Title: May 3 Content: == Events == === Up to 1900 === * 1481 - The largest of three earthquakes strikes the Greek island of Rhodes, killing an estimated 30,000 people. * 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptized by Portuguese missionaries. * 1494 – Christopher Columbus arrives in Jamaica, naming the island Santiago. * 1715 - A total solar eclipse is visible across Northern Europe and Northern Asia, with totality across southern England being predicted by Edmond Halley to within four minutes of accuracy. * 1791 – Poland's first constitution is introduced. May 3 is still celebrated as Constitution Day in Poland, as well as in neighboring Lithuania. * 1802 - Washington, DC is incorporated as a city. * 1808 – Rebels in Madrid, who rose up on the previous day, against French rule, are executed. * 1808 - Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia. * 1815 - Neapolitan War: Joachim Murat, King of Naples, is defeated by the Austrians at the Battle of Tolentino, the decisive engagement of the war. * 1830 - The Canterbury-Whitstable Railway in Southern England is opened. It is the first steam-hauled passenger railway to issue season tickets and include a tunnel. * 1837 - The University of Athens, Greece, is founded. * 1849 – The May uprising begins in Dresden. * 1855 - The adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with around 60 men in an attempt to conquer Nicaragua. * 1860 - King Charles XV of Sweden-Norway is crowned. * 1867 - Hudson's Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island. * 1887 – Canada's worst mining disaster occurs in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. 150 people are killed, and 7 survive. === 1901 2000 === * 1901 - The Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, Florida. * 1909 – Germany introduces driver's licences. * 1913 - Raja Harishchandra, the first full-length Indian feature movie, is released, marking the start of the Indian movie industry. * 1915 - The poem In Flanders Fields is written by John McCrae. * 1916 – In Ireland, the leaders of the Easter Uprising are executed. * 1920 - A Bolshevik coup fails in Georgia. * 1934 – The French navy introduces Surcouf, which was the largest submarine at the time. * 1936 – Joe DiMaggio makes his Major League Baseball debut, for the New York Yankees. * 1937 - Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone With the Wind wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. * 1939 - The All India Forward Bloc is founded by Subhas Chandra Bose. * 1945 - World War II: Sinking of the prison ships Cap Arcona, Thielbeck and Deutschland by the Royal Air Force in Lubeck Bay. * 1947 – Japan's new post-war constitution goes into effect. * 1951 – George VI of the United Kingdom opens the Festival of Britain. London's Royal Festival Hall opens on the same day. * 1952 - Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the US land a plane at the North Pole. * 1952 - The Kentucky Derby horse race is shown on television throughout the US for the first time. * 1956 - The first World Championships in judo take place in Tokyo. * 1960 – In Amsterdam, the Netherlands the Anne Frank House is opened to the public. * 1960 - Off- Broadway musical comedy The Fantasticks opens in New York City's Greenwich Village. * 1973 – The Sears Tower in Chicago is completed. * 1978 - The first Spam email is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States. * 1979 – Margaret Thatcher is elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, becoming the first female British Prime Minister. * 1986 – A bomb explodes on an airliner at Colombo's airport in Sri Lanka, killing 21 people, and injuring 41. * 1999 - The southwestern portion of Oklahoma City is devastated by a Force-5 tornado, killing 45 people and injuring 665. === From 2001 === * 2001 – For the first time, the United States loses its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Commission. * 2002 - A military MiG-21 aircraft crashes into the Bank of Rajasthan, in Northwest India, killing 8 people. * 2003 – New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain rock feature collapses. * 2006 - While landing in Sochi, Southern Russia, an Airbus A320-200 of Armenian airline Armavia crashes into the Black Sea, killing all 113 people on board. * 2007 – The Scottish National Party, under Alex Salmond, narrowly wins in the election to the Scottish Parliament. * 2007 – Madeleine McCann gets abducted from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. * 2008 – Cyclone Nargis devastates Burma, killing thousands of people, and causing widespread flooding in the Irrawaddy River Delta. * 2014 - The Black Forest National Park is officially opened. * 2018 - Dust storms in Rajasthan an Uttar Pradesh, India, kill at least 100 people. * 2019 - The number of deaths in the South Kivu Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is estimated at 1,000, making it the second- deadliest outbreak of the disease. * 2019 - Cyclone Fani hits the state of Odisha on the east coast of India. == Births == === Up to 1800 === * 612 – Constantine III, Byzantine Emperor (d. 641) * 1415 – Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV and Richard III of England (d. 1495) * 1428 - Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman (d. 1495) * 1446 - Margaret of York (d. 1503) * 1455 – King John I of Portugal (d. 1495) * 1460 - Raffaele Riario, Italian cardinal and patron of the arts (d. 1521) * 1469 – Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian philosopher (d. 1527) * 1678 - Amaro Pargo, Spanish pirate (d. 1747) * 1695 – Henri Pitot, Italian-born French engineer (d. 1771) * 1713 - Alexis Clairaut, French mathematician (d. 1765) * 1729 - Florian Leopold Gassmann, German-Bohemian composer (d. 1774) * 1761 – August von Kotzebue, German dramatist (d. 1819) * 1764 - Princess Elisabeth of France (d. 1794) * 1768 - Charles Tennant, Scottish chemist (d. 1838) * 1768 - Agustín Eyzaguirre, acting President of Chile (d. 1838) * 1773 - Giuseppe Acerbi, Italian naturalist (d. 1846) * 1784 - Henry Hubbard, Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1857) === 1801 1900 === * 1814 - Adams George Archibald, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1892) * 1826 – King Charles XV of Sweden (d. 1872) * 1841 - Richard D'Oyly Carte, English talent agent, impresario and composer (d. 1901) * 1849 – Bertha Benz, German automobile pioneer (d. 1944) * 1849 – Bernhard von Buelow, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1929) * 1860 – John Scott Haldane, British physiologist (d. 1936) * 1860 – Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1940) * 1861 - Emmett Dalton, American outlaw (d. 1937) * 1870 – Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1948) * 1872 – Simun av Skardi, Faroese poet and politician (d. 1942) * 1873 - Pavlo Skoropadskyi, German-Ukrainian general and politician (d. 1945) * 1874 – François Coty, French perfume manufacturer (d. 1934) * 1877 – Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst (d. 1925) * 1879 - Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman and soldier, co-founder of Qantas (d. 1950) * 1879 - Clyde L. Herring, American politician, 26th Governor of Iowa (d. 1945) * 1884 - Willie Reid, Scottish footballer (d. 1966) * 1886 – Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (d. 1971) * 1891 – Tadeusz Peiper, Polish poet (d. 1969) * 1892 – George Paget Thomson, English physicist (d. 1975) * 1893 – Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian writer (d. 1975) * 1895 - Cornelius Van Til, Dutch theologian and philosopher (d. 1987) * 1895 - Gabriel Chevallier, French journalist and writer (d. 1969) * 1895 - Bettina Encke von Arnim, German painter (d. 1971) * 1896 – Dodie Smith, English novelist and playwright (d. 1990) * 1898 – Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1978) === 1901 1950 === * 1901 - Gino Cervi, Italian actor (d. 1974) * 1901 - Ebbe Schwartz, Danish football official, President of UEFA (d. 1964) * 1902 – Alfred Kastler, French physicist (d. 1984) * 1903 – Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (d. 1977) * 1905 – Werner Fenchel, German mathematician (d. 1988) * 1906 – Mary Astor, American actress (d. 1987) * 1909 - John A. Notte, Jr., American politician, Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1983) * 1910 – Norman Corwin, American radio presenter (d. 2011) * 1914 - Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, French poet * 1917 – Kiro Gligorov, former President of the Republic of Macedonia (d. 2012) * 1919 – Pete Seeger, American musician (d. 2014) * 1920 - John Lewis, American jazz pianist, composer and arranger (d. 2001) * 1921 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (d. 1989) * 1922 – Len Shackleton, English footballer (d. 2000) * 1923 - George Hadjinikos, Greek pianist, conductor, teacher and writer * 1924 - Ken Tyrrell, English racing driver (d. 2001) * 1926 - Ann B. Davis, American actress (d. 2014) * 1927 - Clelio Darida, Italian politician, Mayor of Rome (d. 2017) * 1928 - Jacques-Louis Lions, French mathematician (d. 2001) * 1928 - Carel Visser, Dutch artist (d. 2015) * 1930 - Juan Gelman, Argentine writer and poet (d. 2014) * 1931 - Aldo Rossi, Italian architect and designer (d. 1997) * 1933 – James Brown, American singer (d. 2006) * 1933 – Steven Weinberg, American physicist * 1934 – Henry Cooper, British boxer (d. 2011) * 1934 - Frankie Valli, American singer * 1934 - Georges Moustaki, French singer-songwriter (d. 2013) * 1937 – Hans Cieslarczyk, German footballer * 1938 - Lindsay Kemp, English actor, dancer and choreographer (d. 2018) * 1941 - Nona Gaprindashvili, Georgian chess player * 1941 - Edward Malloy, American educator * 1942 – Butch Otter, American politician, 32nd Governor of Idaho * 1943 - Jim Risch, American lawyer and politician, 31st Governor of Idaho * 1945 - Jeffrey C. Hall, American geneticist, 2017 joint-Nobel laureate * 1946 – Rabah Saadane, Algerian footballer and coach * 1947 - Doug Henning, Canadian magician (d. 2000) * 1948 - Peter Oosterhius, English golfer * 1949 – Ken Hom, Chinese-American chef === 1951 1975 === * 1951 – Jan Bielecki, Polish politician * 1951 – Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian writer * 1951 - Christopher Cross, American singer-songwriter, musician and producer * 1951 - Ashok Gehlot, Indian politician, 21st Chief Minister of Rajasthan * 1952 – Chuck Baldwin, American politician, pastor and radio host * 1952 - Allan Wells, Scottish runner * 1956 – Marc Bellemare, French-Canadian lawyer and politician * 1958 – Sandi Toksvig, Danish writer and broadcaster * 1959 – Ben Elton, English comedian and writer * 1959 - David Ball, English keyboardist and producer (Soft Cell) * 1960 - Kathy Smallwood-Cook, English athlete * 1961 – Steve McClaren, English football manager * 1963 - Mona Siddiqui, Pakistani- born British academic and journalist * 1964 - Ron Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player * 1964 - Sterling Campbell, American drummer and songwriter * 1965 – Rob Brydon, Welsh comedian, actor and presenter * 1965 - Ignatius Aphrem I, Syrian patriarch * 1965 - Mikhail Prokhorov, Russian multibillionaire and politician * 1966 - Darren Morgan, Welsh snooker player * 1970 - Bobby Cannavale, American actor * 1970 - Suzi Perry, English model, columnist and motor racing presenter * 1971 - Douglas Carswell, English politician, first UKIP MP * 1972 - Stephen Barclay, English politician * 1973 - Rea Garvey, Irish-German singer * 1974 – Jukka Hentunen, Finnish ice hockey player * 1975 - Christina Hendricks, American actress === From 1976 === * 1976 – Beto, Portuguese footballer * 1976 - Alexander Gerst, German geophysicist, volcanologist and astronaut * 1977 - Mashima Hiro, Japanese manga artist * 1977 - Ben Olsen, American soccer player * 1977 - Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian mathematician (d. 2017) * 1978 - Dulé Hill, American actor and tap dancer * 1978 – Autumn Phillips, Canadian-born member of the extended British Royal Family * 1978 - Paul Banks, English-born musician * 1978 - Lawrence Tynes, Scottish American football player * 1979 – Simone Hauswald, German biathlete * 1979 - Genevieve Nnaji, Nigerian actress and singer * 1980 – Jaycee Lee Dugard, American kidnap victim * 1981 – Farrah Franklin, American actress and singer * 1981 - U-Nee, South Korean singer, dancer and actress (d. 2007) * 1981 - Benoit Cheyrou, French footballer * 1983 – Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer (d. 2014) * 1983 – Laava, Brazilian singer * 1983 – Joseph Addai, American Football player * 1983 - Myriam Fares, Lebanese singer and entertainer * 1984 - Cheryl Burke, American dancer * 1985 - Ezequiel Lavezzi, Argentine footballer * 1985 - Meagan Tandy, American model and actress * 1987 - Lina Grincikaite, Lithuanian sprinter * 1987 - Joey Montana, Panamanian singer * 1989 – Selah Sue, Belgian singer * 1990 - Miranda Chartrand, Canadian-English singer * 1990 - Brooks Koepka, American golfer * 1996 - Alex Iwobi, Nigerian footballer * 1996 - Noah Munck, American actor and musician * 1996 - Domantas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === * 1152 - Matilda of Boulogne (b. 1105) * 1160 - Peter Lombard, Italian scholar and bishop (b. 1100) * 1270 – Bela IV of Hungary (b. 1206) * 1294 - John I, Duke of Brabant (b. 1252) * 1481 – Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1432) * 1598 - Anna Guarini, Italian singer (b. 1563) * 1616 – William Shakespeare, English writer and playwright (b. 1564), April 23 in Julian calendar * 1704 - Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Bohemian composer (b. 1644) * 1724 - John Leverett the Younger, American lawyer, politician and educator (b. 1662) * 1752 - Samuel Ogle, English-American politician (b. 1692) * 1758 – Pope Benedict XIV (b. 1675) * 1764 - Francesco Algarotti, Italian philosopher (b. 1712) * 1779 - John Winthrop, American mathematician, physicist and astronomer (b. 1714) * 1839 - Ferdinando Paer, Italian composer (b. 1771) * 1856 - Adolphe Adam, French composer and critic (b. 1803) * 1886 - Alexander Karadordevic, Prince of Serbia (b. 1806) === 1901 2000 === * 1910 - John Lourie Beveridge, 17th Governor of Illinois (b. 1824) * 1916 – Tom Clarke, Irish nationalist (b. 1858) * 1916 – Thomas MacDonagh, Irish nationalist (b. 1878) * 1916 – Patrick Pearse, Irish nationalist and poet (b. 1879) * 1932 - Charles Fort, American author (b. 1874) * 1938 - Percy Funivall, English cyclist (b. 1867) * 1939 - Madeleine Desroseaux, French poet and novelist (b. 1873) * 1942 – Thorvald Stauning, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1873) * 1943 - Harry Miller, American engineer (b. 1875) * 1948 - Ernst Tandefelt, Finnish nobleman (b. 1876) * 1961 - Maurice Merleau-Ponty, French philosopher (b. 1908) * 1969 – Zakir Hussain, 3rd President of India (b. 1897) * 1970 - Cemil Gürgen Erlertürk, Turkish footballer (b. 1918) * 1972 - Emil Breitkreuz, American middle-distance runner (b. 1883) * 1972 – Bruce Cabot, American actor (b. 1904) * 1976 - Ernie Nevers, American football player (b. 1903) * 1987 – Dalida, French singer (b. 1933) * 1988 – Lev Semenovich Pontryagin, Russian mathematician (b. 1908) * 1989 - Christine Jorgensen, American trans woman (b. 1926) * 1991 – Jerzy Kosinski, Polish writer (b. 1933) * 1996 – Jack Weston, American actor (b. 1924) * 1997 – Narciso Yepes, Spanish guitarist (b. 1927) === From 2001 === * 2002 – Barbara Castle, British politician (b. 1910) * 2006 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter (b. 1925) * 2006 – Earl Woods, father of Tiger Woods (b. 1932) * 2007 – Wally Schirra, American astronaut (b. 1923) * 2008 – Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1926) * 2010 – Florencio Campomanes, Filipino chess player and official (b. 1927) * 2010 – Guenter Wendt, German-American NASA engineer (b. 1923) * 2011 – Jackie Cooper, American actor (b. 1922) * 2011 - Robert Brout, Belgian physicist (b. 1928) * 2012 – Jorge Illueca, former President of Panama (b. 1918) * 2012 – Lloyd Brevett, Jamaican musician (b. 1931) * 2013 - Cedric Brooks, Jamaican-American saxophonist (b. 1943) * 2014 - Gary Becker, American economist (b. 1930) * 2014 - Jim Oberstar, American politician (b. 1934) * 2015 - Abdul Wahid Aresar, Pakistani politician (b. 1949) * 2015 - Danny Jones, Welsh rugby league player (b. 1986) * 2015 - Revaz Chkheidze, Georgian film director (b. 1926) * 2015 - Abdul Basit Usman, Filipino fugitive (b. 1974) * 2015 - Harry Martin, American judge (b. 1920) * 2015 - John Elders, English rugby union player (b. 1930) * 2016 - Ian Deans, Scottish-Canadian politician (b. 1937) * 2016 - Abel Fernandez, American actor (b. 1930) * 2016 - Marianne Gaba, American model and actress (b. 1939) * 2016 - Kaname Harada, Japanese World War II flying ace and anti-war activist (b. 1916) * 2016 - Karol Machata, Slovakian actor (b. 1928) * 2016 - Nicolas Noxon, American filmmaker (b. 1936) * 2016 - Janusz Tazbir, Polish historian (b. 1927) * 2017 - Mishaal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi prince and politician (b. 1926) * 2017 - Lukas Ammann, Swiss actor (b. 1912) * 2017 - Daliah Lavi, Israeli actress, singer and politician (b. 1942) * 2017 - Abbas Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji, Somali politician (b. 1985) * 2017 - Yumeji Tsukioka, Japanese actress (b. 1921) * 2018 - Doina Cornea, Romanian activist (b. 1929) * 2018 - Afonso Dhlakama, Mozambican politician (b. 1953) * 2019 - Frits Soetekouw, Dutch footballer (b. 1938) * 2019 - Goro Shimura, Japanese mathematician (b. 1930) == Observances == * Constitution Day in Poland and Lithuania * Constitution Memorial Day in Japan * World Press Freedom Day May 03