May 1

This article is about the date May 1. For the labor-related holiday, see International Workers' Day; for the traditional holiday, see May Day.

Not to be confused with May I?.

May 1 in recent years

2024 (Wednesday)

2023 (Monday)

2022 (Sunday)

2021 (Saturday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Wednesday)

2018 (Tuesday)

2017 (Monday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Friday)

May 1 is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 244 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
• 524 – King Sigismund of Burgundy is executed at Orléans after an 8-year reign and is succeeded by his brother Godomar.
• 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.
• 1328 – Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton – the Kingdom of England recognises the Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state.
• 1576 – Stefan Batory, the reigning Prince of Transylvania, marries Anna Jagiellon and they become the co-rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1707 – The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• 1751 – The first cricket match is played in America.
• 1753 – Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
• 1759 – Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain.
• 1776 – Establishment of the Illuminati in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria), by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt.
• 1778 – American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.
• 1785 – Kamehameha I, the king of Hawaiʻi, defeats Kalanikupule and establishes the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.
• 1786 – Opening night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna, Austria.
• 1794 – War of the Pyrenees: The Battle of Boulou ends, in which French forces defeat the Spanish and regain nearly all the land they lost to Spain in 1793.
• 1840 – The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom.
• 1844 – Hong Kong Police Force, the world's second modern police force and Asia's first, is established.
• 1846 – The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple.
• 1851 – Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition in London.
• 1852 – The Philippine peso is introduced into circulation.
• 1856 – The Province of Isabela was created in the Philippines in honor of the Queen Isabela II of Spain.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Union Army completes the Capture of New Orleans.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.
• 1865 – The Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance
• 1869 – The Folies Bergère opens in Paris.
• 1875 – Alexandra Palace reopens after the 1873 fire burnt it down.
• 1884 – Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States.
• 1884 – Moses Fleetwood Walker became the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States.
• 1885 – The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opened for business.
• 1886 – Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day culminating in the Haymarket Affair.
• 1893 – The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.
• 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 over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.
• 1901 – The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York.
• 1915 – The RMS Lusitania departs from New York City on her two hundred and second, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, rousing American sentiment against Germany.
• 1925 – The All-China Federation of Trade Unions is officially founded. Today it is the largest trade union in the world, with 134 million members.
• 1925 – The first Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer is held at the University of Toronto, Canada.
• 1927 – The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.
• 1927 – The Union Labor Life Insurance Company is founded by the American Federation of Labor.
• 1930 – The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.
• 1931 – The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.
• 1933 – The Roca-Runciman Treaty between Argentina and Great Britain is signed by Julio Argentino Roca, Jr., and Sir Walter Runciman.
• 1940 – The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war.
• 1941 – World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk.
• 1944 – 200 Communist prisoners are shot by the Germans at Kaisariani in Athens as reprisals for the killing of General Franz Krech by partisans at Molaoi
• 1945 – World War II: A German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany". The Soviet flag was raised over the Reich Chancellery, by order of Stalin.
• 1945 – World War II: Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda commit suicide in the Reich Garden outside the Führerbunker. Their children are murdered by Magda by having cyanide pills inserted into their mouths.
• 1945 – The Yugoslav partisans free Trieste.
• 1946 – Start of 3 year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians.
• 1946 – The Paris Peace Conference concludes that the islands of the Dodecanese should be returned to Greece by Italy.
• 1947 – Portella della Ginestra massacre against May Day celebrations in Sicily by the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano; 11 persons are killed and 33 wounded.
• 1948 – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il-sung as leader.
• 1950 – Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth.
• 1956 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
• 1956 – A doctor in Japan reports an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease.
• 1957 – 34 of 35 people aboard are killed when a Vickers Viking airliner crashed in Hampshire England.
• 1960 – Formation of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
• 1960 – Cold War: U-2 incident – Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
• 1961 – The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.
• 1965 – Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between ROC and PRC, takes place.
• 1970 – Protests erupt in Seattle, Washington, following the announcement by U.S. President Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country.
• 1971 – Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service.
• 1974 – The Argentine terrorist organization Montoneros is expelled from Plaza de Mayo by president Juan Perón.
• 1977 – 36 people are killed in Taksim Square, Istanbul, during the Labour Day celebrations.
• 1978 – Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
• 1982 – The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.
• 1982 – French Canadian Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve is killed during practice in the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder.
• 1982 – Operation Black Buck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during Falklands War.
• 1983 – Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis is awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.
• 1987 – Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
• 1989 – Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
• 1990 – The former Philippine Episcopal Church (supervised by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America) is granted full autonomy and raised to the status of an Autocephalous Anglican Province and renamed the Episcopal Church of the Philippines.
• 1991 – Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics steals his 939th base, making him the all-time leader in this category. However, his accomplishment is overshadowed later that evening by Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers, when he pitches his seventh career no-hitter, breaking his own record.
• 1994 – Three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
• 1995 – Croatian forces launch Operation Flash during the Croatian War of Independence.
• 1999 – Body of British climber George Mallory found on Mount Everest, 75 years after his disappearance in 1924.
• 2001 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares the existence of "a state of rebellion", hours after thousands of supporters of her arrested predecessor, Joseph Estrada, storm towards the presidential palace at the height of the EDSA III rebellion.
• 2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".
• 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 – The Puerto Rican government closes the Department of Education and 42 other government agencies due to significant shortages in cash flow.
• 2007 – The Los Angeles May Day mêlée occurs, in which the Los Angeles Police Department's response to a May Day pro-immigration rally become a matter of controversy.
• 2008 – The London Agreement on translation of European patents, concluded in 2000, enters into force in 14 of the 34 Contracting States to the European Patent Convention.
• 2009 – Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden.
• 2011 – Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.
• 2011 – Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks is killed by United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Due to the time difference between the United States and Pakistan, bin Laden was actually killed on May 2.

Births

• 1218 – John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257)
• 1218 – Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1291)
• 1225 – Jean de Joinville, French writer (d. 1317)
• 1285 – Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1326)
• 1582 – Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643)
• 1585 – Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill, Belarusian saint (d. 1612)
• 1591 – Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German Jesuit missionary (d. 1666)
• 1594 – John Haynes, American magistrate and politician
• 1672 – Joseph Addison, English politician and writer (d. 1719)
• 1730 – Sir Joshua Rowley, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1790)
• 1738 – King Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii (d. 1819)
• 1764 – Benjamin Henry Latrobe, English-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (d. 1820)
• 1769 – Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Anglo-Irish statesman (d. 1852)
• 1803 – James Clarence Mangan, Irish poet (d. 1849)
• 1824 – Alexander William Williamson, English chemist (d. 1904)
• 1825 – Johann Jakob Balmer, Swiss mathematician (d. 1898)
• 1825 – George Inness, American painter (d. 1894)
• 1827 – Jules Breton, French painter (d. 1906)
• 1829 – José de Alencar, Brazilian novelist (d. 1877)
• 1829 – Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys, English painter (d. 1904)
• 1830 – Guido Gezelle, Flemish poet and priest (d. 1899)
• 1831 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and suffragist (d. 1903)
• 1847 – Henry Demarest Lloyd, American journalist (d. 1903)
• 1848 – Adelsteen Normann, Norwegian painter (d. 1919)
• 1850 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (d. 1942)
• 1851 – Laza Lazarević, Serbian writer and psychiatrist (d. 1891)
• 1852 – Calamity Jane, American frontierswoman (d. 1903)
• 1852 – Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish neuroscientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1934)
• 1855 – Cecilia Beaux, American painter (d. 1942)
• 1857 – Theo Van Gogh, Dutch art dealer and brother of Vincent Van Gogh (d. 1891)
• 1862 – Marcel Prévost, French author and dramatist (d. 1941)
• 1864 – Anna Jarvis, American founder of Mother's Day (d. 1948)
• 1872 – Harry Leon Wilson, American novelist (d. 1939)
• 1872 – Sidónio Pais, Portuguese politician and diplomat (d. 1918)
• 1874 – Paul Van Asbroeck, Belgian sports shooter (d. 1959)
• 1874 – Romaine Brooks, American painter (d. 1970)
• 1881 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French palaeontologist and philosopher (d. 1955)
• 1884 – Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, English politician, naval officer and race car driver (d. 1964)
• 1885 – Clément Pansaers, Belgian poet (d. 1922)
• 1885 – Ralph Stackpole, American sculptor, painter (d. 1973)
• 1887 – Alan Gordon Cunningham, English army officer (d. 1983)
• 1896 – Herbert Backe, German Nazi politician (d. 1947)
• 1896 – Mark Wayne Clark, American general (d. 1984)
• 1896 – J. Lawton Collins, American general (d. 1987)
• 1900 – Ignazio Silone, Italian author and politician (d. 1978)
• 1901 – Sterling Allen Brown, American professor and critic (d. 1989)
• 1901 – Heinz Eric Roemheld, American composer (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Antal Szerb, Hungarian author and historian (d. 1945)
• 1905 – Henry Koster, German director (d. 1988)
• 1905 – Paul Desruisseaux, Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician (d. 1982)
• 1906 – Horst Schumann, German Nazi physician (d. 1983)
• 1907 – Hayes Alvis, American jazz musician (Mills Blue Rhythm Band) (d. 1972)
• 1907 – Oliver Hill, American attorney (d. 2007)
• 1907 – Kate Smith, American singer (d. 1986)
• 1908 – Giovannino Guareschi, Italian journalist (d. 1968)
• 1908 – Morris Kline, American mathematician (d. 1992)
• 1909 – Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet, winner of the Lenin Peace Prize (d. 1990)
• 1910 – J. Allen Hynek, American astronomer, professor, and ufologist (d. 1986)
• 1911 – Wilfred Watson, English-Canadian poet, playwright, and professor (b. 1998)
• 1912 – Otto Kretschmer, German U-Boat commander and admiral (d. 1998)
• 1913 – Louis Nye, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)
• 1913 – Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (d. 1980)
• 1915 – Hanns Martin Schleyer, German business executive (d. 1977)
• 1915 – Archie Williams, American athlete and teacher (d. 1993)
• 1916 – Glenn Ford, Canadian actor (d. 2006)
• 1917 – John Beradino, American baseball player and actor (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Danielle Darrieux, French actress and singer
• 1917 – Ahron Soloveichik, Russian rabbi and scholar (d. 2001)
• 1918 – Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (d. 1977)
• 1918 – Raymond Mailloux, Canadian politician (d. 1995)
• 1918 – Jack Paar, American comedian, author, and television host (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Lewis Hill, American pacifist and founder of Pacifica Radio (d. 1957)
• 1919 – Manna Dey, Indian singer
• 1919 – Dan O'Herlihy, Irish actor (d. 2005)
• 1919 – Mohammed Karim Lamrani, Moroccan politician, Prime Minister of Morocco
• 1921 – Vladimir Colin, Romanian author (d. 1991)
• 1921 – Boo Morcom, American runner (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Alastair Gillespie, Canadian politician
• 1923 – Joseph Heller, American novelist (d. 1999)
• 1923 – Antônio Maria Mucciolo, Brazilian archbishop (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Art Fleming, American game show host (d. 1995)
• 1924 – Karel Kachyňa, Czech director (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Terry Southern, American screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1925 – Chuck Bednarik, American football player
• 1925 – Scott Carpenter, American astronaut
• 1925 – Sardar Fazlul Karim, Bangladeshi scholar and philosopher
• 1926 – Peter Lax, Hungarian mathematician
• 1927 – Gary Bertini, Israeli conductor (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Laura Betti, Italian actress (d. 2004)
• 1928 – Desmond Titterington, English race car driver (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German sociologist and politician (d. 2009)
• 1929 – Sonny James, American singer-songwriter
• 1930 – Richard Riordan, American politician
• 1930 – Little Walter, American harmonica player (d. 1968)
• 1931 – Jacques Languirand, Canadian radio host and actor
• 1934 – Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, Mexican politician
• 1934 – Shirley Horn, American singer and pianist (d. 2005)
• 1935 – Ann Robinson, American actress
• 1936 – Jerry Mander, American author and activist
• 1937 – Una Stubbs, English actress
• 1939 – Judy Collins, American singer-songwriter and musician
• 1939 – Victor Davies, Canadian composer, pianist, and conductor
• 1939 – Max Robinson, American journalist (d. 1988)
• 1940 – Bobbie Ann Mason, American author and critic
• 1940 – Elsa Peretti, Italian jewelry designer
• 1940 – Yury Yershov, Russian mathematician
• 1941 – Asil Nadir, Turkish-Cypriot businessman
• 1942 – Stephen Macht, American actor
• 1943 – Vassal Gadoengin, Nauruan politician (d. 2004)
• 1944 – Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician
• 1945 – Rita Coolidge, American singer
• 1945 – Peter Kiesewetter, German composer (d. 2012)
• 1946 – Joanna Lumley, English actress
• 1946 – John Woo, Hong Kong director
• 1947 – Sergio Infante, Chilean poet and writer
• 1948 – Patricia Hill Collins, American scholar
• 1949 – Jim Clench, Canadian bassist (April Wine and Bachman–Turner Overdrive) (d. 2010)
• 1949 – Tim Hodgkinson, English composer and musician (Henry Cow, The Work, and K-Space)
• 1949 – Paul Teutul, Sr., American motorcycle Designer and Builder, co-founder of Orange County Choppers
• 1950 – John Diehl, American actor
• 1950 – Dann Florek, American actor
• 1950 – Danny McGrain, Scottish footballer
• 1951 – Sally Mann, American photographer
• 1951 – Antony Worrall Thompson, English chef
• 1951 – Geoff Lees, English Grand Prix driver
• 1953 – Glen Ballard, American songwriter and producer
• 1954 – Fred Chichin, French musician and songwriter (Les Rita Mitsouko) (d. 2007)
• 1954 – Ray Parker Jr., American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (Raydio)
• 1954 – Joel Rosenberg, Canadian-American author (d. 2011)
• 1955 – Nick Feldman, English musician (Wang Chung)
• 1955 – Martin O'Donnell, American composer
• 1956 – Catherine Frot, French actress
• 1956 – Phil Foglio, American cartoonist and comic book artist
• 1956 – Frank Szymanski, German politician
• 1957 – Kow Otani, Japanese composer
• 1959 – Yasmina Reza, French playwright, actress, novelist, and screenwriter
• 1959 – Lawrence Seeff, South African cricketer
• 1960 – Steve Cauthen, American jockey
• 1961 – Clint Malarchuk, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 – Marilyn Milian, American judge
• 1962 – Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress
• 1962 – Ted Sundquist, American football player and manager
• 1964 – Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater
• 1964 – Lady Sarah Chatto, English daughter of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
• 1964 – Will Kimbrough, American singer-songwriter
• 1966 – Charlie Schlatter, American actor
• 1966 – Olaf Thon, German footballer
• 1967 – Tim McGraw, American singer and actor
• 1968 – Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer
• 1968 – Sol Kyung-gu, South Korean actor
• 1968 – Denise Masino, American bodybuilder
• 1968 – D'arcy Wretzky, American musician (The Smashing Pumpkins and Catherine)
• 1969 – Wes Anderson, American director and writer
• 1969 – Billy Owens, American basketball player
• 1971 – Ethan Albright, American football player
• 1971 – Ajith Kumar, Indian actor
• 1972 – Julie Benz, American actress
• 1972 – Ramzi bin al-Shibh, one of the masterminds behind the September 11 attacks
• 1972 – Earl Va'a, Samoan rugby player
• 1973 – Mike Jesse, German footballer
• 1973 – Curtis Martin, American football player
• 1973 – Oliver Neuville, German footballer
• 1974 – Kellie Crawford, Australian singer and actress (Hi-5 and Teen Queens)
• 1975 – Austin Croshere, American basketball player
• 1975 – Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003)
• 1975 – Nina Hossain, English journalist
• 1975 – Jodhi May, English actress
• 1975 – Alexey Smertin, Russian footballer
• 1976 – Darius McCrary, American actor
• 1977 – Vera Lischka, Austrian swimmer and politician
• 1978 – Sachie Hara, Japanese actress
• 1978 – Nick Traina, American singer-songwriter (Link 80) (d. 1997)
• 1979 – Mauro Bergamasco, Italian rugby player
• 1979 – Michael Harvey, English rapper, footballer, and actor (So Solid Crew)
• 1980 – Marvin Cabrera, Mexican footballer
• 1980 – Jan Heylen, Belgian race car driver
• 1980 – Jay Reatard, American singer-songwriter and musician (Lost Sounds) (d. 2010)
• 1980 – Ana Claudia Talancón, Mexican actress
• 1981 – Derek Asamoah, Ghanaian footballer
• 1981 – Alexander Hleb, Belarusian footballer
• 1981 – Wes Welker, American football player
• 1982 – Tommy Robredo, Spanish tennis player
• 1982 – Darijo Srna, Croatian footballer
• 1983 – Alain Bernard, French swimmer
• 1983 – Human Tornado, American wrestler
• 1984 – David Backes, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Patrick Eaves, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Alexander Farnerud, Swedish footballer
• 1984 – Farah Fath, American actress
• 1984 – Víctor Montaño, Colombian footballer
• 1984 – Keiichiro Koyama, Japanese singer and actor (NEWS)
• 1984 – Mark Seaby, Australian rules footballer
• 1985 – Drew Sidora, American actress
• 1986 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1986 – Adam Casey, Australian association footballer
• 1986 – Brent Stanton, Australian rules footballer
• 1987 – Leonardo Bonucci, Italian footballer
• 1987 – Matt Di Angelo, English actor
• 1987 – Glen Coffee, American football player
• 1987 – Marcus Drum, Australian rules footballer
• 1987 – Amir Johnson, American basketball player
• 1987 – Shahar Pe'er, Israeli tennis player
• 1988 – Nicholas Braun, American actor
• 1988 – Anushka Sharma, Indian actress and model
• 1989 – Poļina Jeļizarova, Latvian athlete
• 1989 – Tim Urban, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
• 1989 – Alejandro Arribas, Spanish footballer
• 1990 – Uriel Álvarez, Mexican footballer
• 1990 – Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress
• 1991 – Creagen Dow, American actor
• 1991 – Abdisalam Ibrahim, Somali-Norwegian footballer
• 1992 – Yū Kikkawa, Japanese singer
• 1992 – Matěj Vydra, Czech footballer
• 1993 – Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, French footballer
• 1997 – Ariel Gade, American actress

Deaths

• 408 – Arcadius, Roman emperor (b. 337/338)
• 1118 – Edith of Scotland, first wife of Henry I of England (b. c.1080)
• 1277 – Stephen Uroš I of Serbia (b. 1223)
• 1308 – Albert I of Habsburg (b. 1255)
• 1539 – Isabella of Portugal (b. 1503)
• 1555 – Pope Marcellus II (b. 1501)
• 1572 – Pope Pius V (b. 1504)
• 1731 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German composer (b. 1677)
• 1738 – Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, English statesman (b. c.1669)
• 1772 – Gottfried Achenwall, German statistician (b. 1719)
• 1813 – Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French marshal (b. 1768)
• 1856 – John Wilbur, American minister (b. 1774)
• 1873 – David Livingstone, Scottish missionary (b. 1813)
• 1899 – Ludwig Büchner, German philosopher and physician (b. 1824)
• 1904 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (b. 1841)
• 1913 – John Barclay Armstrong, American lieutenant and Marshal (b. 1850)
• 1920 – Princess Margaret of Connaught (b. 1882)
• 1935 – Henri Pélissier, French cyclist (b. 1889)
• 1937 – Snitz Edwards, American actor (b. 1868)
• 1943 – Johan Oscar Smith, Norwegian Christian leader, founder of Brunstad Christian Church (b. 1871)
• 1945 – Joseph Goebbels, German Nazi politician (b. 1897)
• 1945 – Magda Goebbels, wife of Joseph Goebbels (b. 1901)
• 1956 – LeRoy Samse, American athlete (b. 1883)
• 1960 – Charles Holden, British architect (b. 1875)
• 1963 – Lope K. Santos, Filipino writer and politician, father of the Filipino language (b. 1879)
• 1965 – Spike Jones, American bandleader and musician (b. 1911)
• 1968 – Harold Nicolson, English diplomat, author, and politician (b. 1886)
• 1968 – Jack Adams, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1895)
• 1970 – Yi Un, Korean prince (b. 1897)
• 1973 – Asger Jorn, Danish painter (b. 1914)
• 1976 – Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek politician and poet (b. 1939)
• 1976 – T.R.M. Howard, American civil rights leader, entrepreneur, and surgeon (b. 1908)
• 1978 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (b. 1903)
• 1982 – William Primrose, Scottish violist and teacher (b. 1903)
• 1985 – Denise Robins, English journalist and novelist (b. 1897)
• 1986 – Hylda Baker, English actress (b. 1905)
• 1986 – Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and producer (b. 1916)
• 1989 – Sally Kirkland, American editor and manager (b. 1912)
• 1989 – Patrice Tardif, Canadian politician (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Douglass Watson, American actor (b. 1921)
• 1990 – Sergio Franchi, Italian tenor and actor (b. 1926)
• 1991 – Richard Thorpe, American director (b. 1896)
• 1992 – Sharon Redd, American singer and actress (Harlettes) (b. 1945)
• 1993 – Pierre Bérégovoy, French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1925)
• 1993 – Ranasinghe Premadasa, Sri Lankan politician, 3rd President of Sri Lanka (b. 1924)
• 1994– Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1960)
• 1996 – Luana Patten, American actress (b. 1938)
• 1997 – Fernand Dumont, French-Canadian sociologist, philosopher, and poet (b. 1927)
• 1998 – Eldridge Cleaver, American writer and activist (b. 1935)
• 1999 – Jos LeDuc, Canadian wrestler (b. 1944)
• 2000 – Steve Reeves, American actor (b. 1926)
• 2000 – Jukka Tapanimäki, Finnish game programmer (b. 1961)
• 2002 – John Nathan-Turner, English television producer (b. 1947)
• 2003 – Miss Elizabeth, American professional wrestling manager (b. 1960)
• 2004 – Larkin Kerwin, Canadian physicist (b. 1924)
• 2006 – Big Hawk, American rapper (Screwed Up Click) (b. 1969)
• 2006 – Rob Lacey, English actor and author (b. 1962)
• 2006 – Johnny Paris, American saxophonist (Johnny and the Hurricanes) (b. 1940)
• 2008 – Philipp von Boeselager, German Wehrmacht officer, member of the 20 July Plot (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese politician, 1st President of Malta (b. 1909)
• 2008 – Deborah Jeane Palfrey, American prostitution service owner (b. 1956)
• 2009 – Danny Gans, American singer and comedian (b. 1956)
• 2010 – Rob McConnell, Canadian trombonist, composer, and arranger (b. 1935)
• 2010 – Helen Wagner, American actress (b. 1918)
• 2011 – Ted Lowe, English sports commentator (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Shanmugasundari, Indian actress (b. 1937)
• 2012 – Charles Pitts, American guitarist (The Bo-Keys) (b. 1947)
• 2012 – Mordechai Virshubski, Israeli politician (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Augustin Schoeffer
  • Andeolus
  • Brioc
  • James the Less
  • Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker (Roman Catholic optional feast)
  • Marcouf
  • Philip the Apostle
  • Sigismund of Burgundy
  • Walpurga (canonization)
  • May 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Constitution Day (Latvia)
• Constitution Day (Marshall Islands)
• Commemoration of the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat following the foundation of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti (India):
  • Gujarat Day
  • Maharashtra Day
• Earliest day on which Mother's Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in May. (Samoa)
• Earliest day on which Mother's Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in May. (Hong Kong, Hungary, Lithuania, Mozambique, Portugal, Spain, Romania)
• Earliest day on which National Day of Prayer can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Thursday in May. (United States)
• Earliest day on which World Asthma Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Tuesday in May. (International)
• Festival in honor of Bona Dea (Roman Empire)
• International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day (guerilla gardeners)
• International Workers' Day or Labour Day (International), and its related observances:
  • EuroMayDay (Western Europe)
  • Law Day, U.S.A., formerly intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day. (United States)
  • Loyalty Day, formerly intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day. (United States)
• Lei Day (Hawaii)

• May Day (beginning of Summer) observances in the Northern hemisphere (see April 30):
  • Beltane in the Northern hemisphere, Samhain in the Southern hemisphere (Irish, Scottish, Manx diaspora, Celtic Neopagans and Wiccans)
  • Earliest day on which Beltane can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in May. (Ireland, Scotland)
  • Walpurgis Night, celebrated before dawn (Central and Northern Europe)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On this day in Canada

---