May 5

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 553 &ndash; The Second Council of Constantinople begins.
* 1215 &ndash; Rebel barons renounce (withdraw) their allegiance to King John of England, as part of a chain of events leading to the signing of Magna Carta.
* 1260 &ndash; Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
* 1494 &ndash; Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica and claims it for Spain.
* 1640 &ndash; King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.
* 1668 &ndash; Portuguese galley *Santissimo Sacramento* strikes a reef off the coast of Salvador, Northeast Brazil, and sinks. Out of the over 1,000 people on board, only 70 survive the disaster.
* 1762 &ndash; Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg.
* 1789 &ndash; In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time in 150 years.
* 1809 &ndash; Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
* 1809 &ndash; The Swiss canton of Aargau denies citizenship to Jews.
* 1821 &ndash; Napoleon Bonaparte dies aged 51 on the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena. It takes several weeks for the news to reach Europe, due to the remoteness of the island.
* 1821 &ndash; The first edition of the British daily newspaper The Guardian is published.
* 1835 &ndash; In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
* 1842 &ndash; The Great Fire of Hamburg starts. It is brought under control on May 8.
* 1860 &ndash; Giuseppe Garibaldi sets sail from Genoa, leading the expedition of the Thousand to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, eventually leading to the creating of the Kingdom of Italy.
* 1862 &ndash; Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.
* 1864 &ndash; American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
* 1865 &ndash; In North Bend, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati), the first train robbery in the United States takes place.
* 1866 &ndash; First Memorial Day commemoration in Waterloo, New York.
* 1877 &ndash; Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
* 1885 &ndash; George Eastman is granted a US patent for rolling film.
* 1886 &ndash; The Bay View Tragedy occurs, militia fire upon a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin killing seven.
* 1891 &ndash; 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.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1902 &ndash; Commonwealth Public Service Act creates the Australian Public Service.
* 1904 &ndash; 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.
* 1905 &ndash; The trial in the Stratton brothers case begins in London. It is the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to get a conviction for murder.
* 1916 &ndash; American marines invade the Dominican Republic.
* 1920 &ndash; Sacco and Vanzetti case: US authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder.
* 1925 &ndash; Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is served an arrest warrant for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
* 1925 &ndash; Afrikaans established as an official language in South Africa.
* 1936 &ndash; Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
* 1940 &ndash; World War II: In London, a Norwegian government-in-exile is formed.
* 1941 &ndash; Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; this date has been since commemorated as Liberation Day, or Patriots' Victory Day.
* 1944 &ndash; World War II: German troops execute 216 civilians in the village of Kleinoura, Greece.
* 1945 &ndash; World War II: German troops in the Netherlands and Denmark capitulate to Canadian and British forces, liberating these countries from Nazi occupation.
* 1945 &ndash; World War II: Prague uprising against the Nazis.
* 1945 &ndash; World War II: Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
* 1945 &ndash; World War II: Admiral Karl Dönitz, leader of Germany after Hitler's death, orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
* 1946 &ndash; The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo, with 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
* 1949 &ndash; The Council of Europe in Strasbourg is founded through the Treaty of London as the first European institution working for European integration. Since 1964, May 5 has been designated Europe Day by the Council of Europe and is celebrated since then to commemorate its founding on 5 May 1949.
* 1950 &ndash; Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King Rama IX of Thailand.
* 1955 &ndash; West Germany gains full sovereignty.
* 1961 &ndash; Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into space, making a sub–orbital flight of 15&nbsp;minutes.
* 1964 &ndash; 5 May is declared Europe Day on the 25th anniversary of the Council of Europe.
* 1967 &ndash; The first all–British space satellite, *Ariel 3* is launched from the United States.
* 1972 &ndash; Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 people on board.
* 1973 &ndash; Secretariat wins the Kentucky Derby in record time.
* 1977 &ndash; The first interview between David Frost and Richard Nixon is broadcast.
* 1980 &ndash; Operation Nimrod: The Special Air Service storm the Iranian embassy in London after a six–day siege.
* 1980 &ndash; Constantine Karamanlis is elected for the first time as President of Greece.
* 1984 &ndash; In Luxembourg, the Herreys win the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with the song *Diggi-Loo, Diggi Ley*.
* 1987 &ndash; Iran-Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings.
* 1991 &ndash; A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, DC after a Salvadoran man is shot by police.
* 1992 &ndash; The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified.
* 1994 &ndash; The Signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively freezes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
* 1999 &ndash; Indonesia and Portugal reach an agreement on ending the war in East Timor. They also agree to give East Timor a referendum on independence later in the year.

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; Jacques Chirac is elected to a second term as President of France, defeating far–right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in the second round of the Presidential Election.
* 2004 &ndash; Pablo Picasso's painting *Boy With a Pipe* is sold at auction for 104.2 million US Dollars.
* 2005 &ndash; The United Kingdom general election takes place, in which Tony Blair's Labour Party is re–elected for a third, consecutive term.
* 2006 &ndash; The government of Sudan signed an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).
* 2007 &ndash; Kenya Airways Flight KQ 507 crashes in Cameroon.
* 2010 &ndash; In Greece, widespread protests occur in the wake of the debt crisis.
* 2010 &ndash; Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua dies after a long illness. Caretaker President Goodluck Jonathan succeeds him.
* 2011 &ndash; The election to the Scottish Parliament takes place, with the Scottish National Party, under Alex Salmond, getting an overall majority, taking 69 of the 129 seats.
* 2018 &ndash; NASA launches its InSight probe to Mars.
* 2019 &ndash; Presidential elections: Stevo Pendarovski is elected President of North Macedonia, while Laurentino Cortizo is elected President of Panama.
* 2019 &ndash; Brunei abandons its policy of making gay sex punishable by death.
* 2019 &ndash; Aeroflot Flight 1492 bursts into flames on its return to Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, killing 41 out of the 78 people on board.
* 2019 &ndash; A tanker explosion near Niamey, Niger, kills 58 people.

## Births 
### Up to 1900 
* 867 &ndash; Emperor Uda of Japan (d. 931)
* 1210 &ndash; King Afonso III of Portugal (d. 1279)
* 1352 &ndash; Rupert I, King of Germany (d. 1410)
* 1479 &ndash; Guru Amar Das, 3rd Sikh Guru (d. 1574)
* 1546 &ndash; Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician (d. 1623)
* 1747 &ndash; Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1792)
* 1810 &ndash; Lorenzo Salvi, Italian tenor (d. 1879)
* 1813 &ndash; Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (d. 1855)
* 1818 &ndash; Karl Marx, German Communist philosopher (d. 1883)
* 1819 &ndash; Stanislaw Moniuszko, Polish composer, conductor and teacher (d. 1872)
* 1826 &ndash; Eugenie de Montijo, Empress of France (d. 1920)
* 1828 &ndash; Robert von Puttkamer, Prussian statesman (d. 1900)
* 1830 &ndash; John Patterson Stetson, American hat manufacturer (d. 1906)
* 1833 &ndash; Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer (d. 1905)
* 1834 &ndash; Viktor Hartmann, Russian architect and painter (d. 1873)
* 1846 &ndash; Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish writer (d. 1917)
* 1846 &ndash; Lars Magnus Ericsson, Swedish inventor (d. 1926)
* 1864 &ndash; Nellie Bly, American journalist (d. 1922)
* 1869 &ndash; Hans Pfilzner, German composer (d. 1949)
* 1877 &ndash; Georgi Sedov, Russian naval officer and polar explorer (d. 1914)
* 1882 &ndash; Douglas Mawson, Australian Antarctic explorer (d. 1958)
* 1882 &ndash; Sylvia Pankhurst, British activist (d. 1960)
* 1883 &ndash; Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, British field marshal and Viceroy of India (d. 1950)
* 1883 &ndash; Agustin Barrios, Paraguayan guitarist and composer (d. 1944)
* 1883 &ndash; Rudolf Spielmann, Austrian chess player (d. 1932)
* 1887 &ndash; Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1972)
* 1887 &ndash; Marvyn S. Bennion, American captain (d. 1941)
* 1890 &ndash; Christopher Morley, American writer (d. 1957)
* 1894 &ndash; August Dvorak, American inventor (d. 1975)
* 1899 &ndash; Freeman Fisher Gosden, American comedian and actor (d. 1982)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1901 &ndash; Blind Willie McTell, American singer (d. 1959)
* 1907 &ndash; Iryna Vilde, Ukrainian writer (d. 1982)
* 1908 &ndash; Kurt Böhme, German bass (d. 1989)
* 1911 &ndash; Andor Lilienthal, Hungarian chess player (d. 2010)
* 1911 &ndash; Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
* 1914 &ndash; Tyrone Power, American actor (d. 1958)
* 1915 &ndash; Alice Faye, American actress and singer (d. 1998)
* 1916 &ndash; Zail Singh, 7th President of India (d. 1994)
* 1917 &ndash; Pío Leyva, Cuban singer (d. 2006)
* 1917 &ndash; Lennie Merullo, American baseball player (d. 2015)
* 1919 &ndash; Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek military leader (d. 1999)
* 1921 &ndash; Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist (d. 1999)
* 1922 &ndash; Monica Lewis, American actress (d. 2015)
* 1923 &ndash; Sergey Akhromeyev, Marshal of the Soviet Union (d. 1991)
* 1925 &ndash; Leo Ryan, American politician (d. 1978)
* 1927 &ndash; Charles Rosen, American pianist and music writer (d. 2012)
* 1928 &ndash; Richard Schaal, American actor (d. 2014)
* 1930 &ndash; Ezzatollah Sahabi, Iranian politician (d. 2011)
* 1931 &ndash; Greg, Belgian cartoonist (d. 1999)
* 1932 &ndash; Stan Goldberg, American comic writer (d. 2014)
* 1933 &ndash; Igor Kashkarov, Soviet high jumper
* 1934 &ndash; Ace Cannon, American saxophonist
* 1934 &ndash; Henri Konan Bédié, former President of Ivory Coast
* 1935 &ndash; Shih Chi-yang, Taiwanese politician (d. 2019)
* 1937 &ndash; Tran Duc Luong, former President of Vietnam
* 1937 &ndash; Delia Derbyshire, English composer (d. 2001)
* 1939 &ndash; Ray Gosling, English broadcaster, journalist and activist (d. 2013)
* 1940 &ndash; Lance Henriksen, American actor and painter
* 1941 &ndash; Alexander Ragulin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
* 1942 &ndash; Marc Alaimo, American actor
* 1942 &ndash; Tammy Wynette, American musician (d. 1998)
* 1943 &ndash; Michael Palin, British actor, comedian, writer and TV presenter
* 1943 &ndash; Ignacio Ramonet, Spanish journalist and writer
* 1944 &ndash; Bo Larsson, Swedish footballer
* 1944 &ndash; John Rhys-Davies, British actor
* 1944 &ndash; Roger Rees, British actor (d. 2015)
* 1945 &ndash; Kurt Loder, American journalist, critic, writer and columnist
* 1946 &ndash; Beth Carvalho, Brazilian samba singer (d. 2019)
* 1947 &ndash; Malam Bacai Sanhá, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2012)
* 1948 &ndash; Bill Ward, British musician
* 1950 &ndash; Morton Rhue, American writer

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1952 &ndash; Willem Witteveen, Dutch legal scholar and politician (d. 2014)
* 1952 &ndash; Ed Lee, American politician, Mayor of San Francisco (d. 2017)
* 1953 &ndash; Dieter Zetschke, German businessman
* 1955 &ndash; Lisa Jane Persky, American actress
* 1957 &ndash; Richard E. Grant, British actor
* 1959 &ndash; Ian McCulloch, British singer
* 1959 &ndash; Brian Williams, American news anchor
* 1960 &ndash; Jorge Quiroga, former President of Bolivia
* 1961 &ndash; Mike J. Dunleavy, American politician, Governor of Alaska
* 1962 &ndash; Nicolas Vanier, Senegalese writer, explorer and director
* 1963 &ndash; Simon Rimmer, English chef
* 1964 &ndash; Heike Henkel, German high jumper
* 1964 &ndash; Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
* 1966 &ndash; Shawn Drover, Canadian musician
* 1966 &ndash; Sergei Stanishev, 46th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
* 1966 &ndash; Josh Weinstein, American writer
* 1967 &ndash; Takehito Koyasu, Japanese voice actor
* 1969 &ndash; Olav Sepp, Estonian chess player
* 1972 &ndash; Zigmund Palffy, Slovakian ice hockey player
* 1972 &ndash; James Cracknell, British rower
* 1972 &ndash; Brad Bombadir, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1972 &ndash; Devin Townsend, Canadian musician
* 1975 &ndash; Meb Keflezighi, Eritrean–born American runner

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentine footballer
* 1976 &ndash; Sage Stallone, American actor (d. 2012)
* 1977 &ndash; Jessica Schwarz, German actress
* 1978 &ndash; John Wilshere, Papua New Guinea rugby league player
* 1978 &ndash; Santiago Cabrera, Chilean actor
* 1979 &ndash; Vince Grella, Australian footballer
* 1980 &ndash; Yossi Benayoun, Israeli footballer
* 1981 &ndash; Danielle Fishel, American actress
* 1981 &ndash; Craig David, British singer
* 1982 &ndash; Jay Bothroyd, English footballer
* 1982 &ndash; Sándor Torghelle, Hungarian footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Henry Cavill, Jersey actor
* 1984 &ndash; Wade McNeil, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
* 1985 &ndash; Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese actress, illustrator and singer
* 1985 &ndash; Tsapo Masilela, South African footballer
* 1985 &ndash; Emanuele Giaccherini, Italian footballer
* 1987 &ndash; Graham Dorrans, Scottish footballer
* 1988 &ndash; Adele, English singer-songwriter
* 1988 &ndash; Brooke Hogan, American singer and television personality
* 1988 &ndash; Skye Sweetnam, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
* 1989 &ndash; Chris Brown, American singer and actor
* 1990 &ndash; Sophie Wells, English para-equestrian
* 1991 &ndash; Shubha Phutela, Indian actress (d. 2012)
* 1991 &ndash; Robin de Kruijf, Dutch volleyball player
* 1992 &ndash; Yosuke Mikami, Japanese footballer
* 1992 &ndash; Taisuke Miyazaki, Japanese footballer
* 1993 &ndash; Francine Niyonsaba, Burundian middle–distance runner
* 1998 &ndash; Menna Fitzpatrick, British Paralympic skier
* 1999 &ndash; Nathan Chen, American figure skater

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 200 &ndash; Sun Ce, Chinese warlord (b. 175)
* 311 &ndash; Gallerius, Roman Emperor (b. 260)
* 984 &ndash; Gerberga of Saxony (b. 913)
* 1028 &ndash; Alfonso V of Castile (b. 994)
* 1194 &ndash; Casimir II of Poland (b. 1138)
* 1219 &ndash; Leo II, King of Armenia (b. 1150)
* 1257 &ndash; Haakon the Young, Junior King of Norway (b. 1232)
* 1306 &ndash; Constantine Palaiologus, Byzantine prince and general (b. 1261)
* 1309 &ndash; Charles II of Naples (b. 1254)
* 1525 &ndash; Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1463)
* 1604 &ndash; Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (b. 1533)
* 1700 &ndash; Angelo Italia, Sicilian Baroque architect (b. 1628)
* 1705 &ndash; Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1640)
* 1731 &ndash; Daniel Defoe, English writer (b. 1660)
* 1808 &ndash; Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (b. 1757)
* 1821 &ndash; Napoleon, French general and later Emperor of France (b. 1769)
* 1827 &ndash; Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1750)
* 1855 &ndash; Seabury Ford, 20th Governor of Ohio (b. 1801)
* 1859 &ndash; Peter Gustav Dirichlet, German mathematician (b. 1805)
* 1865 &ndash; Ben Hall, Australian bushranger shot dead by the police (b. 1837)
* 1881 &ndash; Ansel Briggs, 1st Governor of Iowa (b. 1806)
* 1883 &ndash; Eva Gonzales, French painter (b. 1847)
* 1892 &ndash; August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist (b. 1818)
* 1896 &ndash; Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
* 1900 &ndash; Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian painter (b. 1817)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1916 &ndash; John MacBride, Irish Nationalist (b. 1865)
* 1921 &ndash; Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian writer and pacifist (b. 1864)
* 1925 &ndash; Tome Jose de Barros Queiros, Portuguese politician (b. 1872)
* 1931 &ndash; Glen Kidston, English pilot and racing driver (b. 1899)
* 1941 &ndash; Natalie of Serbia (b. 1859)
* 1944 &ndash; Bertha Benz, German automobile pioneer (b. 1849)
* 1945 &ndash; Peter Van Pels, Dutch–Jewish refugee (b. 1926)
* 1959 &ndash; Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician (b. 1878)
* 1962 &ndash; Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (b. 1889)
* 1977 &ndash; Ludwig Erhard, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
* 1981 &ndash; Bobby Sands, Northern Irish activist and hunger striker (b. 1954)
* 1992 &ndash; Jean-Claude Pascal, French comedian and singer (b. 1927)
* 1995 &ndash; Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player (b. 1911)
* 1999 &ndash; Candy Candido, American radio performer, bass player, singer, animator and voice actor (b. 1913)

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; Hugo Banzer, President of Bolivia (b. 1926)
* 2003 &ndash; Walter Sisulu, South African activist (b. 1912)
* 2004 &ndash; Ritsuko Okazaki, Japanese singer–songwriter (b. 1959)
* 2005 &ndash; Edgar Ponce, Mexican actor and dancer (b. 1974)
* 2007 &ndash; Theodore Maiman, American physicist (b. 1927)
* 2008 &ndash; Irv Robbins, Canadian–American entrepreneur (b. 1917)
* 2010 &ndash; Giulietta Simionato, Italian mezzo–soprano (b. 1910)
* 2010 &ndash; Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, President of Nigeria (b. 1951)
* 2011 &ndash; Claude Choules, English–Australian World War I veteran (b. 1901)
* 2011 &ndash; Arthur Laurents, American playwright (b. 1917)
* 2012 &ndash; Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg, Swedish royal, uncle of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Margrethe II of Denmark (b. 1916)
* 2013 &ndash; Sarah Kirsch, German poet (b. 1935)
* 2014 &ndash; Eduardo Mac Entyre, Argentine artist (b. 1929)
* 2014 &ndash; Billy Frank, Jr., American activist (b. 1931)
* 2014 &ndash; Butler Derrick, American politician (b. 1936)
* 2015 &ndash; Hans Jansen, Dutch politician (b. 1942)
* 2015 &ndash; Oscar Holderer, German rocket scientist (b. 1919)
* 2015 &ndash; Craig Gruber, American musician (b. 1951)
* 2015 &ndash; Brian Sedgemore, British politician (b. 1937)
* 2015 &ndash; Jon Castañares, Spanish economist and politician (b. 1925)
* 2016 &ndash; Sylvia Kauders, American actress (b. 1921)
* 2016 &ndash; Siné, French cartoonist (b. 1928)
* 2016 &ndash; Isao Tomita, Japanese musician and composer (b. 1932)
* 2017 &ndash; Buhe, Chinese politician (b. 1926)
* 2017 &ndash; Benny Elon, Israeli politician (b. 1954)
* 2017 &ndash; Corinne Erhel, French politician (b. 1967)
* 2017 &ndash; Amancio Escapa Aparicio, Spanish–Dominican prelate (b. 1938)
* 2017 &ndash; Almir Guineto, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
* 2017 &ndash; Adolph Kiefer, American swimmer (b. 1918)
* 2017 &ndash; Leila Seth, Indian judge (b. 1930)
* 2017 &ndash; Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, President of Mauritania (b. 1953)
* 2018 &ndash; Michele Castoro, Italian Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1952)
* 2018 &ndash; Wilson Frost, American politician (b. 1925)
* 2018 &ndash; Ermanno Olmi, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
* 2018 &ndash; Klaus Dede, German writer and journalist (b. 1935)
* 2018 &ndash; Stanley Falkow, American microbiologist (b. 1934)
* 2018 &ndash; José María Iñigo, Spanish journalist and commentator (b. 1942)
* 2018 &ndash; Boyan Petrov, Bulgarian zoologist and mountaineer (b. 1973)
* 2019 &ndash; Barbara Perry, American actress (b. 1921)
* 2019 &ndash; Shih Chi-yang, Taiwanese politician (b. 1935)
* 2019 &ndash; Norma Miller, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1919)

## Observances 
* Cinco de Mayo (Mexico and United States)
* Liberation Day (Denmark and Netherlands)
* Children's Day (Japan)
* Children's Day (South Korea)
* Coronation Day (Thailand)
* Patriots' Victory Day (Ethiopia)
* Martyrs' Day (Albania)
* Constitution Day (Kyrgyzstan)
* Lusophone Culture Day in Portuguese–speaking countries
* Europe Day