May 5: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). There are 240 days remaining.

The Northern Hemisphere is considered halfway through Spring on May 5, since there are usually 92 days in that season of the year.

Events

• 1260 - Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
• 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.
• 1762 - Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg.
• 1789 - In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time in 150 years.
• 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.
• 1835 - In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
• 1862 - Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.
• 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.
• 1877 - Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
• 1891 - The Music Hall in New York (now known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
• 1893 - Panic of 1893: Crash on the New York Stock Exchange starts a depression.
• 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.
• 1912 - The 1912 Summer Olympics open in Stockholm, Sweden.
• 1916 - American marines invade the Dominican Republic.
• 1922 - In The Bronx, construction begins on Yankee Stadium.
• 1923 - Coco Chanel introduces Chanel No. 5 perfume.
• 1925 - Scopes Trial: Dayton, Tennessee, biology teacher John Scopes is arrested for teaching Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution.
• 1936 - Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• 1940 - World War II: In London, a Norwegian government-in-exile is formed.
• 1941 - Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; this date has been since commemorated as Liberation Day.
• 1943 - The film curator of the Library of Congress, Howard Walls, announces that about 5,000 films will be preserved in the library.
• 1944 - Mohandas Gandhi is freed from prison.
• 1945 - World War II:
  • German troops in the Netherlands and Denmark capitulate to Canadian and British forces, liberating these countries from Nazi occupation.
  • Prague uprising against the Nazis.
  • Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
  • Admiral Karl Dönitz orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
  • A Japanese bomb, launched by balloon and called a fire balloon, explodes near Lakeview, Oregon, United States, killing a woman and five children who were examining it during a church picnic.
• 1949 - The Council of Europe is formed.
• 1950 - Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King Rama IX of Thailand.
• 1954 - A coup d'état carries General Alfredo Stroessner to power in Paraguay.
• 1955 - West Germany gains full sovereignty.
• 1961 - Mercury program: Mercury 3 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into space, making a sub-orbital flight of 15 minutes.
• 1975 - The Busch Gardens Williamsburg theme park opens in Virginia.
• 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.
• 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings.
• 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 by singing "Insieme: 1992" ("Together: 1992").
• 1991 - A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, DC after a Salvadoran man is shot by police.
• 1992 - Wolfenstein 3D is released, the first-ever first-person shooter computer game.
• 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.
• 2000 - Planets in the Solar System align.
• 2005 - The United Kingdom general election takes place.

• 867 - Uda, Emperor of Japan (d. 931)
• 1210 - King Afonso III of Portugal (d. 1279)
• 1546 - Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician (d. 1623)
• 1747 - Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1792)
• 1764 - Robert Craufurd, British general (d. 1812)
• 1813 - Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (d. 1855)
• 1818 - Karl Marx, German political philosopher (d. 1883)
• 1826 - Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon III (d. 1920)
• 1832 - H.H. Bancroft, American historian and publisher (d. 1918)
• 1833 - Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer (d. 1905)
• 1846 - Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1916)
• 1865 - Elizabeth Jane Cochran, American journalist and writer (d. 1922)
• 1866 - Thomas B. Thrige, Danish industrialist (d. 1938)
• 1869 - Hans Pfitzner, Russian-born composer (d. 1949)
• 1883 - Archibald Wavell, British general (d. 1950)
• 1887 - Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1972)
• 1890 - Christopher Morley, American writer (d. 1957)
• 1901 - Blind Willie McTell, American singer (d. 1959)
• 1903 - James Beard, American chef and cookbook writer (d. 1985)
• 1908 - Kurt Böhme, German bass (d. 1989)
• 1914 - Tyrone Power, American actor (d. 1958)
• 1915 - Alice Faye, American actress (d. 1998)
• 1916 - Zail Singh, President of India (d. 1994)
• 1921 - Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
• 1923 - Richard Wollheim, British philosopher (d. 2003)
• 1926 - Ann B. Davis, American actress
• 1935 - Douglas Marland, American television writer (d. 1993)
• 1936 - Patrick Gowers, English composer
• 1941 - Alexander Ragulin, Russian hockey player (d. 2004)
• 1942 - Marc Alaimo, American actor
• 1943 - Michael Palin, British writer, actor, and comedian
• 1944 - Roger Rees, Welsh actor
• 1944 - John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor
• 1952 - Campbell McComas, Australian impersonator and broadcaster (d. 2005)
• 1955 - Wil Harris, American drummer
• 1957 - Richard E. Grant, British actor
• 1963 - James LaBrie, American singer (Dream Theater)
• 1966 - Shawn Drover, Canadian drummer (Megadeth)
• 1972 - Devin Townsend, Canadian musician (Strapping Young Lad)
• 1976 - Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentine footballer
• 1979 - Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
• 1982 - Jay Bothroyd, English footballer
• 1987 - John Gotti Agnello, Son of columnist and author Victoria Gotti and grandson of mobster John Gotti

• 311 - Galerius, Roman Emperor
• 1028 - King Alfonso V of Castile, León, and Galicia
• 1192 - Duke Ottokar IV of Styria (b. 1163)
• 1194 - King Casimir II of Poland (b. 1138)
• 1219 - King Leo II of Armenia (b. 1150)
• 1309 - King Charles II of Naples
• 1525 - Frederick III of Saxony (b. 1463)
• 1586 - Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1529)
• 1604 - Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (b. 1533)
• 1671 - Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, English politician (b. 1602)
• 1672 - Samuel Cooper, English painter (b. 1609)
• 1705 - Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1640)
• 1760 - Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English murderer (hanged) (b. 1720)
• 1766 - Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b. 1684)
• 1808 - Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist (b. 1757)
• 1811 - Robert Mylne, architect (b. 1734)
• 1821 - Napoleon I of France (b. 1769)
• 1827 - Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1750)
• 1855 - Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (b. 1786)
• 1859 - Peter Gustav Dirichlet, German mathematician (b. 1805)
• 1900 - Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian painter (b. 1817)
• 1921 - Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1864)
• 1947 - Ty Laforest, Canadian baseball player (b. 1917)
• 1959 - Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878)
• 1962 - Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (b. 1889)
• 1971 - Violet Jessop, Titanic survivor (b. 1887)
• 1981 - Bobby Sands, Irish activist (b. 1954)
• 1985 - Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
• 1988 - Michael Shaara, American author (b. 1928)
• 1992 - Jean-Claude Pascal, French singer (b.1927)
• 1995 - Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player (b. 1911)
• 1997 - Walter Gotell, German actor (b. 1924)
• 2001 - Cliff Hillegass, American writer and publisher
• 2003 - Walter Sisulu, South African activist (b. 1912)

• Ascension Day in Western Christianity (2005)
• Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
  • Saint Angelus (d. 1222)
  • Pius V (1505-1572)
  • Jutta of Kulmsee or Saint Judith of Prussia (d. 1260)
  • Aventinus (d. 1189)
  • Saint Gerontius (d. 472)
  • Nicetius
  • Hilary of Arles (d. 449)
• 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
• Albania: Martyrs' Day
• South Korea: Children's Day

May 4 - May 6 - April 5 - June 5 – listing of all days