May 5

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

Events:

1494 - Christopher Columbus discovers Jamaica.
1762 - Peace treaty between Russia and Prussia.
1789 - The French States General convenes for the first time since 1614.
1809 - Mary Kies is the first woman to be awarded a patent.
1809 - The Swiss canton of Aargau denies Jews citizenship.
1835 - In Belgium a railway is opened between Brussels and Mechelen. It is the first railway in continental Europe.
1847 - The American Medical Association is founded.
1862 - Mexican army defeated the French army in the Battle of Puebla.
1865 - First train robbery in the United States.
1874 - Child Labor law passed in the Netherlands.
1891 - The Music Hall (now known as Carnegie Hall has its grand opening and first public performance
1892 - The US Congress passes the Geary Chinese Exclusion Act: All Chinese in the US must register, if not they risk deportation.
1893 - Crash on the New York stock exchange (Panic of 1893).
1912 - Russian Communist newspaper Pravda first published.
1912 - Start of the Olympic Games of Stockholm.
1916 - American marines invade the Dominican Republic.
1920 - Polish troops occupy Kiev.
1925 - Dayton Tennessee biology teacher John Scopes is arrested for teaching Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution.
1936 - Italian troops occupy Addis Abeba (Ethiopia).
1940 - In London, a Norwegian government in exile is formed.
1941 - Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Abeba.
1943 - Postmaster General Frank C. Walker invents the Postal Zone System.
1944 - Gandhi freed from prison.
1945 - German troops in the Netherlands and Denmark capitulate.
1945 - Concentration camp Mauthausen liberated.
1949 - Council of Europe is formed.
1955 - West Germany gains full sovereignty.
1956 - World Championships Judo are first held.
1961 - Alan Shepard is the first American in space. He makes a space flight of 15 minutes, making less than one complete orbit.
1979 - Voyager 1 passes Jupiter.
1980 - British police storm the Iranian embassy in London after a time of siege.
1987 - Start of the congressional hearings in the Iran-Contra affair.
1994 - American Michael Fay is caned in Singapore.
2000 - Conjunction of all traditional planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Moon and Sun).

Births:

1813 - Søren Kierkegaard, philosopher
1818 - Karl Marx, philosopher
1832 - H.H. Bancroft, historian and publisher
1901 - Blind Willie McTell, blues singer
1940 - Eric Burdon, rock singer (Animals)
1942 - Tammy Wynette, country singer
1943 - Michael Palin, comedian (Monty Python)

Deaths:

1028 - Alfonso V, king of Leon and Galicia (999-1028) (battle)
1194 - Kazimierz II, grand-duke of Poland (1177-1194)
1309 - Charles II, king of Naples (1285-1309)
1525 - Frederick III, ruler of Saxony (1486-1525)
1705 - Leopold I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
1786 - Pedro III, king of Portugal
1821 - Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France (1799-1815)
1827 - Fredeerick Augustus I, king of Saxony (1806-1827)
1859 - Peter Dirichlet, mathematician
1981 - Bobby Sands, IRA activist (hunger strike)
1995 - Mikhail Botvinnik, world chess champion

Holidays:

Denmark: Liberation Day (1945)
The Netherlands: May 5, Liberation day (1945)
Ethiopia: Liberation Day (1941)
Japan: Children's Day
Mexico: Cinco de Mayo (1862)

See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

May 4 - May 6 - April 5 - June 5 - more historical anniversaries