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