On this day in History - May 5

• 1028 - Alfonso V, dies. King of León and Galicia.
• 1192 - Duke Ottokar IV of Styria, dies. Last independent ruler of Styria, which is henceforth under common rule with Austria.
• 1194 - King Casimir II of Poland dies (b. 1138).
• 1210 - King Afonso III of Portugal was born (d. 1279) .
• 1309 - King Charles II of Naples, dies (b. c. 1248). King of Naples.
• 1512 - Geradus Mercator, was born. German map maker.
• 1525 - Frederick III of Saxony dies (b. 1463) .
• 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.
• 1705 - Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor dies (b. 1640) .
• 1747 - Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor was born (d. 1792) .
• 1751 - The Portuguese government takes steps to curb the Inquisitions powers.
• 1762 - Peace treaty between Russia and Prussia.
• 1766 - Jean Astruc, dies (b. 1684). French physician and scholar.
• 1766 - Firmin Massot, was born in Geneva (d. 16 May 1849). Swiss painter, draftsman, and teacher.
• 1769 - Decreto autorizando o estabelecimento, na Lousã, de uma fábrica de papel de escrever.
• 1789 - In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time in 150 years.
• 1807 - P. D. Q. Bach, dies (b. 1742). Fictitious composer.
• 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 .
• 1811 - Antoine de Marcenay de Ghuy, dies (b. 1724). French artist — Self-Portrait.
• 1811 - Robert Mylne, dies (b. 1734). Architect.
• 1813 - Søren Kierkegaard, was born (d. 1855). Philosopher.
• 1814 - British-American War (War of 1812): The British attack Fort Ontario at Oswego, New York.
• 1818 - Karl Marx, was born (d. 1883). Political philosopher.
• 1821 - Napoleon Bonaparte, dies (b. 1769). Ruler of France (1799-1815).
• 1826 - Empress Eugenie of France, was born (d. 1920). Empress as wife of Napoleon III.
• 1827 - Frederick Augustus I of Saxony dies (b. 1750) .
• 1832 - H.H. Bancroft, was born. Historian and publisher.
• 1833 - Ferdinand von Richthofen, was born (d. 1905). Geographer.
• 1835 - In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
• 1837 - Morte do compositor italiano Niccolo Antonio Zingarelli.
• 1846 - Henryk Sienkiewicz, was born (d. 1916). Author, recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature 1905.
• 1855 - Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, dies (b. 1786). English politician.
• 1859 - Peter Gustav Dirichlet, dies (b. 1805). Mathematician.
• 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.
• 1865 - Nasce Marechal Rondon, militar e sertanista brasileiro (m. 1958).
• 1865 - Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born (d. 1922). ("Nellie Bly"), journalist, writer.
• 1869 - Hans Pfitzner, was born (d. 1949). Composer.
• 1877 - Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
• 1883 - Eva Gonzalès, Mme Henri Guérard, dies (b. 19 Apr 1849). French Impressionist painter.
• 1883 - Archibald Wavell, was born (d. 1950). World War II general.
• 1887 - Geoffrey Fisher, was born (d. 1972). Archbisp of Canterbury.
• 1887 - Creación de la Academia Peruana de la Lengua.
• 1890 - Christopher Morley, was born (d. 1957). Writer.
• 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.
• 1901 - Blind Willie McTell, was born (d. 1959). Blues singer.
• 1903 - James Beard, was born (d.1985). Chef, cookbook writer.
• 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.
  1905 - Fundação do Club Atlético Colón - Argentina.
• 1907 - Eugène-Alexis Girardet, dies (b. 31 May 1853). French painter, specialized in orientalism.
• 1908 - Kurt Böhme, was born (d. 1989). German bass.
• 1911 - Morte de Bernardo de Alpoim de Cerqueira Borges Cabral. Militar e político português.
• 1912 - The 1912 Summer Olympics open in Stockholm, Sweden.
• 1913 - Tyrone Power, was born (d. 1958). Actor.
• 1913 - Henri Moret, dies (b. 12 Dec 1856). French marine and landscape painter.
• 1915 - Alice Faye, was born (d. 1998). Actress.
• 1916 - American marines invade the Dominican Republic.
• 1917 - Nascimento de Dalva de Oliveira (Vicentina Paula de Oliveira), inesquecível cantora da MPB, em Rio Claro-SP (m. 1972).
• 1918 - Nascimento de Nemesio Antúnez Zañartu. Pintor chileno.
• 1920 - Prisão dos anarquistas Nicola Sacco e Bartolomeo Vanzetti.
• 1921 - Arthur L. Schawlow was born (d. 28 Apr 1999). American physicist and corecipient, with Nicolaas Bloembergen of the United States and Kai Manne Börje Siegbahn of Sweden, of the 1981 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work in developing the laser and in laser spectroscopy.
• 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.
• 1926 - Ann B. Davis, was born. Actress, The Brady Bunch .
• 1929 - Nascia Fernando Farinha, no Barreiro, Portugal (m. 1988). Fadista português ("O menino da bica").
• 1935 - Douglas Marland, was born (d. 1993). Soap opera writer (As the World Turns).
• 1935 - Errol Flynn / Lili Damita were married.
• 1936 - Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• 1940 - World War II: In London, a Norwegian government in exile is formed.
• 1940 - Michael Lindsay-Hogg, was born. Director.
• 1941- Alexander Ragulin, was born (d. 2004). Ice hockey player.
• 1941 - Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa.
• 1941 - Nascimento de Betty Faria. Actriz brasileira.
• 1942 - Battle of Coral Sea.
• 1943 - The film curator of the Library of Congress, Howard Walls, announces that about 5,000 films will be preserved in the library.
• 1943 - Michael Palin, was born. British writer, actor and comedian ("Monty Python") .
• 1944 - Roger Rees, was born. Actor.
• 1944 - John Rhys-Davies, was born. Actor .
• 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.
• 1945 - German troops in the Netherlands and Denmark capitulate.
• 1945 - Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
• 1945- Canadian soldiers liberate the city of Amsterdam from Nazi occupation.
• 1945 - Admiral Karl Dönitz orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
• 1946 - Nasce Beth Carvalho, sambista brasileira.
• 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.
• 1954 - Nasce Chitãozinho, cantor sertanejo brasileiro.
• 1955 - West Germany gains full sovereignty.
• 1957 - Richard E. Grant, was born. Actor.
• 1957 - Dr. Joseph William Kennedy dies (b. 30 May 1916). American scientist, one of four co-discoverers of plutonium, (element 94) which was produced from uranium oxide bombarded with deuterons in a cyclotron at the Univ. of California at Berkeley.
• 1959 - Muere Carlos Saavedra Lamas, primer Premio Nóbel Argentino.
• 1961 - Mercury program: Mercury 3 - Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into space, making a sub-orbital flight of 15 minutes.
• 1972 - O governo de Marcelo Caetano extingue a Censura Prévia e cria o regime do Exame Prévio. Na realidade tudo fica na mesma.
• 1974 - Militantes do MRPP impedem o embarque de tropas para África.
• 1976 - Nascimento de Juan Pablo Sorin. Jogador argentino de futebol.
• 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.
• 1981 - Bobby Sands, dies (b. 1954). Provisional IRA activist.
• 1984 - In Luxembourg, Herreys win the twenty-ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden singing "Diggi-loo, diggi-ley".
• 1985 - Sir Donald Bailey, dies (b. 1901). Civil engineer invented the Bailey Bridge.
• 1986 - The TV series The Love Boat airs its last episode.
• 1986 - Morte do compositor português Rui Coelho.
• 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings.
• 1987 - Raimundo J. Barros Navarrete, was born. Film director.
• 1988 - Michael Shaara, dies. Author (b. 1928).
• 1988 - A live broadcast from the top of Mt Everest is made for the first time, by Japanese TV
• 1989 - Robert Lucas Christian, was born. Famous Architect.
• 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 - Wolfenstein 3D is released, the first-ever first-person shooter computer game.
• 1992 - Jean-Claude Pascal, dies (b. 1927). French singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner.
• 1992 - Moldávia torna-se membro do European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
• 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.
• 1995 - Mikhail Botvinnik, dies (b. 1911). World chess champion.
• 1997 - Walter Gotell, actor dies (b. 1924).
• 2000 - Conjunction of all traditional planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Moon and Sun formed a rough line across the sky with the Sun and Moon).
• 2001 - Chandra Levy's parents report her missing to Washington, DC police.
• 2001 - Cliff Hillegass, dies. Creator of Cliffs Notes.
• 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.
• 2003 - Walter Sisulu, dies (b. 1912). Anti-apartheid activist.
• 2004 - Catherine Craig, dies. Methane Overdose .
• 2005 - General Election in Britain to be held. (BBC News).
• Ascension Day in Western Christianity (2005)
• 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