May 5

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MMXI

May 5 in recent years

2011 (Thursday)

2010 (Wednesday)

2009 (Tuesday)

2008 (Monday)

2007 (Saturday)

2006 (Friday)

2005 (Thursday)

2004 (Wednesday)

2003 (Monday)

2002 (Sunday)

May 5 is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 240 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 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 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica and claims it for Spain.
• 1640 – King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.
• 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.
• 1809 – The Swiss canton of Aargau denies citizenship to Jews.
• 1811 – In the second day of fighting at the Peninsular War Battle of Fuentes de Onoro the French army, under Marshall Massena, drive in the Duke of Wellington's overextended right flank, but French frontal assaults fail to take the town of Fuentes de Onoro and the Anglo-Portugese army holds the field at the end of the day.
• 1821 – Emperor Napoleon I dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
• 1835 – In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
• 1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi sets sail from Genoa, leading the expedition of the Thousand to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and giving birth to the Kingdom of Italy.
• 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, Virginia.
• 1865 – In North Bend, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio), the first train robbery in the United States takes place.
• 1866 – Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York.
• 1877 – Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
• 1886 – The Bay View Tragedy: A militia fires into a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing seven.
• 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.
• 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.
• 1920 – Authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder.
• 1925 – Scopes Trial: serving of an arrest warrant on John T. Scopes for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
• 1925 – The government of South Africa declares Afrikaans an official language
• 1936 – Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• 1940 – World War II: Norwegian refugees form a government-in-exile in London
• 1940 – World War II: Norwegian Campaign – Norwegian squads in Hegra Fortress and Vinjesvingen capitulate to the Nazis after all other Norwegian forces in southern Norway had laid down their arms.
• 1941 – Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots' Victory Day.
• 1944 – German troops execute 216 civilians in the village of Kleisoura in Greece
• 1945 – World War II: Canadian and UK troops liberate the Netherlands and Denmark from Nazi occupation when Wehrmacht troops capitulate.
• 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.
• 1949 – The Treaty of London establishes the Council of Europe in Strasbourg as the first European institution working for European integration.
• 1950 – Bhumibol Adulyadej crowns himself King Rama IX of Thailand.
• 1955 – West Germany gains full sovereignty.
• 1961 – The Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, making a sub-orbital flight of 15 minutes.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 1992 – Ratification by Alabama brings into effect the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
• 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, a punishment that many in the United States deemed to be excessive for a teenager committing a non-violent crime. However, significant numbers of Americans were also in favor of it.
• 2006 – The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army.
• 2007 – All 114 aboard Kenya Airways Flight 507 die when the pilots lose control of the plane and it crashes in Douala, Cameroon.
• 2010 – Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek debt crisis.

Births

• 867 – Uda, Emperor of Japan (d. 931)
• 1210 – King Afonso III of Portugal (d. 1279)
• 1479 – Guru Amar Das, third Sikh Guru (d. 1574)
• 1546 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician (d. 1623)
• 1684 – Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné, niece of Madame de Maintenon and ancestress of the Heir to the Belgian throne (d. 1739)
• 1747 – Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1792)
• 1764 – Robert Craufurd, British general (d. 1812)
• 1800 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (d. 1864)
• 1813 – Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (d. 1855)
• 1818 – Karl Marx, German political philosopher (d. 1883)
• 1826 – Empress Eugénie de Montijo of France, wife of Napoleon III (d. 1920)
• 1830 – John Batterson Stetson, American hat manufacturer (d. 1906)
• 1832 – H.H. Bancroft, American historian and publisher (d. 1918)
• 1833 – Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer (d. 1905)
• 1834 – Viktor Hartmann, Russian architect and painter (d. 1873)
• 1846 – Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1916)
• 1864 – Nellie Bly, American journalist and writer (d. 1922)
• 1866 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish industrialist (d. 1938)
• 1869 – Hans Pfitzner, German composer (d. 1949)
• 1883 – Archibald Wavell, British general (d. 1950)
• 1883 – Agustín Barrios, Paraguayan guitarist and composer (d. 1944)
• 1887 – Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1972)
• 1889 – Herbie Taylor, South African cricketer (d. 1973)
• 1890 – Christopher Morley, American writer (d. 1957)
• 1899 – Freeman Gosden, American radio comedian (Amos-Amos 'n' Andy) (d. 1982)
• 1901 – Blind Willie McTell, American singer (d. 1959)
• 1903 – James Beard, American chef and cookbook writer (d. 1985)
• 1908 – Kurt Böhme, German bass (d. 1989)
• 1909 – Miklós Radnóti, Hungarian poet (d. 1944)
• 1911 – Andor Lilienthal, Hungarian chess grandmaster (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Tyrone Power, American actor (d. 1958)
• 1915 – Alice Faye, American actress (d. 1998)
• 1919 – Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek dictator (d. 1999)
• 1921 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
• 1923 – Richard Wollheim, British philosopher (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Leo Ryan, United States Congressman (d. 1978)
• 1926 – Ann B. Davis, American actress
• 1927 – Pat Carroll, American actress
• 1928 – Nora Denney, American actress (d. 2005)
• 1931 – Michel Regnier, Belgian comic-book writer (Achille Talon) (d. 1999)
• 1932 – Will Hutchins, American actor
• 1934 – Ace Cannon, American saxophonist
• 1935 – Douglas Marland, American television writer (d. 1993)
• 1935 – Bernard Pivot, French journalist and television host
• 1935 – Robert Rehme, American film producer
• 1936 – Patrick Gowers, British composer
• 1936 – Ervin Lázár, Hungarian writer (d. 2006)
• 1937 – Johnnie Taylor, American singer (d. 2000)
• 1937 – Delia Derbyshire, British electronic music composer (d. 2001)
• 1938 – Michael Murphy, American actor
• 1939 – Cesare Fiorio, Italian sporting director of various Formula One teams
• 1940 – Lasse Åberg, Swedish artist, actor and musician
• 1940 – Lance Henriksen, American actor and painter
• 1940 – Michael Lindsay-Hogg, American film director
• 1941 – Alexander Ragulin, Russian hockey player (d. 2004)
• 1942 – Marc Alaimo, American actor
• 1942 – István Bujtor, Hungarian actor (d. 2009)
• 1942 – Tammy Wynette, American musician (d. 1998)
• 1943 – Michael Palin, British writer, actor, and comedian
• 1944 – Bo Larsson, Swedish footballer
• 1944 – John Rhys-Davies, English-born Welsh actor
• 1944 – Roger Rees, Welsh-American actor
• 1948 – Bill Ward, British drummer
• 1951 – Rudolf Finsterer, German rugby player and coach
• 1952 – Campbell McComas, Australian impersonator and broadcaster (d. 2005)
• 1954 – Dave Spector, American television personality and commentator
• 1955 – Melinda Culea, American actress
• 1955 – Lisa Jane Persky, American actress
• 1956 – Robert Marien, Québécois actor, singer and songwriter
• 1957 – Richard E. Grant, British actor
• 1957 – Peter Howitt, British actor and film director
• 1958 – Ron Arad, Israeli aircraft navigator missing in action
• 1958 – Robert DiPierdomenico, Australian rules footballer
• 1959 – Johann Gajda, German footballer
• 1959 – Ian McCulloch, English singer (Echo & the Bunnymen)
• 1959 – Brian Williams, American news anchor
• 1961 – Hiroshi Hase, Japanese professional wrestler and politician
• 1962 – Jenifer McKitrick, American songwriter
• 1963 – Simon Rimmer, English chef
• 1963 – Heidi Kozak, American actress
• 1963 – James LaBrie, Canadian singer (Dream Theater)
• 1964 – John Lee, Korean-born American football player
• 1965 – Glenn Seton, Australian racing driver
• 1966 – Shawn Drover, Canadian drummer (Megadeth)
• 1966 – Josh Weinstein, American writer
• 1967 – Takehito Koyasu, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
• 1967 – Maro Mavri, Greek fashion-model and actress
• 1970 – Soheil Ayari, French racer
• 1970 – Kyan Douglas, American TV-personality
• 1970 – LaPhonso Ellis, American basketball player
• 1970 – Todd Newton, American TV-personality, two-time game-show host
• 1971 – Harold Miner, American basketball player
• 1971 – Mike Redmond, American baseball player
• 1972 – Brad Bombardir, Canadian ice-hockey player
• 1972 – James Cracknell, British rower
• 1972 – Žigmund Pálffy, Slovak ice-hockey player
• 1972 – Mikael Renberg, Swedish ice-hockey player
• 1972 – Devin Townsend, Canadian musician (Strapping Young Lad)
• 1973 – Casino Versus Japan, American composer
• 1973 – Tina Yothers, American actress
• 1974 – Seiji Ara, Japanese racing driver
• 1976 – Dieter Brummer, Australian actor
• 1976 – Anastasios Pantos, Greek footballer
• 1976 – Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentine footballer
• 1977 – Choi Kang-hee, South Korean actress
• 1978 – Santiago Cabrera, Chilean actor
• 1978 – Bruno Cheyrou, French footballer
• 1978 – Morgan Pehme, American filmmaker and writer
• 1978 – John Wilshere, Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer
• 1979 – Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
• 1980 – Yossi Benayoun, Israeli footballer
• 1980 – DerMarr Johnson, American basketball player
• 1980 – Hank Green, Musician, video blogger and founder of ecogeek.org
• 1981 – Marcelle Bittar, Brazilian model
• 1981 – Craig David, English singer
• 1981 – Chris Duncan, American baseball player
• 1981 – Danielle Fishel, American actress
• 1982 – Jay Bothroyd, English footballer
• 1982 – Wouter D'Haene, Belgian flatwater-canoeist
• 1982 – Randall Gay, American football player
• 1983 – Henry Cavill, Jersey actor
• 1983 – Scott Ware, American football player
• 1984 – Wade MacNeil, Canadian guitarist (Alexisonfire)
• 1985 – Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese actress, illustrator and singer
• 1985 – Emanuele Giaccherini, Italian footballer
• 1985 – Marcos Rogério, Brazilian footballer
• 1985 – Terrence Wheatley, American football player
• 1987 – Jessie Cave, English actress
• 1987 – Marija Šestić, Bosnian singer
• 1988 – Adele, English singer
• 1988 – Jessica Dubroff, American pilot trainee (d. 1996)
• 1988 – Brooke Hogan, American singer and television personality
• 1989 – Chris Brown, American singer and actor
• 1989 – Larissa Wilson, English actress
• 1991 – Xenofon Fetsis, Greek footballer
• 1999 – Nathan Chen, American figure skater

Deaths

• 200 – Sun Ce, warlord of the Han Dynasty (b. 175)
• 311 – Galerius, Roman Emperor
• 984 – Gerberga of Saxony, Queen of Western Francia
• 1028 – King Alfonso V of Castile, León, and Galicia (b. 994)
• 1194 – King Casimir II of Poland (b. 1138)
• 1219 – King Leo II of Armenia (b. 1150)
• 1309 – King Charles II of Naples (b. 1254)
• 1426 – Ephraim of Nea Makri, Greek Orthodox saint (b. 1384)
• 1525 – Frederick III of Saxony (b. 1463)
• 1586 – Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1529)
• 1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (b. 1533)
• 1671 – Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, English politician (b. 1602)
• 1672 – Samuel Cooper, English painter (b. 1609)
• 1705 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1640)
• 1760 – Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English murderer (b. 1720)
• 1766 – Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b. 1684)
• 1808 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist (b. 1757)
• 1811 – Robert Mylne, Scottish architect (b. 1734)
• 1821 – Napoleon Bonaparte (b. 1769)
• 1827 – Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1750)
• 1833 – Sophia Campbell, Australian artist (b. 1777)
• 1855 – Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (b. 1786)
• 1859 – Peter Gustav Dirichlet, German mathematician (b. 1805)
• 1892 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist (b. 1818)
• 1896 – Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
• 1900 – Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian painter (b. 1817)
• 1916 – John MacBride, Irish Nationalist and member of the Easter Rising (b. 1865)
• 1921 – Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1864)
• 1931 – Glen Kidston, British aviator and racing driver (b. 1899)
• 1941 – Natalija Obrenović, Queen of Serbia (b. 1859)
• 1942 – Qemal Stafa, Albanian politician (b. 1920)
• 1945 – Peter Van Pels, Jewish Refugee (b. 1926)
• 1947 – Ty LaForest, Canadian baseball player (b. 1917)
• 1959 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878)
• 1962 – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (b. 1889)
• 1965 – Nikos Gounaris, Greek tenor (b. 1915)
• 1971 – Violet Jessop, Titanic survivor (b. 1887)
• 1977 – Ludwig Erhard, German politician (CDU) and Chancellor of Germany from 1963 until 1966 (b. 1897)
• 1981 – Bobby Sands, Irish activist (b. 1954)
• 1983 – Horst Schumann, Nazi physician (b. 1901)
• 1985 – Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
• 1988 – Michael Shaara, American author (b. 1928)
• 1992 – Jean-Claude Pascal, French singer (b. 1927)
• 1994 – Mario Quintana, Brazilian poet (b. 1906)
• 1995 – Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player, grandmaster and world champion (b. 1911)
• 1997 – Walter Gotell, German actor (b. 1924)
• 1999 – Vasilis Diamantopoulos, Greek actor (b. 1920)
• 2000 – Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (b. 1914)
• 2000 – Bill Musselman, American basketball head coach (b. 1940)
• 2001 – Clifton Hillegass, American writer and publisher (b. 1918)
• 2001 – Raymond Kessler, American midget wrestler
• 2002 – Hugo Banzer, Bolivian dictator (b. 1926)
• 2002 – Paul Klipsch, American engineer, noted for his loudspeaker designs (b. 1904)
• 2002 – George Sidney, American film director (b. 1916)
• 2003 – Sam Bockarie, RUF Rebel commander (b. 1964)
• 2003 – Walter Sisulu, South African activist (b. 1912)
• 2004 – Ritsuko Okazaki, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
• 2005 – Elisabeth Fraser, American television, film, and stage actress (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Edgar Ponce, Mexican actor and dancer (b. 1974)
• 2006 – Naushad Ali, Indian composer (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Theodore Harold Maiman, American physicist, noted for making the first working laser (b. 1927)
• 2008 – Irv Robbins, Canadian-American entrepreneur (b. 1917)
• 2010 – Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, 12th president of Nigeria (b. 1951)
• 2010 – Giulietta Simionato, Italian mezzo-soprano (b. 1910)
• 2011 – Yosef Merimovich, Israeli football player and manager (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Claude Choules, last surviving World War I veteran (b. 1901)

Holidays and observances

• Children's Day (Japan)
• Children's Day (South Korea)
• Cinco de Mayo (Mexico and the United States)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Angelus of Jerusalem
  • Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice
  • Hilary of Arles
  • Jutta of Kulmsee
  • May 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (Kyrgyzstan)
• Coronation Day, commemorates the coronation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1950. (Thailand)
• Europe Day (Council of Europe)
• Feast of al-Khadr or St. George (Palestinian)
• Indian Arrival Day (Guyana)
• International Midwives' Day (International)
• Liberation Day (Denmark)
• Liberation Day (The Netherlands)
• Lusophone Culture Day (Community of Portuguese-speaking countries)
• Martyrs' Day (Albania)
• Men's Day or Ziua Bărbatului (Romania), unofficial holiday
• Patriots' Victory Day (Ethiopia)
• Senior Citizens Day (Palau)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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