May 10

May 10

 

Events

• 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, opens a full-scale assault on Jerusalem and attacks the city's Third Wall to the northwest.
• 1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England.
• 1497 – Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.
• 1503 – Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.
• 1534 – Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.
• 1655 – England, with troops under the command of Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables, annexes Jamaica from Spain.
• 1768 – John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for The North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.
• 1773 – The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
• 1774 – Louis XVI becomes King of France.
• 1774 – Marie Antoinette becomes Queen of France.
• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: A small Colonial militia led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold captures Fort Ticonderoga.
• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the Thirteen Colonies begin the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
• 1796 – First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the Adda River in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
• 1801 – First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America.
• 1824 – The National Gallery in London opens to the public.
• 1833 – The desecration of the grave of the viceroy of southern Vietnam Le Van Duyet by Emperor Minh Mang provokes his adopted son to start a revolt.
• 1837 – Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
• 1849 – Astor Place Riot: A riot breaks out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing at least 25 and injuring over 120.
• 1857 – Indian Mutiny: In India, the first war of Independence begins. Sepoys revolt against their commanding officers at Meerut.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Confederate General Stonewall Jackson dies eight days after he is accidentally shot by his own troops.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Colonel Emory Upton leads a 10-regiment "Attack-in-depth" assault against the Confederate works at The Battle of Spotsylvania, which, though ultimately unsuccessful, would provide the idea for the massive assault against the Bloody Angle on May 12. Upton is slightly wounded but is immediately promoted to Brigadier general.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.
• 1865 – American Civil War: In Kentucky, Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill, who lingers until his death on June 6.
• 1869 – The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah) with the golden spike.
• 1872 – Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
• 1877 – Romania declares itself independent from the Ottoman Empire following the Senate adoption of Mihail Kogălniceanu's Declaration of Independence. This act is recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian War of Independence.
• 1893 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.
• 1908 – Mother's Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia.
• 1922 – The United States annex the Kingman Reef.
• 1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972.
• 1933 – Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
• 1940 – World War II: The first German bombs of the war fall on England at Chilham and Petham, in Kent.
• 1940 – World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
• 1940 – World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 1940 – World War II: Invasion of Iceland by the United Kingdom.
• 1941 – World War II: The House of Commons in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
• 1941 – World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.
• 1942 – World War II: The Thai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign.
• 1946 – First successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.
• 1948 – The Republic of China implements "temporary provisions" granting President Chiang Kai-shek extended powers to deal with the Communist uprising; they will remain in effect until 1991.
• 1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.
• 1960 – The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
• 1969 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill.
• 1979 – The Federated States of Micronesia become self-governing.
• 1981 – François Mitterrand wins the presidential election and becomes the first Socialist President of France in the French Fifth Republic.
• 1993 – In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills 156 workers.
• 1994 – Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.
• 1997 – A 7.3 M_w earthquake strikes Iran's Khorasan Province, killing 1,567, injuring over 2,300, leaving 50,000 homeless, and damaging or destroying over 15,000 homes.
• 1997 – The Maeslantkering, a storm surge barrier in the Netherlands that is one of the world's largest moving structures, is opened by Queen Beatrix.
• 2002 – F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
• 2005 – A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 65 feet (20 metres) from U.S. President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate.
• 2008 – An EF4 tornado strikes the Oklahoma-Kansas state line, killing 21 people and injuring over 100.
• 2008 – War in Darfur: The Justice and Equality Movement and Sudanese government forces clash in Omdurman and Khartoum, the first time the fighting takes place in the nation's capital.

Births

• 213 – Claudius II, Roman emperor (d. 270)
• 1265 – Emperor Fushimi of Japan (d. 1317)
• 1604 – Jean Mairet, French dramatist (d. 1686)
• 1641 – Dudley North, English economist (d. 1691)
• 1697 – Jean-Marie Leclair, French violinist and composer (d. 1764)
• 1714 – Sophie Charlotte Ackermann, German actress (d. 1792)
• 1727 – Anne Robert Turgot, French statesman (d. 1781)
• 1746 – Gaspard Monge, French mathematician (d. 1818)
• 1755 – Robert Gray, American sea captain (d. 1806)
• 1756 – Singu Min, King of Burma (d. 1782)
• 1760 – Johann Peter Hebel, German poet (d. 1826)
• 1760 – Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French composer (La Marseillaise) (d. 1836)
• 1770 – Louis Nicolas Davout, French marshal (d. 1823)
• 1775 – Antoine Charles Louis Lasalle, French cavalry general (d. 1809)
• 1788 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist (d. 1827)
• 1788 – Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, Russian-born queen of Württemberg (d. 1819)
• 1810 – Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, British lexicographer (d. 1897)
• 1813 – Montgomery Blair, American politician (d. 1883)
• 1838 – John Wilkes Booth, American actor and assassin of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1865)
• 1840 – Hadzhi Dimitar, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1868)
• 1841 – James Gordon Bennett Jr., American publisher (New York Herald) (d. 1918)
• 1843 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (d. 1920)
• 1847 – Wilhelm Killing, German mathematician (d. 1923)
• 1863 – Upendrakishore Ray, Indian writer, painter and composer (d. 1915)
• 1866 – Léon Bakst, Russian artist (d. 1924)
• 1868 – Ed Barrow, American baseball manager (d. 1953)
• 1872 – Marcel Mauss, French sociologist (d. 1950)
• 1874 – Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, senator, historian and orientalist (d. 1941)
• 1876 – Ivan Cankar, Slovenian writer (d. 1918)
• 1878 – Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1929)
• 1879 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian statesman (d. 1926)
• 1886 – Karl Barth, Swiss Protestant theologian (d. 1968)
• 1886 – Olaf Stapledon, British author and philosopher (d. 1950)
• 1886 – Felix Manalo, Philippine Founder and 1st Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (d. 1963)
• 1888 – Max Steiner, Austrian composer (d. 1971)
• 1889 – Mae Murray, American actress (d. 1965)
• 1890 – Alfred Jodl, German general (d. 1946)
• 1894 – Elvire Popesco, Romanian-born stage and movie actress (d. 1993)
• 1895 – Kama Chinen, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2010)
• 1897 – Einar Gerhardsen, Prime minister of Norway (d. 1987)
• 1898 – Ariel Durant, American historian (d. 1981)
• 1899 – Fred Astaire, American dancer and actor (d. 1987)
• 1899 – Dimitri Tiomkin, Ukrainian-born composer (d. 1979)
• 1901 – J.D. Bernal, British crystallographer (d. 1971)
• 1902 – Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-born film director (d. 1974)
• 1902 – David O. Selznick, American film producer (d. 1965)
• 1903 – Otto Bradfisch, Nazi leader (d. 1994)
• 1905 – Markos Vamvakaris, Greek rebetiko musician and songwriter (d. 1972)
• 1907 – Freddie Spencer Chapman, British army officer (d. 1971)
• 1908 – Carl Albert, American politician (d. 2000)
• 1909 – Maybelle Carter, American musician (d. 1978)
• 1911 – Roland Gladu, Canadian baseball player (d. 1994)
• 1911 – Bel Kaufman, American author
• 1915 – Monica Dickens, English writer (d. 1992)
• 1915 – Sir Denis Thatcher, British businessman and husband of Margaret Thatcher (d. 2003)
• 1916 – Milton Babbitt, American composer (d. 2011)
• 1918 – T. Berry Brazelton, American pediatrician
• 1918 – George Welch, American pilot (d. 1954)
• 1920 – Jeff Cooper, American Handgun Expert (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Bert Weedon, British guitarist (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Helen Crummy MBE, Scottish community activist (d. 2011).
• 1922 – Nancy Walker, American actress (d. 1992)
• 1923 – Heydar Aliyev, Ex-President and Leader of Azerbaijan Republic (d. 2003)
• 1926 – Hugo Banzer, Bolivian dictator (d. 2002)
• 1927 – Nayantara Sahgal, Indian author
• 1928 – Arnold Rüütel, Estonian president
• 1929 – Antonine Maillet, French-Canadian novelist and playwright
• 1930 – Scott Muni, American radio DJ (d. 2004)
• 1930 – Pat Summerall, American football player and broadcaster
• 1931 – Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter
• 1933 – Françoise Fabian, French film actress
• 1933 – Barbara Taylor Bradford, English writer
• 1934 – Jeanine Basinger, American film scholar
• 1934 – Cliff Wilson, Welsh snooker player (d. 1994)
• 1935 – Larry Williams, American singer and songwriter (d. 1980)
• 1936 – Timothy Birdsall, English cartoonist (d. 1963)
• 1936 – Gary Owens, American actor and announcer
• 1937 – Jim Hickman, American baseball player
• 1937 – Tamara Press, Soviet athlete
• 1938 – Jean Becker, French director, screenwriter and actor
• 1938 – Henry Fambrough, American singer (The Spinners)
• 1938 – Dang Nhat Minh, Vietnamese film director
• 1938 – Manuel Santana, Spanish tennis champion
• 1938 – Marina Vlady, French actress
• 1940 – Wayne A. Downing, retired United States Army general
• 1941 – Danny Rapp, American musician (Danny & the Juniors) (d. 1983)
• 1942 – Jim Calhoun, American college basketball coach
• 1942 – Carl Douglas, Jamaican-born singer
• 1942 – Youssouf Sambo Bâ, Burkinabé politician
• 1943 – David Clennon, American actor
• 1943 – Richard Darman, American economist
• 1944 – Jim Abrahams, American film director
• 1944 – Marie-France Pisier, French actress (d. 2011)
• 1946 – Donovan, Scottish musician
• 1946 – Graham Gouldman, British musician and songwriter (10cc)
• 1946 – Maureen Lipman, English actress
• 1946 – Dave Mason, English musician (Traffic)
• 1946 – Diderik Wagenaar, Dutch composer and musical theorist
• 1947 – Caroline Cooney, American author
• 1947 – Jay Ferguson, American musician and composer
• 1947 – Thomas Tessier, American author
• 1948 – Meg Foster, American actress
• 1952 – Sly Dunbar, Jamaican musician
• 1952 – Kikki Danielsson, Swedish singer
• 1952 – Manuel Mora Morales, Spanish director and writer
• 1953 – John Diamond, English journalist (d. 2001)
• 1953 – Tito Santana, Mexican-American professional wrestler
• 1954 – F. Charles Brunicardi, American surgeon
• 1955 – Chris Berman, American sportscaster
• 1955 – Mark David Chapman, American murderer of John Lennon
• 1956 – Yves Jacques, French-Canadian actor
• 1956 – Paige O'Hara, American Broadway singer and actress
• 1956 – Vladislav Listyev, Russian television anchor and journalist (d. 1995)
• 1956 – Jonathan Roberts, American writer played Mufasa from Lion King.
• 1957 – Sid Vicious, English bassist (The Sex Pistols) (d. 1979)
• 1958 – Gaétan Boucher, Canadian speed skater
• 1958 – Rick Santorum, American politician
• 1958 – Yu Suzuki, Japanese creator of Virtua Fighter series
• 1959 – Victoria Rowell, American actress
• 1959 – Danny Schayes, American basketball player
• 1960 – Bono, Irish singer (U2)
• 1960 – Dean Heller, American politician
• 1960 – Merlene Ottey, Jamaican/Slovenian track athlete
• 1961 – Danny Carey, American drummer (Tool, Pigmy Love Circus)
• 1961 – Randy Cunneyworth, Canadian ice hockey coach
• 1961 – Johanna ter Steege, Dutch actress
• 1962 – Guy Hemmings, Canadian curler
• 1962 – Brad Soderberg, American college basketball head coach
• 1962 – Robby Thompson, American baseball player
• 1963 – Lisa Nowak, American astronaut
• 1963 – A. Raja, Indian politician
• 1965 – Linda Evangelista, Canadian supermodel
• 1965 – Rony Seikaly, Lebanese basketball player
• 1966 – Jonathan Edwards, English athlete
• 1967 – Scott Brison, Canadian politician
• 1967 – Jon Ronson, British journalist and author
• 1967 – Nobuhiro Takeda, Japanese footballer and sportscaster
• 1967 – Young MC, American rapper
• 1968 – Thomas Coville, French yacht racer
• 1968 – William Regal (Darren Matthews), English professional wrestler
• 1968 – Al Murray, British comedian
• 1968 – Erik Palladino, American actor
• 1968 – Ed Sanders, British actor and television personality
• 1969 – Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer
• 1969 – John Scalzi, American writer
• 1970 – Perry Blake, Irish singer/songwriter
• 1970 – Gabriela Montero, Venezuelan pianist
• 1970 – Gina Philips, American actress
• 1970 – Sally Phillips, British actress and comedienne
• 1970 – Dallas Roberts, American actor
• 1970 – David Weir, Scottish footballer
• 1971 – Adriano Giannini, Italian actor
• 1971 – Craig Mack, American rapper
• 1971 – Ådne Søndrål, Norwegian speed skater
• 1971 – Leslie Stefanson, American actress
• 1972 – Radosław Majdan, Polish footballer
• 1973 – Aviv Geffen, Israeli singer/songwriter (Blackfield)
• 1973 – Ollie le Roux, South African rugby player
• 1973 – Jerome Williams, American basketball player
• 1974 – Liu Fang, Chinese musician
• 1974 – Sylvain Wiltord, French footballer
• 1975 – Andrea Anders, American Actress
• 1975 – Torbjørn Brundtland, Norwegian musician (Röyksopp)
• 1975 – Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian race car driver
• 1975 – Adam Deadmarsh, American ice hockey player
• 1975 – Shin Jung-hwan, Korean singer
• 1976 – Stuart Braithwaite, Scottish musician (Mogwai)
• 1976 – Rachel Gordon, Australian actress
• 1976 – Steve Howard, Scottish footballer
• 1976 – Rob Malda, American internet writer/editor (Slashdot)
• 1976 – Udo Mechels, Belgian singer
• 1976 – Aggeliki Tsiolakoudi, Greek javelin thrower
• 1977 – Henri Camara, Senegalese footballer
• 1977 – Nick Heidfeld, German Formula One driver
• 1977 – Denise Ho, Hong Kong singer
• 1977 – Chas Licciardello, Australian comedian
• 1977 – Keith Murray, American singer (We Are Scientists)
• 1977 – Sergei Nakariakov, Russian virtuoso trumpeter
• 1978 – Kenan Thompson, American actor
• 1979 – Lee Hyori, South Korean singer
• 1980 – Namitha Kapoor, Indian actress
• 1981 – Samuel Dalembert, Haitian basketball player
• 1981 – Humberto Suazo, Chilean footballer
• 1982 – Jeremy Gable, American playwright
• 1982 – Daniel Harris, Australian rules footballer
• 1983 – Gustav Fridolin, Swedish politician
• 1983 – Natalia Zabala, Spanish beauty pageant contestant
• 1984 – Edward Mujica, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1984 – Kristyna Myles, British singer
• 1985 – Ryan Getzlaf, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1985 – Odette Annable, American actress
• 1987 – Wilson Chandler, American basketball player
• 1987 – Anej Lovrečič, Slovenian footballer
• 1989 – Lindsey Shaw, American actress
• 1990 – Josh Dugan, Australian rugby league player
• 1990 – Lauren Potter, American actress
• 1991 – Giorgos Machlelis, Greek footballer
• 1992 – Zia Marquez, Filipino actress
• 1992 – Charice Pempengco, Filipino singer
• 1993 – Tímea Babos, Hungarian tennis player
• 1993 – Mirai Shida, Japanese actress

Deaths

• 1034 – Mieszko II, King of Poland (b. 990)
• 1290 – Duke Rudolph II of Austria (b. 1271)
• 1424 – Go-Kameyama, Emperor of Japan
• 1482 – Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1397)
• 1493 – Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll, Scottish politician
• 1521 – Sebastian Brant, Alsatian humanist (b. 1457)
• 1566 – Leonhart Fuchs, German botanist (b. 1501)
• 1641 – Johan Banér, Swedish soldier (b. 1596)
• 1657 – Gustaf Horn, Swedish soldier and politician (b. 1592)
• 1691 – Colonel John Birch, English soldier (b. 1615)
• 1692 – Sarah Osborne, one of the first accused in the Salem witch trials (b. circa 1643)
• 1696 – Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (b. 1645)
• 1717 – John Hathorne, American magistrate (b. 1641)
• 1726 – Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier (b. 1670)
• 1733 – Barton Booth, English actor (b. 1681)
• 1737 – Emperor Nakamikado of Japan (b. 1702)
• 1774 – King Louis XV of France (b. 1710)
• 1775 – Marie Magdalene Charlotte Ackermann, German actress (b. 1757)
• 1787 – William Watson, English physician and scientist (b. 1715)
• 1792 – John Stevens, American delegate to the Continental Congress
• 1798 – George Vancouver, British navy officer and explorer (b. 1757)
• 1807 – Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, French soldier (b. 1725)
• 1818 – Paul Revere, American patriot (b. 1735)
• 1829 – Thomas Young, English physician and linguist (b. 1773)
• 1850 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (b. 1778)
• 1863 – Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, American Confederate general (b. 1824)
• 1868 – Henry Bennett, American politician (b. 1808)
• 1889 – Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian satirist (b. 1826)
• 1897 – Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino revolutionary leader (b. 1863)
• 1904 – Andrei Ryabushkin, Russian painter (b. 1861)
• 1937 – William Tedmarsh, English-born silent movie actor (b. 1876)
• 1945 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (b. 1889)
• 1945 – Konrad Henlein, pro-Nazi Czechoslovakian politician (b. 1898)
• 1950 – Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian, bibliographer, archivist (b. 1883)
• 1955 – Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (b. 1881)
• 1955 – John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist (b. 1865)
• 1956 – Michalis Karaolis, Greek-Cypriot EOKA fighter (b. 1934)
• 1960 – Yury Olesha, Russian novelist (b. 1899)
• 1963 – Gene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb, American football player (b. 1931)
• 1964 – Mikhail Larionov, Russian painter (b. 1881)
• 1965 – Hubertus van Mook, Acting Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1942 to 1948 (b. 1894)
• 1967 – Lorenzo Bandini, Italian racing driver, (b. 1935)
• 1968 – Scotty Beckett, American child actor (b. 1929)
• 1974 – Hal Mohr, American cinematographer, husband of Evelyn Venable (b. 1894)
• 1976 – Elias Aslaksen, Norwegian religious figure (b. 1888)
• 1977 – Joan Crawford, American actress (b. 1905)
• 1982 – Peter Weiss, German writer and artist (b. 1916)
• 1988 – Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (b. 1902)
• 1989 – Woody Shaw, American jazz musician (b. 1944)
• 1989 – Dimitar Ilievski-Murato, Macedonian mountaineer (b. 1953)
• 1990 – Susan Oliver, American actress (b. 1932)
• 1990 – Walker Percy, American author (b. 1916)
• 1992 – Sylvia Syms, American jazz singer (b. 1917)
• 1993 – Stephen Ross, English politician (b. 1926)
• 1994 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (b. 1942)
• 1997 – Joan Weston, American Roller Derby (b. 1935)
• 1999 – Shel Silverstein, American poet and composer (b. 1930)
• 2000 – Jules Deschênes, Quebec superior court judge (b. 1923)
• 2001 – Sudhakarrao Naik, Indian politician (b. 1934)
• 2001 – Deborah Walley, American actress (b. 1943)
• 2002 – Kaifi Azmi, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1919)
• 2002 – John Cunniff, American ice hockey coach (b. 1944)
• 2002 – Lynda Lyon Block, American convicted murderer (b. 1948)
• 2002 – Yves Robert, French actor, screenwriter and director (b. 1920)
• 2003 – Milan Vukcevich, Yugoslavian chemist and chess problem composer (b. 1937)
• 2005 – David Wayne, American singer (Metal Church) (b. 1958)
• 2006 – Val Guest, British film director (b. 1911)
• 2006 – Raizo Matsuno, Japanese politician (b. 1917)
• 2006 – A. M. Rosenthal, American newspaper editor (b. 1922)
• 2006 – Soraya, Colombian-American singer (b. 1969)
• 2008 – Leyla Gencer, Turkish soprano (b. 1928)
• 2008 – Jessie Jacobs, Australian actress (b. 1990)
• 2010 – Frank Frazetta, American artist (b. 1928)
• 2010 – Robert B. Salter, Canadian surgeon (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Michael Baze, American horse racing jockey (b. 1987)

9 May

• 9 May

•  
• 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch bishop of Alexandria.
• 1092 – Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated.
• 1450 – 'Abd al-Latif (Timurid monarch) is assassinated.
• 1671 – Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
• 1726 – Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.
• 1763 – The Siege of Fort Detroit begins during Pontiac's War against British forces.
• 1864 – Second War of Schleswig: The Danish navy defeats the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland.
• 1873 – Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds the Long Depression.
• 1874 – The first horse-drawn bus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, traveling two routes.
• 1877 – Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania.
• 1877 – A magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Peru kills 2,541, including some as far away as Hawaii and Japan.
• 1887 – Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.
• 1901 – Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.
• 1904 – The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100 mph (160 km/h).
• 1911 – The works of Gabriele D'Annunzio placed by the Vatican in the Index of Forbidden Books.
• 1915 – World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
• 1918 – World War I: Germans repel the British's second attempt to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium.
• 1920 – Polish-Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreschatyk.
• 1926 – Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd's diary seems to indicate that this did not happen).
• 1927 – The Australian Parliament first convenes in Canberra.
• 1936 – Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
• 1940 – World War II: The German submarine U-9 sinks the French coastal submarine Doris near Den Helder.
• 1941 – World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma cryptography machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.
• 1942 – Holocaust: The SS murders 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) is destroyed and all its inhabitants murdered or deported.
• 1945 – World War II: Ratification in Berlin-Karlshorst of the German unconditional surrender of May 8 in Rheims, France, with the signatures of Marshal Georgy Zhukov for the Soviet Union, and for the Western Headquarters Sir Arthur Tedder, British Air Marshal and Eisenhower's deputy, and for the German side of Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff as the representative of the Luftwaffe, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as the Chief of Staff of OKW, and Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg as Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine.
• 1945 – World War II: The Channel Islands are liberated by the British after five years of German occupation.
• 1946 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Humbert II.
• 1948 – Czechoslovakia's Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect.
• 1949 – Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco.
• 1950 – Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, which according to him was indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the "Schuman declaration", is considered by some people to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
• 1955 – Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
• 1960 – The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
• 1961 – Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles becomes the first player in baseball history to hit grand slams in consecutive innings.
• 1964 – Ngo Dinh Can, de facto ruler of central Vietnam under his brother President Ngo Dinh Diem before the family's toppling, is executed.
• 1969 – Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks.
• 1970 – Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.
• 1974 – Watergate Scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
• 1977 – Hotel Polen fire: A disastrous fire burns down the Hotel Polen in Amsterdam causing 33 deaths and 21 severe injuries.
• 1979 – Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000 member strong Jewish community of Iran.
• 1980 – In Florida, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. 35 people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die.
• 1980 – In Norco, California, five masked gunman hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.
• 1987 – A Polish LOT Ilyushin IL-62M "Tadeusz Kościuszko" (SP-LBG) crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing 183 people.
• 1992 – Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the Karabakh War.
• 2001 – In Ghana 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium Disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of teargas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee.
• 2002 – The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected terrorists among them deported to several different countries.
• 2002 – In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-controlled bomb explodes during a holiday parade killing 43 and injuring at least 130.
• 2004 – Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed by a land mine under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial victory parade in Grozny, Chechnya.

Births

• 1147 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1199)
• 1740 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer (d. 1816)
• 1800 – John Brown, American abolitionist (d. 1859)
• 1801 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English Member of Parliament and developer (d. 1866)
• 1837 – Adam Opel, German engineer and industrialist (d. 1895)
• 1860 – J. M. Barrie, Scottish author (d. 1937)
• 1861 – Rabindranath Tagore, Indian Poet and Nobel Laureate (d. 1941)
• 1866 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Leader of Indian Independence Movement (d. 1915)
• 1873 – Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1933)
• 1874 – Howard Carter, British archaeologist (d. 1939)
• 1882 – George Barker, American painter (d. 1965)
• 1882 – Henry J. Kaiser, American shipbuilder (d. 1967)
• 1883 – José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher (d. 1955)
• 1886 – Francis Biddle, United States Attorney General (d. 1968)
• 1892 – Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria-Hungary (d. 1989)
• 1893 – William Moulton Marston, American psychologist, writer (co-creator, Wonder Woman) (d. 1947)
• 1895 – Richard Barthelmess, American actor (d. 1963)
• 1895 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1961)
• 1888 – Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector and museum director (d. 1964)
• 1904 – Conrad Bernier, French-Canadian organist, composer and teacher (d. 1988)
• 1907 – Kathryn Kuhlman, famed evangelist (d. 1976)
• 1907 – Baldur von Schirach, Nazi official (d. 1974)
• 1907 – Fred Warngård, Swedish athlete (d. 1950)
• 1908 – Mary Goldsmith, American ceramist (d. 2007)
• 1909 – Don Messer, Canadian country musician (d. 1973)
• 1912 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican actor (d. 1963)
• 1912 – Géza Ottlik, Hungarian writer (d. 1990)
• 1912 – Per Imerslund, Norwegian writer (d. 1943)
• 1914 – Denham Fouts, American male prostitute and socialite (d. 1948)
• 1914 – Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian musician and conductor (d. 2005)
• 1914 – Hank Snow, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 1999)
• 1918 – Moisis Michail Bourlas, Greek member of the World War II resistance (d. 2011)
• 1918 – Orville L. Freeman, American politician (d. 2003)
• 1918 – Mike Wallace, American journalist (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Clifford Chadderton, Canadian World War II veteran, chief executive officer of The War Amps
• 1919 – Arthur English, English actor and comedian (d. 1995)
• 1920 – Richard Adams, English author
• 1920 – William Tenn, American author (d. 2010)
• 1921 – Daniel Berrigan, American peace activist
• 1921 – Sophie Scholl, resistance fighter in Nazi Germany (d. 1943)
• 1921 – Mona Van Duyn, American poet (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Johnny Grant, American radio personality, television producer (d. 2008)
• 1924 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian writer and musician (d. 1997)
• 1927 – Manfred Eigen, German biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• 1928 – Ralph Goings, American painter
• 1928 – Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (d. 1995)
• 1928 – Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater
• 1929 – Kay Dotrice, British actress (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Joan Sims, British actress (d. 2001)
• 1930 – Kalifa Tillisi, Libyan writer and linguist
• 1931 – Vance Brand, American astronaut
• 1932 – Geraldine McEwan, English actress
• 1933 – Jessica Steele, English romance novelist
• 1934 – Alan Bennett, British author
• 1935 – Nokie Edwards, American guitarist (The Ventures)
• 1935 – Roger Hargreaves, English children's author (Mr. Men) (d. 1988)
• 1936 – Albert Finney, British actor
• 1936 – Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician
• 1937 – José Rafael Moneo, Spanish architect
• 1937 – Sonny Curtis, American singer, songwriter, guitarist
• 1937 – David Prater, American singer (Sam & Dave) (d. 1988)
• 1938 – Charles Simic, Yugoslavian-born poet, 15th Poet Laureate of the United States
• 1939 – Ralph Boston, American athlete
• 1939 – Pierre Desproges, French humorist (d. 1988)
• 1939 – Ion Ţiriac, Romanian tennis manager
• 1940 – James L. Brooks, American film producer and writer
• 1941 – Pete Birrell, British bass guitarist
• 1942 – John Ashcroft, United States Attorney General
• 1942 – Tommy Roe, American singer and songwriter
• 1942 – Jerry Buchek, American baseball players
• 1943 – Vince Cable, British politician
• 1943 – Anders Isaksson, Swedish journalist, writer, and historian (d. 2009)
• 1944 – Richie Furay, American musician (Poco and Buffalo Springfield)
• 1944 – Laurence Owen, American figure skater (d. 1961)
• 1945 – Steve Katz, American musician (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
• 1946 – Candice Bergen, American actress
• 1946 – Clint Holmes, English-born American singer and songwriter
• 1946 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Hans Georg Bock, German mathematician
• 1948 – Calvin Murphy, American basketball player
• 1949 – Billy Joel, American musician
• 1950 – Tom Petersson, American bass guitarist (Cheap Trick)
• 1950 – James Butts, former American athlete
• 1951 – Alley Mills, American actress
• 1953 – Bruno Brokken, Belgian high jumper
• 1953 – Amy Hill, American actress
• 1954 – Lawrence Dutton, American violist
• 1955 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1955 – Anne Sofie von Otter, Swedish mezzo-soprano
• 1956 – Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress
• 1959 – Ulrich Matthes, German actor
• 1960 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player
• 1961 – Sean Altman, American singer (Rockapella)
• 1962 – John Corbett, American actor
• 1962 – Dave Gahan, English singer (Depeche Mode)
• 1962 – Paul Heaton, English singer/songwriter (Beautiful South)
• 1963 – Joe Cirella, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1963 – Sanja Doležal, Croatian singer (Novi fosili)
• 1965 – Ken Nomura, Japanese racing driver
• 1965 – Janu Tornell, American model and Survivor contestant
• 1965 – Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Mark Tinordi, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1968 – David Benoit, American basketball player
• 1968 – Marie-José Pérec, French athlete
• 1969 – Amber, Dutch musician
• 1969 – Hudson Leick, American actress
• 1970 – Doug Christie, American basketball player
• 1970 – Ghostface Killah, American rapper
• 1971 – Paul McGuigan, English bassist (Oasis)
• 1972 – Megumi Odaka, Japanese actress and artist
• 1972 – Dana Perino, former White House press secretary
• 1972 – Daniela Silivaş, Romanian gymnast and Olympic Champion
• 1972 – Lisa Ann, American Pornographic Actress
• 1973 – Chu Sang-mi, South Korean actress
• 1974 – Dylan Lauren,American businesswoman & daughter of fashion designer Ralph Lauren
• 1974 – Stéphane Yelle, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – Brian Deegan, freestyle motocross innovator
• 1975 – Chris Diamantopoulos, Canadian actor
• 1975 – Lane Kiffin, American football coach
• 1975 – Tamia, Canadian singer
• 1976 – Christos Marangos, Greek-Cypriot footballer
• 1977 – Choi Jeong-yoon, South Korean actress
• 1977 – Maggie Dixon, American college basketball coach (d. 2006)
• 1977 – Iñigo Landaluze, Spanish cyclist
• 1977 – Svein Tuft, Canadian road bicycle rider
• 1978 – Leandro Damián Cufré, Argentine footballer
• 1978 – Santiago Dellapè, Argentine-born Italian rugby player
• 1978 – Aaron Harang, American baseball player
• 1979 – Dionysis Boukouvalas, Greek composer, pianist and musicologist
• 1979 – Pierre Bouvier, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
• 1979 – Rosario Dawson, American actress
• 1979 – Matt Morris, American singer-songwriter
• 1979 – Andrew W.K., American musician
• 1979 – Ara Mina, Filipina actress
• 1979 – Brandon Webb, American baseball player
• 1980 – Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
• 1980 – Jo Hyeon-jae, South Korean actor
• 1980 – Angela Nikodinov, American figure skater
• 1980 – Tony Schmidt, German racing driver
• 1981 – Bill Murphy, American baseball player
• 1981 – Evangelos Tsiolis, Greek footballer
• 1981 – Yu Yokoyama, Japanese actor and singer
• 1982 – Rachel Boston, American actress
• 1983 – Tyler Lumsden, American baseball player
• 1983 – Ryuhei Matsuda, Japanese actor
• 1983 – Leandro Rinaudo, Italian footballer
• 1983 – Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
• 1984 – Prince Fielder, American baseball player
• 1985 – Henrique, Brazilian soccer player
• 1985 – Jake Long, American football player
• 1985 – Audrina Patridge, American actress
• 1988 – John Ryan Fitzpatrick, Canadian race truck driver
• 1992 – Chris Gutierrez, Filipino actor
• 1993 – Ryosuke Yamada, Japanese actor and singer
• 1997 – Zane Huett, American actor

Deaths

• 1315 – Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1282)
• 1446 – Mary of Enghien, Queen of Naples (b. 1368)
• 1657 – William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony (b. 1590)
• 1707 – Dieterich Buxtehude, German composer
• 1736 – Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, Portuguese diplomat and statesman (b. 1658)
• 1745 – Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1663)
• 1747 – John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Scottish soldier and diplomat (b. 1673)
• 1760 – Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, German religious and social reformer (b. 1700)
• 1789 – Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French artillery specialist (b. 1715)
• 1790 – William Clingan, American delegate to the Continental Congress
• 1791 – Francis Hopkinson, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1737)
• 1805 – Friedrich Schiller, German poet and historian (b. 1759)
• 1861 – Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philosopher and writer (b. 1805)
• 1889 – William S. Harney, U.S. general (b. 1800)
• 1914 – C.W. Post, American food manufacturer (b. 1854)
• 1915 – François Faber, Luxembourgish cyclist (b. 1887)
• 1918 – George Coşbuc, Romanian poet (b. 1866)
• 1931 – Albert Abraham Michelson, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
• 1938 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish industrialist (b. 1866)
• 1949 – Prince Louis II of Monaco (b. 1870)
• 1950 – Esteban Terradas i Illa, Catalan mathematician, scientist, and engineer (b. 1883)
• 1955 – Kate Booth, oldest daughter of William and Catherine Booth (b. 1858)
• 1957 – Ezio Pinza, Italian bass (b. 1892)
• 1957 – Sir Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan Philanthropist (b. 1887)
• 1964 – Rico Lebrun, Italian-American painter and sculptor (b. 1900)
• 1965 – Leopold Figl, Austrian politician (b. 1902)
• 1968 – Mercedes de Acosta, American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite (b. 1893)
• 1968 – Finlay Currie, British actor (b. 1878)
• 1968 – Marion Lorne, American actress (b. 1885)
• 1970 – Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (b. 1884)
• 1970 – Walter Reuther, American labor leader (b. 1907)
• 1976 – Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (b. 1920)
• 1976 – Ulrike Meinhof, German communist militant (b. 1934)
• 1977 – James Jones, American writer (b. 1921)
• 1978 – Aldo Moro, Prime Minister of Italy: 1963-1968, 1974-1976 (b. 1916)
• 1979 – Cyrus Eaton, Canadian-American businessman and industrialist (b. 1883)
• 1981 – Ralph Allen, English footballer (b. 1906)
• 1985 – Edmond O'Brien, American actor (b. 1915)
• 1986 – Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa and 1st sherpa to climb Mt. Everest (b. 1914)
• 1987 – Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian politician and stateman (b. 1909)
• 1989 – Keith Whitley, American country music singer (b. 1955)
• 1993 – Jacques Dextraze, French Canadian military officer (b. 1919)
• 1994 – Elias Motsoaledi, South African freedom fighter (b. 1924)
• 1997 – Rawya Ateya, Egyptian politician and first female parliamentarian in the Arab world (b. 1926)
• 1997 – Marco Ferreri, Italian film director (b. 1928)
• 1997 – Rina Lasnier, French Canadian poet (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Alice Faye, American actress (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Rommie Loudd, former American football player, coach, and executive (b. 1933)
• 1998 – Talat Mahmood, Indian singer (b. 1924)
• 2000 – Arthur Davis, American animator (b. 1905)
• 2001 – James E. Myers, American songwriter (Rock Around the Clock) and producer (b. 1919)
• 2002 – Dan Devine, American football coach (b. 1924)
• 2003 – Russell B. Long, U.S. Senator from Louisiana (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen president (b. 1951)
• 2004 – Alan King, American comedian (b. 1927)
• 2005 – Nasrat Parsa, Afghan singer (b. 1969)
• 2007 – Dwight Wilson, second-to-last Canadian World War I veteran (b. 1901)
• 2007 – Edith Rodriguez, woman refused emergency room treatment for gastrointestinal perforation (b. 1964)
• 2008 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league footballer and coach (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Nuala O'Faolain, Irish journalist (b. 1942)
• 2008 – Pascal Sevran, French TV presenter and author (b. 1945)
• 2009 – Chuck Daly, American basketball coach (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Evgenios Spatharis, Greek shadow theatre artist (b. 1924)
• 2010 – Lena Horne, American singer and actress (b. 1917)
• 2010 – Otakar Motejl, Czechoslvakian politician (b. 1932)
• 2011 – Wouter Weylandt, Belgian cyclist (b. 1984)