May 5

There are usually 92 days in Spring. We are considered halfway through Spring on May 5.

Events

• 1640 - King Charles I of England disbands the Short Parliament.
• 1646 - King Charles I of England and Scotland surrenders to the Scottish Presbyterian Army at Newark.
• 1762 - Peace treaty between Russia and Prussia.
• 1789 - In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time in 150 years.
• 1809 - Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a US patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
• 1809 - The Swiss canton of Aargau denies citizenship to Jews .
• 1814 - British-American War (War of 1812): The British attack Fort Ontario at Oswego, New York.
• 1835 - In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
• 1862 - French-Mexican War: The Mexican army defeats the French army in the Battle of Puebla (on May 9 this day was made into the Cinco de mayo holiday).
• 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.
• 1891 - The Music Hall in New York (now known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
• 1892 - The U.S. Congress passes the Geary Chinese Exclusion Act: All Chinese in the United States must register or risk deportation.
• 1893 - Panic of 1893: Crash on the New York Stock Exchange starts a depression.
• 1912 - The 1912 Summer Olympics open in Stockholm, Sweden.
• 1916 - American marines invade the Dominican Republic.
• 1922 - In The Bronx, construction begins on Yankee Stadium.
• 1925 - Scopes Trial: Dayton, Tennessee biology teacher John Scopes is arrested for teaching Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution.
• 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.
• 1943 - The film curator of the Library of Congress, Howard Walls, announces that about 5,000 films will be preserved in the library.
• 1944 - Mohandas Gandhi is freed from prison.
• 1945 - World War II:
• * A Japanese bomb, launched by balloon and called a fire balloon, explodes near Lakewood, Oregon, killing a woman and five children who were examining it during a church picnic.
• * German troops in the Netherlands and Denmark capitulate.
• * Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
• * Canadian soldiers liberate the city of Amsterdam from Nazi occupation.
• * Admiral Karl Dönitz orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
• 1949 - The Council of Europe is formed.
• 1950 - Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King Rama IX of Thailand.
• 1954 - General Alfredo Stroessner takes power in Paraguay by coup.
• 1955 - West Germany gains full sovereignty.
• 1961 - Mercury program: Mercury 3 - Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into space, making a sub-orbital flight of 15 minutes.
• 1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds hits his 3000th major league hit.
• 1980 - Operation Nimrod: The Special Air Service storm the Iranian embassy in London after a six day siege.
• 1984 - In Luxembourg, Herreys win the twenty-ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden singing "Diggi-loo, diggi-ley".
• 1986 - The TV series The Love Boat airs its last episode.
• 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings.
• 1990 - Capital punishment: Jesse Tafero is executed in Florida after three electric chair malfunctions cause flames to shoot from his head.
• 1990 - In Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), Toto Cutugno wins the thirty-fifth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing "Insieme: 1992" (Together: 1992).
• 1992 - The Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution receives its 38th ratification by the Alabama Legislature and therefore becomes law.
• 1992 - Wolfenstein 3D is released, the first-ever first-person shooter computer game.
• 1993 - Actor Keanu Reeves is arrested for the charge of drunk driving in Los Angeles, California.
• 1994 - American Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore as punishment for spray-painting two cars.
• 1995 - British film producer Ray Santilli unveils his "alien autopsy" footage to a group of UFO researchers. The film is widely regarded as a hoax.
• 2000 - Conjunction of all traditional planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Moon and Sun).
• 2001 - Chandra Levy's parents report her missing to Washington, DC police.
• 2002 - The first "Free Comic Book Day" promotional event to promote popular interest in the medium in North America; timed to coincide with the premiere of the film, Spider-Man.
• 2005 - General Election in Britain to be held. (BBC News)

  Births

• 1210 - King Afonso III of Portugal (d. 1279)
• 1747 - Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1792)
• 1813 - Søren Kierkegaard, philosopher (d. 1855)
• 1818 - Karl Marx, political philosopher (d. 1883)
• 1826 - Empress Eugenie of France, empress as wife of Napoleon III (d. 1920)
• 1832 - H.H. Bancroft, historian and publisher
• 1833 - Ferdinand von Richthofen, geographer (d. 1905)
• 1846 - Henryk Sienkiewicz, author, recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature 1905 (d. 1916)
• 1865 - Elizabeth Jane Cochran ("Nellie Bly"), journalist, writer (d. 1922)
• 1869 - Hans Pfitzner, composer (d. 1949)
• 1887 - Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1972)
• 1883 - Archibald Wavell, World War II general (d. 1950)
• 1890 - Christopher Morley, writer (d. 1957)
• 1901 - Blind Willie McTell, blues singer (d. 1959)
• 1903 - James Beard, chef, cookbook writer (d. 1985)
• 1908 - Kurt Böhme, German bass (d. 1989)
• 1914 - Tyrone Power, actor (d. 1958)
• 1915 - Alice Faye, actress (d. 1998)
• 1926 - Ann B. Davis, actress, The Brady Bunch
• 1935 - Douglas Marland, soap opera writer (As the World Turns) (d. 1993)
• 1940 - Michael Lindsay-Hogg, director
• 1941 - Alexander Ragulin, ice hockey player (d. 2004)
• 1943 - Michael Palin, British writer, actor and comedian ("Monty Python")
• 1944 - Roger Rees, actor
• 1944 - John Rhys-Davies, actor
• 1957 - Richard E. Grant, actor
• 1987 - Raimundo J. Barros Navarrete, film director
• 1989 - Robert Lucas Christian, Famous Architect
  

  Deaths

• 1028 - Alfonso V, king of León and Galicia
• 1192 - Duke Ottokar IV of Styria, last independent ruler of Styria, which is henceforth under common rule with Austria
• 1194 - King Casimir II of Poland (b. 1138)
• 1309 - King Charles II of Naples, king of Naples (b. c. 1248)
• 1525 - Frederick III of Saxony (b. 1463)
• 1705 - Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1640)
• 1766 - Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b. 1684)
• 1807 - P. D. Q. Bach, fictitious composer (b. 1742)
• 1811 - Robert Mylne, architect (b. 1734)
• 1821 - Napoleon Bonaparte, ruler of France (1799-1815) (b. 1769)
• 1827 - Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1750)
• 1855 - Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (b. 1786)
• 1859 - Peter Dirichlet, mathematician
• 1981 - Bobby Sands, Provisional IRA activist (b. 1954)
• 1985 - Sir Donald Bailey, civil engineer invented the Bailey Bridge (b. 1901)
• 1988 - Michael Shaara, author (b. 1928)
• 1995 - Mikhail Botvinnik, world chess champion (b. 1911)
• 1992 - Jean-Claude Pascal, French singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner (b.1927)
• 1997 - Walter Gotell, actor (b. 1924)
• 2001 - Cliff Hillegass, creator of Cliffs Notes
• 2003 - Walter Sisulu, anti-apartheid activist (b. 1912)
• 2004 - Catherine Craig, Methane Overdose
  

  Holidays and observances

• Denmark: Liberation Day (1945)
• The Netherlands: May 5, Liberation day (1945)
• Ethiopia: Liberation Day (1941)
• Northern Territory, Australia: May Day
• Japan: Tango no Sekku - Boy's Day; or Kodomo no hi - Children's Day
• Mexico and the Southwestern United States: Cinco de Mayo (1862)
• Guyana: Indian Immigration Day (1838)
• Council of Europe: Europe Day

  External links

• BBC: On This Day

May 4 - May 6 - April 5 - June 5 -- listing of all days