May 5
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
[change] Births
- 1943-Michael Palin
- 1981-Nessim Kichik
[change] Deaths
- Napoleon
[change] Events
- 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins.
- 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 in 150 years.
- 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.
- 1835 - In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
- 1862 - Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.
- 1864 - American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
- 1865 - In North Bend, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati), the first train robbery in the United States takes place.
- 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 occurs, militia fire upon a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin killing seven.
- 1891 - 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.
- 1902 - Commonwealth Public Service Act creates the Australian Public Service.
- 1904 - 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.
- 1916 - American marines invade the Dominican Republic.
- 1925 - Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is served an arrest warrant for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
- 1925 - Afrikaans established as an official language in South Africa.
- 1936 - Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- 1940 - World War II: In London, a Norwegian government-in-exile is formed.
- 1941 - Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; this date has been since commemorated as Liberation Day.
- 1945 - World War II:German troops in the Netherlands and Denmark capitulate to Canadian and British forces, liberating these countries from Nazi occupation.
- 1945 - World War II:Prague uprising against the Nazis.
- 1945 - World War II:Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
- 1945 - 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.
- 1949 - 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 - Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King Rama IX of Thailand.
- 1955 - West Germany gains full sovereignty.
- 1961 - Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into space, making a sub-orbital flight of 15 minutes.
- 1964 - 5 May is declared Europe Day on the 25th anniversary of the Council of Europe.
- 1980 - Operation Nimrod: The Special Air Service storm the Iranian embassy in London after a six day siege.
- 1980 - Constantine Karamanlis is elected for the first time President of Greece.
- 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings.
- 1991 - A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, DC after a Salvadoran man is shot by police.
- 1992 - The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified.
- 2005 - The United Kingdom general election takes place, in which Tony Blair's Labour Party is re-elected for a third, consecutive term.
- 2006 - The government of Sudan signed an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).
- 2007 - Kenya Airways Flight KQ 507 crashes in Cameroon.
