 - May 6 - April 5 - June 5 – listing of all days
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