On this day in History - May 1

0305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
0408 - Arcadius dies. Roman emperor
1045 - Gregory VI appointed Pope.
1218 - John I, Count of Hainaut was born (d. 1257)
1218 - Rudolph I of Germany was born (d. 1291). Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
1285 - Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel was born (d. 1326). English politician.
1308 - Albert I of Habsburg dies murdered (b. 1255)
1328 - Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton – England recognises Scotland as an independent nation.
1500 - Pedro Álvares Cabral toma posse da "Ilha de Vera Cruz" (hoje: Brasil) em nome do rei de Portugal
1572 - Pope Pius V dies (b. 1504)
1582 - Marco da Gagliano was born (d. 1643). Italian composer.
1594 - John Hayne0 was born. Massachusetts colonial magistrate
1672 - Joseph Addison was born (d. 1719). English politician and writer.
1707 - The Act of Union joins England, and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1731 - Johann Ludwig Bach dies (b. 1677). German composer.
1738 - Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle dies. English statesman.
1753 - Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
1769 - Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington was born in Dublin. He defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo (1815), conquering the world's conqueror.
1772 - Gottfried Achenwall dies (b. 1719). German statistician.
1786 - Opening night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna.
1790 - The United States completes its first census.
1804 - Aleksey Khomyakov was born (d. 1860). Russian poet.
1813 - Jean-Baptiste Bessières dies killed in combat (b. 1768). French marshal.
1827 - Francisco Antonio Pinto asume la presidencia de Chile tras la renuncia de Ramón Freire.
1829 - José Martiniano de Alencar was born. Brazilian politician and writer.
1830 - Mother Jones was born (d. 1930). American labor activist.
1831 - Emily Stowe was born (d. 1903). Canadian physician and suffragist.
1831 - Arthur William Patrick Albert was born in Buckingham Palace (d. 16 Jan 1942). Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850-1942), explorer, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert; he serves as Governor General of Canada.
1834 - The British colonies abolish slavery.
1851 - The Great Exhibition is opened in the Crystal Palace (London) which was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton.
1851 - João Carlos de Saldanha de Oliveira e Daun substitui António Severim de Noronha como primeiro-ministro de Portugal
1852 - Calamity Jane was born (d. 1903). American Wild West performer.
1852 - Santiago Ramón y Cajal was born (d. 1934). Spanish histologist and neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
1860 - Joaquim António de Aguiar substitui António Severim de Noronha como primeiro-ministro de Portugal
1861 - José María Acha is elected President of Bolivia.
1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.
1865 - In Lisbon, Portugal, the railway station Sta. Apolonia is inaugurated
1869 - The Folies Bergères open in Paris.
1872 - Sidónio Pais was born. President of Portugal (1918).
1873 - David Livingstone dies (b. 1813). Scottish missionary.
1881 - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was born (d. 1995). French palaeontologist and philosopher.
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.
1887 - Alan Gordon Cunningham was born (d. 1983). British army officer.
1889 - May Day—traditionally a celebration of the return of spring, marked by dancing around a Maypole—was first observed as a labour holiday, designated as such by the International Socialist Congress.
1892 - Mário Beirão was born. Portuguese poet.
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..
1896 - Mark Wayne Clark was born (d. 1984). American general.
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.
1899 - Ludwig Büchner dies (b. 1824). German philosopher and physician.
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.
1901 - Heinz Eric Roemheld was born (d. 1985). American film composer.
1901 - Antal Szerb was born (d. 1945). Hungarian author, literature historian.
1904 - Antonín Dvořák dies (b. 1841). Czech composer.
1905 - Henry Koster was born (d. 1988). German film director.
1907 - Kate Smith was born (d. 17 Jun 1986). Singer: God Bless America, When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain; performer: The Kate Smith Show.
1908 - Giovanni Guareschi was born (d. 1968). Italian journalist.
1909 - Kate Smith was born (d. 1986). American singer.
1913 - Louis Nye was born (d. 2005). American comedian and actor.
1913 - Walter Susskind was born (d. 1980). Czech conductor.
1915 - Archie Williams was born (d. 1993). American athlete.
1916 - Glenn Ford was born. Canadian actor
1917 - John Beradino was born (d. 1968). American actor and baseball player.
1917 - Danielle Darrieux was born. French singer and actress
1918 - Jack Paar was born (d. 2004). American television host.
1918 - Gersh Budker was (d. 1977). Russian physicist.
1919 - Dan O'Herlihy was born (d. 2005). Irish film actor.
1923 - Joseph Heller was born (d. 1999). American novelist.
1924 - Art Fleming was born (d. 1995). American game show host.
1924 - Karel Kachyňa was born (d. 2004). Czech film director.
1925 - Chuck Bednarik was born. American football player
1925 - Scott Carpenter was born. American astronaut
1928 - Desmond Titterington was born (d. 2002). Northern Irish racecar driver.
1929 - Ralf Dahrendorf was born. German-born sociologist and politician
1929 - Sonny James was born. Country singer.
1930 - Richard Riordan was born. Mayor of Los Angeles, California
1930 - The planet Pluto is officially named.
1931 - The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.
1931 - Singer Kate Smith began her long and illustrious radio career with CBS on this, her birthday
1934 - Joan Hackett was born (d. 1983). American actress.
1935 - Ann Robinson was born. American actress
1937 - Una Stubbs was born. English actress.
1937 - Snitz Edwards dies (b. 1868). American actor.
1939 - Judy Collins was born. American folk singer (Both Sides Now, Amazing Grace, Send In the Clowns)
1939 - Max Robinson was born (d. 1988). American broadcast journalist.
1940 - Elsa Peretti was born. Italian jewelry designer
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.
1941 - Eric Burdon was born. British singer (The Animals)
1942 - Stephen Macht was born. Actor.
1944 - Suresh Kalmadi was born. Indian politician
1945 - a day after Adolf Hitler committed suicide, it was announced that Admiral Karl Doenitz had succeeded Hitler as leader of the Third Reich.
1945 - Rita Coolidge was born. American singer (Higher and Higher, We’re All Alone, You, All Time High)
1945 - Joseph Goebbels dies (suicide) (b. 1897). Nazi Minister of Propaganda.
1946 - Joanna Lumley was born. British actress
1946 - John Woo was born. Hong Kong director, producer, writer, and actor.
1947 - Toma posesión de su cargo el presidente de Nicaragua, Leonardo Argüello, quien 26 días más tarde sería derrocado por el general Anastasio Somoza.
1948 - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il Sung as president.
1949 - Douglas Barr was born. Actor and director.
1950 - Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth.
1950 - Dann Florek was born. American actor
1952 - William Fox was born. American film producer.
1954 - Ray Parker Jr. was born. American singer and songwriter
1956 - The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
1958 - Arturo Frondizi toma posesión de la presidencia de la República Argentina.
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.
1960 - Steve Cauthen was born. American jockey.
1961 - The first major airplane hijacking within the United States occurred when a man forced a commercial airliner en route from Miami to Key West, Florida, to detour to Cuba.
1962 - Fidel Castro proclama que Cuba es oficialmente una República Democrática y Socialista.
1962 - Maia Morgenstern was born. Romanian actress ("The Passion of the Christ").
1964 - Yvonne van Gennip was born. Dutch speed skater
1965 - Spike Jones dies (b. 1911). American band leader, musician, and comedian.
1965 - Wayne Hancock was born. Country singer.
1966 - Lleras Restrepo, del partido Liberal, elegido presidente de Colombia.
1966 - Johnny Colt was born. Rock musician.
1966 - Charlie Schlatter was born. Actor.
1967 - Anastasio Somoza (hijo) toma posesión de la presidencia de la República de Nicaragua.
1967 - Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas. (They divorced in 1973.)
1967 - Tim McGraw was born. American musician
1968 - Oliver Bierhoff was born. German footballer
1968 - D'arcy Wretzky was born. American musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
1969 - Wes Anderson was born. American director, writer, and producer
1970 - Yi, Eun dies (b. 1897). Crown Prince Korea.
1971 - Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service.
1972 - Cory Morrow was born. Country singer.
1973 - Curtis Martin was born. American football player
1973 - Oliver Neuville was born. German footballer
1974 - Portugal: Mário Soares returns from exile in France
1975 - Alexei Smertin was born. Russian footballer
1975 - Marc Vivien-Foé was born (d. 2003). Camaronese footballer
1975 - Christian Manfredini was born. Ivory Coast-born Italian footballer.
1976 - Alexandros Panagoulis dies (b. 1939). Greek politician and poet.
1976 - Darius McCrary was born. Actor.
1978 - Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
1978 - The first e-mail spam was sent by a DEC marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
1978 - May Day Bank Holiday introduced across England.
1978 - Aram Khachaturian dies (b. 1903). Armenian composer.
1981 - Aleksander Hleb was born. Belarusian footballer
1982 - The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.
1982 - William Primrose dies (b. 1903). Scottish violist.
1987 - London England - British Customs seizes Air Canada jet at Heathrow Airport after discovering a major hashish shipment from India; plane released after Air Canada pays substantial fine.
1989 - Douglass Watson dies (b. 1921). American actor.
1990 - Caitlin Stasey was born. Australian actress
1993 - Pierre Bérégovoy dies (suicide) .French Prime Minister.
1993 - Ranasinghe Premadasa dies (b. 1924). Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
1994 - Ayrton Senna dies (b. 1960). Brazilian race car driver.
1997 - Ariel Gade was born. American child actress
1998 - Eldridge Cleaver dies (b. 1935). American activist.
2000 - Steve Reeves dies (b. 1926). American actor.
2001 - Bolovia: Se crea el partido político Frente Nacionalista "Nueva Bolivia", liderizado por el empresario Nicolás Valdivia Almanza.
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.
2003 - Miss Elizabeth dies (b. 1960). American wrestler.
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.
Saint Joseph the Worker (also known as Saint Joseph's Day) / San José
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 a poet in Prague and kiss.