Who are famous people born on May 1?

Famous people born on May 1 include: Lewis Miley, Linda Fruhvirtová, Charli D'Amelio.

What famous people died on May 1?

Notable historical figures who died on May 1 include: Gordon Lightfoot, Olympia Dukakis, Geoff Duke.

May 1 in History

Q: What happened on May 1 in history?

On May 1, 2024: The 2024 Loblaw boycott, a Canadian boycott against retail corporation and grocer Loblaw Companies, begins.

2024 — The 2024 Loblaw boycott, a Canadian boycott against retail corporation and grocer Loblaw Companies, begins

May 1 spans 50 recorded events across recorded history — from 305 – 2026. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · May 1 — Wikipedia

Historical Events 50 events 305 – 2026

Did you know

Loblaw Companies Limited operates under 22 regional and market-segment banners across Canada.

Did you know

The company is controlled by George Weston Limited, a holding company controlled by the Weston family.

Did you know

Galen G. Weston serves as the chair of the Loblaw board of directors and CEO of George Weston Limited.

Did you know

Loblaw's private label program includes a range of products such as grocery and household items, clothing, and pharmaceuticals.

Did you know

The company's brands include well-known names like President's Choice, No Name, and Joe Fresh.

Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor.

Roman emperor from 284 to 305

Diocletian, nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia. As with other Illyrian soldiers of the period, Diocles rose through the ranks of the military early in his career, serving under Aurelian and Probus, and eventually becoming a cavalry commander for the army of Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on a campaign in Persia, Diocles was proclaimed emperor by the troops, taking the name "Diocletianus". The title was also claimed by Carus's surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus.

305

A synod in Carthage condemns Pelagianism.

3rd–5th century church synods held in Africa

The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below.

418

The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.

Byzantine church in Constantinople (now Istanbul) from 880 to 1490

The Nea Ekklēsia was a church built by Byzantine Emperor Basil I the Macedonian in Constantinople between 876 and 880. It was the first monumental church built in the Byzantine capital after the Hagia Sophia in the 6th century, and marks the beginning of the middle period of Byzantine architecture. It continued in use until the Palaiologan period. Used as a gunpowder magazine by the Ottomans, the building was destroyed in 1490 after being struck by lightning. No traces of it survive, and information about it derives from historical accounts and depictions.

880

Norman mercenaries land at Bannow Bay in Leinster, marking the beginning of the Norman invasion of Ireland.

European ethnic group

The Normans were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Francia followed a series of raids on the French northern coast mainly from what is now Denmark, although some also sailed from Norway and Sweden. These settlements were finally legitimized when Rollo, a Scandinavian Viking leader, agreed to swear fealty to King Charles III of West Francia following the siege of Chartres in 911, leading to the formation of the County of Rouen. This new fief, through kinship in the decades to come, would expand into what came to be known as the Duchy of Normandy. The Norse settlers, whom the region as well as its inhabitants were named after, adopted the language, religion, social customs and martial doctrine of the West Franks but their offspring nonetheless retained many of their traits, notably their mercenary tendencies and their fervour for adventures. The intermixing between Norse folk and native West Franks in Normandy produced an ethnic and cultural "Norman" identity in the first half of the 10th century, an identity which continued to evolve over the centuries.

1169

Wars of Scottish Independence end: By the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, England recognises Scotland as an independent state.

War of national liberation between Scotland and England

The Scottish wars were a series of military campaigns in the late 13th and 14th centuries in order to protect the independence and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Scotland which had been threatened by the Kingdom of England. The wars were part of a great crisis for Scotland, and the period became one of the most defining times in its history. At the end of both extended wars, Scotland retained its status as an independent, sovereign country.

1328

Scottish Royal forces loyal to King James II defeat a rebel army of the Black Douglases in the battle of Arkinholm.

Sovereign state in Europe (843–1707)

The Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England. During the Middle Ages, Scotland engaged in intermittent conflict with England, most prominently the Wars of Scottish Independence, which saw the Scots assert their independence from the English. Following the annexation of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles from Norway in 1266 and 1472 respectively, and the capture of Berwick by England in 1482, the territory of the Kingdom of Scotland corresponded to that of modern-day Scotland, bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest.

1455

Christopher Columbus presents his plans for discovering a western route to the Indies to the Spanish Queen Isabella I of Castile.

Italian navigator and explorer (1451–1506)

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish transatlantic voyages in the name of the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.

1486

The Edict of Expulsion is officially proclaimed in Castile, requiring all Jewish residents to leave within three months.

1492 decree expelling Jews from Spain

The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, ordering the expulsion of unconverted Jews from the Crowns of Castile and Aragon and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year. Its primary purpose was to minimize the influence of the remaining Jews on Spain's large converso New Christian population, converted from Judaism, to minimize the possibility that the latter and their descendants would be able to secretly practice their former faith.

1492

Henry Morgan's raid on Lake Maracaibo: the Spanish Armada de Barlovento is defeated by an English Privateer fleet led by Captain Henry Morgan.

Military event in 1669 in Venezuela

Henry Morgan's raid on Lake Maracaibo, also known as the Sack of Maracaibo and the Battle of Lake Maracaibo, was a military event that took place between 16 March and 21 May 1669 during the latter stage of the Anglo-Spanish War. English privateers commanded by notable Buccaneer Henry Morgan launched an attack with the purpose of raiding Spanish towns along the coastline inside of Lake Maracaibo in the Spanish Province of Venezuela.

1669

The Act of Union joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain takes effect.

Acts of Parliament creating the Kingdom of Great Britain

The Acts of Union refer to two acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of Scotland in March 1707, followed shortly thereafter by an equivalent act of the Parliament of England. They put into effect the international Treaty of Union agreed on 22 July 1706, which politically joined the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into a single "political state" named Great Britain, with Queen Anne as its sovereign. The English and Scottish acts of ratification took effect on 1 May 1707, creating the new kingdom, with its parliament based in the Palace of Westminster.

1707

Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.

Swedish biologist and physician (1707–1778)

Carl Linnaeus, also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus and, after his 1761 ennoblement, as Carolus a Linné.

1753

The Slave Trade Act 1807 takes effect, abolishing the slave trade within the British Empire.

Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Slave Trade Act 1807, or the Abolition of Slave Trade Act 1807, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the Atlantic slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not automatically emancipate those enslaved at the time, it encouraged British action to press other nation states to abolish their own slave trades. It took effect on 1 May 1807, after 18 years of trying to pass an abolition bill.

1807

Execution of the Cato Street Conspirators, who plotted to kill the British Cabinet and Prime Minister Lord Liverpool.

1820 planned assassination attempt on UK Government ministers

The Cato Street Conspiracy was a plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool in 1820. The name comes from the meeting place near Edgware Road in London. The police had an informer; the plotters fell into a police trap. Thirteen were arrested, while one policeman, Richard Smithers, was killed. Five conspirators were executed, and five others were transported to Australia.

1820

The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom.

World's first adhesive postage stamp

The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom on 1 May 1840 but was not valid for use until 6 May. The stamp features a profile of 21-year-old Queen Victoria.

1840

Hong Kong Police Force, the world's second modern police force and Asia's first, is established.

Principal law enforcement agency of Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong.

1844

The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple.

Religious group; part of the Latter Day Saint movement

Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the Second Great Awakening. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several groups following different leaders; the majority followed Brigham Young, while smaller groups followed Sidney Rigdon and James Strang. Many who did not follow Young eventually merged into the Community of Christ, led by Smith’s son, Joseph Smith III. The term Mormon typically refers to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest branch, which followed Brigham Young. People who identify as Mormons may also be independently religious, secular, and non-practicing or belong to other denominations.

1846

Queen Victoria opens The Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace in London.

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901

Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than those of any of her predecessors, constituted the Victorian era, a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.

1851

American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville between Robert E.

Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker begins.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

1863

American Civil War: During the Vicksburg campaign, Union forces under Ulysses S.

Grant win the Battle of Port Gibson and establish a firm presence on the east side of the Mississippi River.

The Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the river by capturing this stronghold and defeating Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's forces stationed there.

1863

The Empire of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance.

Monarchy in South America (1822–1889)

The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Pedro I and his son Pedro II. A colony of the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese Empire in 1808, when the Portuguese Prince regent, later King Dom John VI, fled from Napoleon's invasion of Portugal and established himself and his government in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. John VI later returned to Portugal, leaving his eldest son and heir-apparent, Pedro, to rule the Kingdom of Brazil as regent. On 7 September 1822, Pedro declared the independence of Brazil and, after waging a successful war against his father's kingdom, was acclaimed on 12 October as Pedro I, the first Emperor of Brazil. The new country was huge, sparsely populated, and ethnically diverse.

1865

The Memphis Race Riots begin.

Over three days, 46 blacks and two whites were killed. Reports of the atrocities influenced passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Memphis massacre of 1866 was a rebellion with a series of violent events that occurred from May 1 to 3, 1866, in Memphis, Tennessee. The racial violence was ignited by political and social racism following the American Civil War, in the early stages of Reconstruction. After a shooting altercation between white policemen and black veterans recently mustered out of the Union Army, mobs of white residents and policemen rampaged through black neighborhoods and the houses of freedmen, attacking and killing black soldiers and civilians and committing many acts of robbery and arson.

1866

The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opens for business.

Skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois

The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a 44-story, 604-foot (184 m) Art Deco skyscraper located in the Chicago Loop, standing at the foot of the LaSalle Street "canyon". Built in 1930 for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), it has served as the primary trading venue of the CBOT and later the CME Group, formed in 2007 by the merger of the CBOT and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In 2012, the CME Group sold the CBOT Building to a consortium of real estate investors, including GlenStar Properties LLC and USAA Real Estate Company.

1885

Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket affair in Chicago, in commemoration of which May 1 is celebrated as International Workers' Day in many countries.

1886 bombing aftermath in Chicago, US

The Haymarket Affair was a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago. The rally began peacefully in support of workers striking for an eight-hour work day; it was held the day after a May 3 rally at a McCormick Harvesting Machine Company plant on the West Side of Chicago, during which two demonstrators had been killed and many demonstrators and police had been injured. At the Haymarket Square rally on May 4, an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at the police as they acted to disperse the meeting, and the bomb blast and ensuing retaliatory gunfire by the police caused the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians; dozens of others were wounded.

1886

Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C.

1894 protest march on Washington, DC

Coxey's Army was a protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey. They marched on Washington, D.C., in 1894, the second year of a four-year economic depression that was the worst in United States history at the time. Officially named the Army of the Commonwealth in Christ, its nickname came from its leader and was more enduring. It was the first significant popular protest march on Washington, and the expression "Enough food to feed Coxey's Army" originates from this march.

1894

Naser al-Din, Shah of Iran, is assassinated in Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine by Mirza Reza Kermani, a follower of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani.

Shah of Iran from 1848 to 1896

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. Initially seeking to modernise Iran, his style of governance became more dictatorial over the course of his reign. His reign saw the Second Herat War (1856), the subsequent Anglo-Persian War (1857) and internal unrest, Tobacco Protest (1890-1891).

1896

Spanish–American War: Battle of Manila Bay: The Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy destroys the Pacific Squadron of the Spanish Navy after a seven-hour battle.

Spain loses all seven of its ships, and 381 Spanish sailors die. There are no American vessel losses or combat deaths.

The Spanish–American War was fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the U.S. acquiring sovereignty over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and establishing a protectorate over Cuba. It represented U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence and Philippine Revolution, with the latter later leading to the Philippine–American War. The Spanish–American War brought an end to almost four centuries of Spanish presence in the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific; the United States meanwhile not only became a major world power, but also gained several island possessions spanning the globe, which provoked rancorous debate over the wisdom of expansionism.

1898

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.

1900 explosion of a coal mine in Utah

The Scofield Mine disaster was a mining explosion that occurred at the Winter Quarters coal mine on May 1, 1900. The mine was located at 39°42′57″N 111°11′17″W near the town of Scofield, Utah. In terms of life lost, it was the worst mining accident at that point in American history. The explosion is also a key element in the plot of the Carla Kelly novel My Loving Vigil Keeping.

1900

The Jaffa riots begin.

1921 riots in Jaffa, Mandatory Palestine

The Jaffa riots were a series of violent riots in Mandatory Palestine on May 1–7, 1921, which began as a confrontation between two Jewish groups but developed into an attack by Arabs on Jews and then reprisal attacks by Jews on Arabs. The rioting began in Jaffa and spread to other parts of the country. The riot resulted in the deaths of 47 Jews and 48 Arabs, with 146 Jews and 73 Arabs wounded.

1921

The 7.2 Mw  Kopet Dag earthquake shakes the Iran–Turkmenistan border region with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing up to 3,800 and injuring 1,121.

Earthquake centered on the Iran-Turkmenistan border

The 1929 Kopet Dag earthquake took place at 15:37 UTC on 1 May with a moment magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). It occurred in the Kopet Dag area of Iran and caused up to 3,800 casualties along the Iran-Turkmenistan border. More than 1,100 were injured.

1929

World War II: German radio broadcasts news of Adolf Hitler's death, falsely stating that he has "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany".

The Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, by order of Stalin. Up to 2,500 people die in a mass suicide in Demmin following the advance of the Red Army.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

1945

Start of three-year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians.

Workers strike in the 1940s in Western Australia

The Pilbara strike was a landmark strike by Aboriginal Australian pastoral workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The strike lasted between 1946 and 1949, and was the longest industrial action in Australian history. The strikers demanded social recognition, payment of fair wages, and an improvement in working conditions.

1946

Portella della Ginestra massacre against May Day celebrations in Sicily by the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano where 11 persons are killed and 33 wounded.

1947 mass killing by Sicilian separatists in Sicily, Italy

The Portella della Ginestra massacre refers to the killing of 11 people and wounding of 27 others during May Day celebrations in Sicily on 1 May 1947, in the municipality of Piana degli Albanesi. Those held responsible were the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano and his gang, although their motives and intentions are still a matter of controversy.

1947

A Vickers VC.1 Viking crashes while attempting to return to Blackbushe Airport in Yateley, killing 34.

British airliner with 2 piston engines, 1945

The Vickers VC.1 Viking is a British twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber and built by Vickers-Armstrongs Limited at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. After the Second World War, the Viking was an important airliner with British airlines, pending the development of turboprop aircraft like the Viscount. An experimental airframe was fitted with Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets and first flown in 1948 as the world's first pure jet transport aircraft. Military developments were the Vickers Valetta and the Vickers Varsity.

1957

Cold War: U-2 incident: Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.

1947–1991 geopolitical rivalry between US and USSR

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

1960

Vietnam War: Protests erupt in response to U.S.

and South Vietnamese forces attacking Vietnamese communists in a Cambodian Campaign.

The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.

1970

Operation Black Buck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands War.

Series of British long-range airstrikes during the Falklands War

Operations Black Buck 1 to Black Buck 7 were seven extremely long-range airstrikes conducted during the 1982 Falklands War by Royal Air Force (RAF) Vulcan bombers of the RAF Waddington Wing, comprising aircraft from Nos. 44, 50 and 101 Squadrons, against Argentine positions in the Falkland Islands. Five of the missions completed attacks. The objective of the missions was to attack Port Stanley Airport and its associated defences. The raids, at almost 6,600 nautical miles and 16 hours for the round trip, were the longest-ranged bombing raids in history at that time.

1982

Angolan Civil War: The MPLA and UNITA agree to the Bicesse Accords, which are formally signed on May 31 in Lisbon.

1975–2002 military conflict

The Angolan Civil War was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements, the communist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

1991

Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa is assassinated in Colombo in a suicide bombing carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Head of state and government of Sri Lanka

The president of Sri Lanka is the head of state and head of government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The president is the chief executive of the union government and the commander-in-chief of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, in addition to their relation with the Prime minister and Government of Sri Lanka, have over time differed with the various constitutional documents since the creation of the office. The president appoints the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka who can command the confidence of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

1993

Three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix.

Motorsport championship held worldwide

Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel, single-seater formula racing cars run by the Formula One Group and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the world's premier forms of motorsport since its inaugural running in 1950 and is often considered to be the pinnacle of motorsport. The word formula in the name refers to the set of rules all participant cars must follow. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix. Grands Prix take place in multiple countries and continents on either purpose-built circuits or closed roads, as street circuits.

1994

The Labour Party wins the 1997 General Election and Tony Blair is elected as Prime Minister.

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday, 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the opposition Labour Party led by Tony Blair, which achieved a 179-seat majority and a total of 418 seats.

1997

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".

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion began on 20 March 2003 and lasted just over one month, including 26 days of major combat operations. The invasion was conducted by a United States-led coalition of mainly American, British, Australian, and Polish troops.

2003

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.

Island country in the Mediterranean Sea

Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, located off the coast of the Levant mainland in West Asia. The island of Cyprus, which is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, is divided along the United Nations Buffer Zone between the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Turkey. The south of the island also hosts the British sovereign military bases of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The capital and largest city of Cyprus is Nicosia.

2004

Same-sex marriage in Sweden is legalized.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Sweden since 1 May 2009 following the adoption of a gender-neutral marriage law by the Riksdag on 1 April 2009. Polling indicates that an overwhelming majority of Swedes support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Sweden was the second Scandinavian country, the fifth in Europe and the seventh in the world to open marriage to same-sex couples nationwide. Existing registered partnerships remain in force and can be converted to marriages if the partners so desire, either through a written application or through a formal ceremony. New registered partnerships are no longer able to be entered into and marriage is now the only legally recognized form of union for couples regardless of sex.

2009

Faisal Shahzad attempts to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, but the bomb fails to go off.

American convicted terrorist (born 1979)

Faisal Shahzad is a Pakistani-American man who was arrested for the attempted May 1, 2010, Times Square car bombing. On June 21, 2010, in Federal District Court in Manhattan, he confessed to 10 counts arising from the bombing attempt. Throughout his court appearance, Shahzad was unrepentant. The United States Attorney indicated there was no plea deal, so Shahzad faced the maximum sentence, a mandatory life term.

2010

Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope John Paul II reigned as pope of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State for 26 years from October 1978 to his death, on 2 April 2005. Since his death, many thousands of people supported the case for beatifying and canonising Pope John Paul II as a saint. His formal beatification ceremony took place on 1 May 2011.

2011

Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) resumes the Deir ez-Zor campaign in order to clear the remnants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the Iraq–Syria border.

2011–2024 armed conflict in Syria

The Syrian civil war was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring. The Assad regime responded to the protests with lethal force, which led to a series of defections, the emergence of armed opposition groups, and the civilian uprising descending into a civil war. The war lasted almost 14 years and culminated in the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Many sources regard this as the end of the civil war even though clashes have continued into 2026.

2018

Naxalite attack in Gadchiroli district of India: Sixteen army soldiers, including a driver, killed in an IED blast.

Naxals targeted an anti-Naxal operations team.

Naxalism is the communist ideology of the Naxalites or Naxals, a grouping of political and insurgent groups from India. It is influenced by Maoist political sentiment and ideology.

2019

Naruhito ascends to the throne of Japan succeeding his father Akihito, beginning the Reiwa period.

Emperor of Japan since 2019

Naruhito is Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019 following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign is known as the Reiwa era.

2019

After a ransomware attack by the group ShinyHunters, the education platform Canvas operated by private company Instructure, goes offline, affecting thousands of educational institutions.

Cybersecurity incident

In late April 2026, Canvas LMS, a learning management system operated by private company Instructure, was affected by a data breach and outage. Instructure disclosed that it was investigating a cybersecurity attack involving certain user data, including names, email addresses, student ID numbers, and messages among users. The company said it had found no evidence that passwords, birth dates, government IDs, or financial information were involved in the hacking.

2026

Born on May 1

20 people 1987 – 2006

Lewis Miley

English footballer

Lewis Miley is an English professional footballer who plays mainly as a midfielder for Premier League club Newcastle United and the England under-21 national team. Mainly a central midfielder, he can also be deployed as…

2006

Linda Fruhvirtová

Czech tennis player

Linda Fruhvirtová is a Czech professional tennis player. On 26 June 2023, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 49. She peaked at No. 187 in the WTA doubles rankings in October 2023. She won her first…

2005

Charli D'Amelio

American social media influencer and dancer

Charli Grace D'Amelio is an American social media personality and dancer. She was a competitive dancer for over a decade before she came to prominence in late 2019, when she began posting dance videos on the…

2004

Lizzy Greene

American actress

Elizabeth Anne Greene is an American actress, known for her titular role as Dawn Harper in the Nickelodeon sitcom Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn from 2014 to 2018. She has starred as Sophie Dixon in the ABC family drama A…

2003

Chet Holmgren

American basketball player

Chet Thomas Holmgren is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A consensus five-star recruit and the top-ranked player of the 2021 class,…

2002

Rema

Nigerian singer-songwriter and rapper

Divine Joshua Ikubor, known professionally as Rema, is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and rapper. He gained recognition with his 2019 song "Dumebi". That same year, he signed with D'Prince's record label, Jonzing World.…

2000

YNW Melly

American rapper

Jamell Maurice Demons, known professionally by his stage name YNW Melly, is an American rapper and singer. He rose to fame in 2018 following the release of his single "Murder on My Mind", a trap song that explores…

1999

Tiffany Stratton

American wrestler

Jessica Lynn Woynilko is an American professional wrestler and former gymnast. As of August 2021, she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Tiffany Stratton and is the current…

1999

Miles Sanders

American football player

Miles Adam Sanders, nicknamed "Boobie Miles", is an American professional football running back and kick returner. He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft after playing…

1997

William Nylander

Canadian-Swedish ice hockey player

William Andrew Michael Junior Nylander Altelius is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Willy Styles", he is known for his…

1996

Madeline Brewer

American actress

Madeline Kathryn Brewer is an American actress. She is known for recurring roles in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black (2013) and Hemlock Grove (2014–2015), and for her starring roles as Janine Lindo in the Hulu…

1992

Hani

South Korean singer and actress

Ahn Hee-yeon, known professionally as Hani (하니), is a South Korean singer and actress. She is known as a member of the South Korean girl group EXID and its subgroup, SoljiHani. She has appeared on television as a host…

1992

Bradley Roby

American football player

Bradley Roby is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. He played…

1992

Marcus Stroman

American baseball player

Marcus Earl Stroman is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, and New York Yankees.…

1991

Scooter Gennett

American baseball player

Ryan Joseph "Scooter" Gennett is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants. On June 6, 2017,…

1990

Caitlin Stasey

Australian actress

Caitlin Jean Stasey is an Australian actress and singer. She is known for her role as Rachel Kinski in Neighbours. Previously she played Francesca Thomas in The Sleepover Club, although her breakthrough film role came…

1990

Victoria Monét

American singer-songwriter

Victoria Monét McCants is an American singer-songwriter. First gaining recognition for her songwriting work, Monét pursued a recording career with the release of a series of extended plays (EPs); her fifth, Jaguar…

1989

Anushka Sharma

Indian actress and film producer

Anushka Sharma is an Indian film actress and producer who works in Hindi films. She has won many awards including Filmfare Awards and IIFA Awards. Sharma has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 in the 2010s and was…

1988

Leonardo Bonucci

Italian footballer

Leonardo Bonucci is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He is assistant coach of the Italy national under-20 team and technical assistant of the Italy national team.…

1987

Amir Johnson

American basketball player

Amir Jalla Johnson is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is a player development coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously played for…

1987

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Died on May 1

20 people 2003 – 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…

2023

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.…

2021

Geoff Duke

English-Manx motorcycle racer (born 1923)

Geoffrey Ernest Duke, born in St. Helens, Lancashire, was a British multiple motorcycle Grand Prix road racing world champion. He raced several brands of motorcycle: Norton, Gilera, BMW, NSU and Benelli. After…

2015

Vafa Guluzade

Azerbaijani political scientist, academic, and diplomat (born 1940)

Vafa Guluzade was an Azerbaijani diplomat, political scientist and specialist in conflict resolution. He worked as Foreign Policy State Advisor for the President of Azerbaijan between 1990-1999.

2015

María Elena Velasco

Mexican actress, singer, director, and screenwriter (born 1940)

María Elena Velasco Fragoso was a Mexican actress, comedian, singer-songwriter and dancer. She was known for creating and portraying La India María, a comical character based on indigenous Mexican women.

2015

Grace Lee Whitney

American actress (born 1930)

Grace Lee Whitney was an American actress and singer. Her entertainment career spanned over a half century in a variety of capacities in radio, on stage, in music as a singer and songwriter, in television and in movies.…

2015

Adamu Atta

Nigerian lawyer and politician, 5th Governor of Kwara State (born 1927)

Alhaji Adamu Atta was the first civilian governor of the Nigerian Kwara State during the Second Republic, representing the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).

2014

Radhia Cousot

French computer scientist and academic (born 1947)

Radhia Cousot was a French computer scientist known for inventing abstract interpretation.

2014

Assi Dayan

Israeli actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1945)

Assaf "Assi" Dayan was an Israeli film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer.

2014

Juan de Dios Castillo

Mexican footballer and coach (born 1951)

Juan de Dios Castillo González was a Mexican footballer and coach, last with F.C. Motagua of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras, the top tier of the Honduran football. He has coached in the Professional Mexican…

2014

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…

2013

James Kinley

Canadian engineer and politician, 29th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (born 1925)

John James Kinley was a Canadian engineer, industrialist and the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia since confederation.

2012

Mordechai Virshubski

German-Israeli lawyer and politician (born 1930)

Mordechai Virshuvski was an Israeli lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for several parties between 1977 and 1992.

2012

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…

2011

Ted Lowe

English sportscaster (born 1920)

Edwin Charles Ernest Lowe, MBE, was an English snooker commentator for the BBC and ITV. His husky, hushed tones earned him the nickname "Whispering Ted".

2011

Helen Wagner

American actress (born 1918)

Helen Losee Wagner was an American actress.

2010

Anthony Mamo

Maltese judge and politician, 1st President of Malta (born 1909)

Anthony Joseph Mamo was the first president of Malta and before that was the last governor-general of the State of Malta before the British colony became a republic. He was also the first Maltese citizen to be appointed…

2008

Philipp von Boeselager

German soldier and economist (born 1917)

Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager was the second-last surviving member of the 20 July Plot, a conspiracy of Wehrmacht officers to assassinate the German dictator Adolf Hitler in 1944.

2008

Kenneth Clark

American psychologist and academic (born 1914)

Kenneth Bancroft Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark were American psychologists who as a married team conducted research among children and were active in the Civil Rights Movement. They founded the Northside Center for Child…

2005

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…

2003

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May 1 in the Blog

Amtrak — May 1, 1971

40 million passengers relied on 20 private railroads until Washington D.C. saw Amtrak's birth on May 1, 1971, changing US transportation forever.

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What happened on May 1 in history?

On May 1, one notable event in history was 2024: The 2024 Loblaw boycott, a Canadian boycott against retail corporation and grocer Loblaw Companies, begins..

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May 1 in History

2024 — The 2024 Loblaw boycott, a Canadian boycott against retail corporation and grocer Loblaw Companies, begins

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2024 — The 2024 Loblaw boycott, a Canadian boycott against retail corporation and grocer Loblaw Companies, begins

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