May 1

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
1707 - The Act of Union joins England, Wales, and Scotland to form Great Britain
1714 - George I of the House of Hanover is chosen to succeed to the throne of Great Britain upon the death of Queen Anne
1776 - Adam Weishaupt founds the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Germany
1786 - Premier night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna
1790 - The United States completes its first census
1834 - Slavery is abolished in British territories
1851 - The Great Exhibition opens in London
1863 - American Civil War: - The Battle of Chancellorsville begins
1869 - The Folies-Bergere opens in Paris
1873 - The 1873 Vienna World's Fair opens in Vienna
1876 - Colorado is admitted to statehood
1884 - The start of the general strike which eventually won the eight-hour workday in the United States. May 1st, called May Day or Labour Day, is now a holiday recognized in almost every industrialized country; a few exceptions are Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United States. It is also a major holiday in Communist countries.
1883 - Buffalo Bill Cody put on his first Wild West Show
1893 - The World Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago, Illinois
1894 - Japan declares war on China over the fate of Korea
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
1901 - The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York
1931 - The Empire State Building is opened in New York City
1940 - The 1940 Summer Olympics are canceled
1941 - Orson Welles's Citizen Kane premieres in New York City
1941 - World War II: Germany attacks Tobruk
1946 - The Atomic Energy Commission is established
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 - Benin gains independence as Dahomey
1960 - Francis Gary Powers, in a U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union
1967 - Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu
1978 - Japan's Naomi Uemura, traveling by sled dog, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone
1982 - The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee
1983 - Edwin El Chapo Rosario wins boxing's vacant WBC world Lightweight title by beating Jose Luis Ramirez in San Juan, by points in 12 rounds, becoming Puerto Rico's 14th world boxing champion. A young Julio Cesar Chavez also wins as part of the undercard.
1991 - Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan hurls his seventh no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
1991 - Oakland Athletics outfielder Rickey Henderson breaks the all-time record for stolen bases by stealing his 939th
1992 - Rickey Henderson steals his 1000th base

Births:

10 - Roman Emperor Claudius (+ 54)
1218 - Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (+ 1291)
1769 - Likeliest birthdate for The Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister (+ 1852)
1770 - William Clark, American explorer (+ 1838)
1779 (perhaps 1780) - Francis Scott Key, composer of the "Star Spangled Banner" (+ 1843)
1819 - Herman Melville, American author (+ 1891)
1830 - Mother Jones, labor activist (+ 1930)
1852 - Calamity Jane, riflewoman, Wild West star (+ 1903)
1881 - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, palaeontologist and philosopher (+ 1955)
1887 - Alan Gordon Cunningham, British general
1905 - Henry Koster, film director (+ 1988)
1908 - Giovanni Guareschi, writer (+ 1968)
1909 - Kate Smith, singer (+ 1986)
1916 - Glenn Ford, actor
1918 - Jack Paar, television host
1923 - Shimon Peres, Israeli statesman
1923 - Joseph Heller, American novelist (+ 1999)
1924 - Art Fleming, game show host (+ 1995)
1929 - Ralf Dahrendorf, sociologist and politician
1932 - Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League (+ 1990)
1936 - Yves St. Laurent, fashion designer
1939 - Judy Collins, singer
1944 - Rita Coolidge, singer
1960 - Steve Cauthen, jockey
1967 - Tim McGraw, country musician
1968 - Oliver Bierhoff, soccer player, National Team Of Germany
1973 - Oliver Neuville, soccer player, National Team Of Germany

Deaths:

1714 - Queen Anne of Great Britain
1904 - Antonín Dvorák, composer, musician
1922 - Alexander Graham Bell, inventor
1945 - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi leader
1965 - Spike Jones, band leader, musician, comedian
1981 - Paddy Chayefsky, screenwriter
1987 - Pola Negri, silent film star

Holidays and observances:

Beltane was celebrated by the Celts, and is now celebrated by Neopagans and Wiccans.
Day of the International Solidarity of Workers (particularly in Communist countries).
May Day, Labour day - see event section above.
Roman Empire - all-female festival in honor of Bona Dea
Roman Empire - fourth and last day of the Floralia in honor of Flora

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