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)

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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