Did you know
The Slave Trade Act 1807 was passed after 18 years of abolitionist efforts led by politicians like William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson.
May 1 in History
1807 — The Slave Trade Act 1807 takes effect, abolishing the slave trade within the British Empire
May 1 spans 44 recorded events across recorded history, from 418 to 2026. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
44 events
418 – 2026
Today in history
More major events on May 1
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 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
- 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. Source
- 1997 The Labour Party wins the 1997 General Election and Tony Blair is elected as Prime Minister. Source
Did you know
The act did not immediately free enslaved people, but it paved the way for the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which abolished slavery throughout the British Empire.
Did you know
The British Royal Navy played a significant role in enforcing the Slave Trade Act 1807, intercepting and seizing slave ships.
Did you know
The act influenced other European nations, such as France and Spain, to re-examine their own slave trade policies.
Did you know
The abolition of the slave trade is considered one of the greatest humanitarian achievements of the 19th century, with the British Empire taking a leading role in the global movement to end slavery.
418
A synod in Carthage condemns Pelagianism.
3rd–5th century church synods held in Africa
1169
Norman mercenaries land at Bannow Bay in Leinster, marking the beginning of the Norman invasion of Ireland.
European ethnic group
1328
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
1455
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)
1492
The Edict of Expulsion is officially proclaimed in Castile, requiring all Jewish residents to leave within three months.
1492 decree expelling Jews from Spain
1669
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
1707
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
1753
Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
Book by Carl Linnaeus
1820
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
1851
Queen Victoria opens The Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace in London.
Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901
1863
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.
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.
1865
The Empire of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance.
Monarchy in South America (1822–1889)
1866
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.
1886
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
1891
The 1891 New Orleans Lynchings: 11 Italian immigrants are lynched by a mob in Louisiana, USA after the acquittal of several defendants in a murder case, the largest mass lynching in U.S.
history.
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.
Federal holiday in the United States
1894
Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C.
1894 protest march on Washington, DC
1898
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.
1900
The Scofield Mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.
1900 explosion of a coal mine in Utah
1929
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
1945
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.
1946
Start of three-year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians.
Workers strike in the 1940s in Western Australia
1947
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
1957
A Vickers VC.1 Viking crashes while attempting to return to Blackbushe Airport in Yateley, killing 34.
British airliner with 2 piston engines, 1945
1960
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
1970
Vietnam War: A student anti-war strike erupts in response to U.S.
and South Vietnamese forces attacking Vietnamese communists in a Cambodian Campaign.
1982
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
1991
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
1993
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
1994
Three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix.
Motorsport championship held worldwide
1997
The Labour Party wins the 1997 General Election and Tony Blair is elected as Prime Minister.
2003
Invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S.
President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".
2004
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.
Island country in the Mediterranean Sea
2009
Same-sex marriage in Sweden is legalized.
2010
Faisal Shahzad attempts to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, but the bomb fails to go off.
American convicted terrorist (born 1979)
2018
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
2019
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.
2019
Naruhito ascends to the throne of Japan succeeding his father Akihito, beginning the Reiwa period.
Emperor of Japan since 2019
2024
The 2024 Loblaw boycott, a Canadian boycott against retail corporation and grocer Loblaw Companies, begins.
Canadian retail company
2026
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