Did you know about Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels was one of Adolf Hitler's closest and most devoted followers and was known for his skills in public speaking and his extreme antisemitism which was evident in his publicly voiced views.
Notable Deaths on May 1
May 1 has 79 recorded notable deaths across history, from 408 to 2023. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
1945 — Joseph Goebbels
German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (born 1897)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
79 source records
408 – 2023
Today in history
Major events on May 1
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1807 The Slave Trade Act 1807 takes effect, abolishing the slave trade within the British Empire. Source
- 1891 On Labor Day in Catania, Sicily, workers establish the first successful Fascio Siciliano, launching a movement of peasants and laborers protesting poverty, landlordism, taxation, and economic hardship across Sicily. Source
Did you know about Gordon Lightfoot
Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, he had numerous Gold and Platinum albums, and his songs have been covered by many of the world's most renowned musical artists.
Did you know about David Livingstone
As a result, he became one of the most popular British heroes of the late 19th-century Victorian era.
Did you know about Miss Elizabeth
Elizabeth Ann Hulette, best known in professional wrestling as Miss Elizabeth, was an American professional wrestling manager, occasional professional wrestler, and professional wrestling TV announcer.
Did you know about Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic era nationalist example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana.
More major people who died on May 1
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2023
Gordon Lightfoot
Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1938)
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, he had numerous Gold and Platinum albums, and his songs have been covered by many of the world's most renowned musical artists. Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings wrote, "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness."
1873
David Livingstone
Scottish-English missionary and explorer (born 1813)
David Livingstone was a Scottish doctor, Congregationalist, pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. Livingstone was married to Mary Moffat Livingstone, from the prominent 18th-century Moffat missionary family. Livingstone came to have a mythic status as a Protestant missionary martyr, working-class "rags-to-riches" inspirational story, scientific investigator and explorer, imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader, and advocate of British commercial and colonial expansion. As a result, he became one of the most popular British heroes of the late 19th-century Victorian era.
2003
Miss Elizabeth
American wrestler and manager (born 1960)
Elizabeth Ann Hulette, best known in professional wrestling as Miss Elizabeth, was an American professional wrestling manager, occasional professional wrestler, and professional wrestling TV announcer. She gained international fame from 1985 to 1992 in the World Wrestling Federation and from 1996 to 2000 in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), in her role as the manager to wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage, as well as other wrestlers of that period.
1904
Antonín Dvořák
Czech composer (born 1841)
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic era nationalist example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana. Dvořák's style has been described as "the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them", and Dvořák has been described as "arguably the most versatile... composer of his time".
2000
Steve Reeves
American bodybuilder and actor (born 1926)
Stephen Lester Reeves was an American professional bodybuilder and actor. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing muscular protagonists such as Hercules, Aeneas, and Sandokan. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe. Though best known for his portrayal of Hercules, he played the character only twice: in Hercules (1958), and in its 1959 sequel Hercules Unchained. By 1960, Reeves was ranked as the number-one box-office draw in 25 countries.
1965
Spike Jones
American singer and bandleader (born 1911)
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones was an American musician, bandleader and conductor specializing in spoof arrangements and satire of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with various sound effects, including gunshots, whistles, cowbells, hiccups, burps, sneezes, animal sounds and outlandish and comedic vocals. Jones and his band recorded for RCA Victor under the title Spike Jones and His City Slickers from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, and they toured the United States and Canada as "The Musical Depreciation Revue".
1976
Alexandros Panagoulis
Greek poet and politician (born 1939)
Alexandros Panagoulis was a Greek politician and poet. He took an active role in the fight against the Regime of the Colonels (1967–1974) in Greece. He became famous for his attempt to assassinate dictator Georgios Papadopoulos on 13 August 1968, but also for the torture to which he was subjected during his detention. After the restoration of democracy, he was elected to the Greek parliament as a member of the Centre Union (E.K.).
1278
William II of Villehardouin
Prince of Achaea from 1246 to 1278
William of Villehardouin was the fourth prince of Achaea in Frankish Greece, from 1246 to 1278. The younger son of Prince Geoffrey I, he held the Barony of Kalamata in fief during the reign of his elder brother Geoffrey II. William ruled Achaea as regent for his brother during Geoffrey's military campaigns against the Greeks of Nicaea, who were the principal enemies of his overlord, the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, Baldwin II. William succeeded his childless brother in the summer of 1246. Conflicts between Nicaea and Epirus enabled him to complete the conquest of the Morea in about three years. He captured Monemvasia and built three new fortresses, forcing two previously autonomous tribes, the Tzakones and Melingoi, into submission. He participated in the unsuccessful Egyptian crusade of Louis IX of France, who rewarded him with the right to issue currency in the style of French royal coins.
1255
Walter de Gray
English prelate and statesman
Walter de Gray was an English prelate and statesman who was Archbishop of York from 1215 to 1255 and Lord Chancellor from 1205 to 1214. His uncle was John de Gray, who was a bishop and royal servant to King John of England. After securing the office of chancellor, the younger Gray was a supporter of the king throughout his struggles and was present at the signing of Magna Carta in 1215. After two unsuccessful elections to a bishopric, he became Bishop of Worcester in 1214 but soon after moved to York. During the reign of John's son, King Henry III, Gray continued to serve the king while also being active in his archdiocese. He died in 1255 and was buried at York Minster, where his tomb still survives.
1985
Denise Robins
English journalist and author (born 1897)
Denise Robins was a prolific English romantic novelist and the first President of the Romantic Novelists' Association (1960–1966). She wrote under her first married name and under the pen-names: Denise Chesterton, Eve Vaill, 'Anne Llewellyn', Hervey Hamilton, Francesca Wright, Ashley French, Harriet Gray and Julia Kane, producing short stories, plays, and about 170 Gothic romance novels. In 1965, Robins published her autobiography, Stranger Than Fiction. At the time of her death in 1985, Robins's books had been translated into fifteen languages and had sold more than one hundred million copies. In 1984, they were borrowed more than one and a half million times from British libraries.
408
Arcadius
Byzantine emperor from 383 to 408 (born 377)
Arcadius was Roman emperor from 383 to his death in 408. He was the eldest son of the Augustus Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius. Arcadius ruled the eastern half of the empire from 395, when their father died, while Honorius ruled the west. In his time, he was seen as a weak ruler dominated by a series of powerful ministers and by his wife, Aelia Eudoxia.
1968
Jack Adams
Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (born 1895)
John James "Jolly Jack" Adams was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and general manager in the National Hockey League and Pacific Coast Hockey Association. He played for the Toronto Arenas, Vancouver Millionaires, Toronto St. Patricks and Ottawa Senators between 1917 and 1927. He won the Stanley Cup twice as a player, with Toronto in 1918 and Ottawa in 1927, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
1935
Henri Pélissier
French cyclist (born 1889)
Henri Pélissier was a French racing cyclist from Paris and champion of the 1923 Tour de France. In addition to his 29 career victories, he was known for his long-standing feud with Tour founder Henri Desgrange and for protesting against the conditions endured by riders in the early years of the Tour. He was killed by his lover with the gun that his wife had used to commit suicide.
2013
Chris Kelly
American rapper (born 1978)
Kris Kross was an American hip hop duo composed of rappers Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith and formed by record producer Jermaine Dupri. They were the youngest hip-hop group to gain commercial success, charting releases by the age of 13. Smith and Kelly were discovered by Dupri in 1990, with whom they signed as the first act on his record label So So Def Recordings.
1539
Isabella of Portugal (born 1503)
Isabella of Portugal was the empress consort of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, and Duke of Burgundy. She was Queen of Spain and Germany, and Lady of the Netherlands from 10 March 1526 until her death in 1539, and became Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Italy in February 1530. She acted as regent of Spain during her husband's long absences.
1998
Eldridge Cleaver
American author and activist (born 1935)
Leroy Eldridge Cleaver was an African American writer and political activist. He was an early leader of the Black Panther Party, serving as Minister of Information and, while in exile, head of the International Section of the Panthers. As editor of the official Panthers' newspaper, The Black Panther, Cleaver's influence on the direction of the party was rivaled only by founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.
1308
Albert I of Germany (born 1255)
Albert I of Habsburg was a Duke of Austria and Styria from 1282 and King of Germany from 1298 until his assassination. He was the eldest son of King Rudolf I of Germany and his first wife Gertrude of Hohenberg. He is sometimes referred to as 'Albert the One-eyed' because of a battle injury that left him with a hollow eye socket and a permanent snarl.
2011
Henry Cooper
English boxer (born 1934)
Sir Henry Cooper was a British professional boxer. He was undefeated in British and Commonwealth heavyweight championship contests for twelve years and held the European heavyweight title for three years. In a 1963 fight against Cassius Clay, he famously knocked Clay down in round 4, before the fight was stopped by the referee, Tommy Little, in round 5 because of a cut to Cooper's left eye.
2021
Olympia Dukakis
American actress (born 1931)
Olympia Dukakis was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, in some 60 films, and in approximately 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not long after her arrival in New York City, she won an Obie Award for Best Actress in 1963 for her off-Broadway performance in Bertolt Brecht's Man Equals Man.