May 1
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May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). There are 244 days remaining.
Events
- 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
- 1045 - Gregory VI appointed Pope.
- 1328 - Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton – England recognises Scotland as an independent nation.
- 1707 - The Act of Union joins England, and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
- 1753 - Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
- 1786 - Opening night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna.
- 1834 - The British colonies abolish slavery.
- 1851 - The Great Exhibition is opened in London by Queen Victoria.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.
- 1869 - The Folies Bergères open in Paris.
- 1884 - Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States
- 1886 - The start of the general strike which eventually wins the eight-hour workday in the United States. These events are today commemorated as May Day or Labor Day in most industrialized countries.
- 1893 - The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago, Illinois.
- 1894 - Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington D.C..
- 1898 - Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manila Bay - The United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war.
- 1900 - The Scofield mine disaster kills 200 in Scofield, Utah in the now fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.
- 1901 - The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York.
- 1930 - The planet Pluto is officially named.
- 1931 - The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.
- 1940 - The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war.
- 1941 - Orson Welles's Citizen Kane premieres in New York City
- 1941 - World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk.
- 1948 - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il Sung as president.
- 1950 - Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth.
- 1956 - The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
- 1960 - Cold War: U-2 Crisis – Francis Gary Powers, in a U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union, sparking off a diplomatic crisis.
- 1971 - Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service.
- 1978 - Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
- 1978 - May Day Bank Holiday introduced across England.
- 1982 - The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.
- 2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, President George W. Bush declares "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" on board USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California.
- 2004 - Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.
- 2006 - Legal and Illegal immigrant workers and their supporters across the United States carry out the Great American Boycott, a one day national protest against the enforcement of pending immigration laws.
Births
- 1218 - John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257)
- 1218 - Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1291)
- 1285 - Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1326)
- 1582 - Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643)
- 1594 - John Haynes, Massachusetts colonial magistrate
- 1672 - Joseph Addison, English politician and writer (d. 1719)
- 1804 - Aleksey Khomyakov, Russian poet (d. 1860)
- 1830 - Mother Jones, American labor activist (d. 1930)
- 1831 - Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and suffragist (b.1903)
- 1852 - Calamity Jane, American Wild West performer (d. 1903)
- 1852 - Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish histologist and neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1934)
- 1872 - Sidónio Pais, Portuguese military and politician (d. 1918)
- 1881 - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French palaeontologist and philosopher (d. 1955)
- 1887 - Alan Gordon Cunningham, British army officer (d. 1983)
- 1896 - Mark Wayne Clark, American general (d. 1984)
- 1901 - Heinz Eric Roemheld, American film composer (d. 1985)
- 1901 - Antal Szerb, Hungarian author, literature historian (d. 1945)
- 1905 - Henry Koster, German film director (d. 1988)
- 1908 - Giovanni Guareschi, Italian journalist (d. 1968)
- 1909 - Kate Smith, American singer (d. 1986)
- 1913 - Louis Nye, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)
- 1913 - Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (d. 1980)
- 1915 - Archie Williams, American athlete (d. 1993)
- 1916 - Glenn Ford, Canadian actor
- 1917 - John Beradino, American actor and baseball player (d. 1996)
- 1917 - Danielle Darrieux, French singer and actress
- 1918 - Jack Paar, American television host (d. 2004)
- 1918 - Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (d. 1977)
- 1919 - Dan O'Herlihy, Irish film actor (d. 2005)
- 1923 - Joseph Heller, American novelist (d. 1999)
- 1924 - Art Fleming, American game show host (d. 1995)
- 1924 - Karel Kachyňa, Czech film director (d. 2004)
- 1925 - Chuck Bednarik, American football player
- 1925 - Scott Carpenter, American astronaut
- 1928 - Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racecar driver (d. 2002)
- 1929 - Ralf Dahrendorf, German-born sociologist and politician
- 1930 - Richard Riordan, Mayor of Los Angeles, California
- 1934 - Joan Hackett, American actress (d. 1983)
- 1935 - Ann Robinson, American actress
- 1937 - Una Stubbs, English actress
- 1939 - Judy Collins, American folk singer
- 1939 - Max Robinson, American broadcast journalist (d. 1988)
- 1940 - Elsa Peretti, Italian jewelry designer
- 1944 - Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician
- 1945 - Rita Coolidge, American singer
- 1946 - Joanna Lumley, British actress
- 1946 - John Woo, Hong Kong director, producer, writer, and actor
- 1950 - Dann Florek, American actor
- 1954 - Ray Parker Jr., American singer and songwriter
- 1960 - Steve Cauthen, American jockey
- 1962 - Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress
- 1964 - Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater
- 1967 - Tim McGraw, American musician
- 1968 - Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer
- 1968 - D'arcy Wretzky, American musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
- 1969 - Wes Anderson, American director, writer, and producer
- 1973 - Curtis Martin, American football player
- 1973 - Oliver Neuville, German footballer
- 1975 - Alexei Smertin, Russian footballer
- 1975 - Jodhi May, British actress
- 1981 - Aleksander Hleb, Belarusian footballer
- 1990 - Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress
- 1997 - Ariel Gade, American child actress
Deaths
- 408 - Arcadius, Roman emperor
- 1308 - Albert I of Habsburg (murdered) (b. 1255)
- 1572 - Pope Pius V (b. 1504)
- 1731 - Johann Ludwig Bach, German composer (b. 1677)
- 1738 - Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, English statesman
- 1772 - Gottfried Achenwall, German statistician (b. 1719)
- 1813 - Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French marshal (killed in combat) (b. 1768)
- 1873 - David Livingstone, Scottish missionary (b. 1813)
- 1899 - Ludwig Büchner, German philosopher and physician (b. 1824)
- 1904 - Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (b. 1841)
- 1937 - Snitz Edwards, American actor (b. 1868)
- 1945 - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda (suicide) (b. 1897)
- 1965 - Spike Jones, American band leader, musician, and comedian (b. 1911)
- 1970 - Yi, Eun, Crown Prince Korea (b. 1897)
- 1976 - Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek politician and poet (b. 1939)
- 1978 - Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (b. 1903)
- 1982 - William Primrose, Scottish violist (b. 1903)
- 1989 - Douglass Watson, American actor (b. 1921)
- 1993 - Pierre Bérégovoy, French Prime Minister (suicide) (b. 1925)
- 1993 - Ranasinghe Premadasa, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1924)
- 1994 - Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1960)
- 1998 - Eldridge Cleaver, American activist (b. 1935)
- 2000 - Steve Reeves, American actor (b. 1926)
- 2003 - Miss Elizabeth, American wrestler (b. 1960)
Holidays and observances
- May Day, Labour Day, Workers' Day, Day of the International Solidarity of Workers.
- Switzerland - official feast of Spring.
- Czech Republic - "National Love Day" – couples tend to flock to the memorial of the poet Karel Hynek Mácha in Prague and kiss.
- Lei Day - Hawaiian holiday for the Lei.
- Beltane, Lá Bealtaine, the first day of Summer in modern Ireland was celebrated by the Celts, and is now also celebrated by Neopagans and Wiccans.
- Northern Europe - Walpurgis Night.
- Roman Empire - all-female festival in honour of Bona Dea.
- Roman Empire - fourth and last day of the Floralia in honour of Flora.
- United States - Law Day, U.S.A., Loyalty Day.
- Malta - L-Ewwel ta Mejju, Malta, Jum il-haddiem (Worker's Day).
- Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Festival of Matsu in Taiwan and various locales along the southern coast of China (2005).
- Maharashtra Divas (Maharashtra Day) in the state of Maharastra, India. On May 1, 1960, Maharashtra came into existence when Bombay State was split into the new linguistic states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
External links
April 30 - May 2 - April 1 - June 1 – listing of all days