# What happened on May 5 in history?

**Date:** May 5  
**Events recorded:** 51  
**Years spanned:** 553 – 2023  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/may/5/

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## Featured Event

**1987** — Iran–Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair)

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## Events on this date

- **553** — The Second Council of Constantinople begins. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Council_of_Constantinople))
- **1192** — Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem marries Henry II, Count of Champagne. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Jerusalem))
- **1215** — Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John%2C_King_of_England))
- **1260** — Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kublai_Khan))
- **1292** — Election of Count Adolf of Nassau as King of the Romans in the Dominican monastery of Frankfurt. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf%2C_King_of_the_Romans))
- **1494** — On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica, landing at Discovery Bay and declares Jamaica the property of the Spanish crown. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus))
- **1609** — Daimyō (Lord) Shimazu Tadatsune of the Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in Okinawa. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimazu_Tadatsune))
- **1640** — King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England))
- **1654** — Cromwell's Act of Grace, aimed at reconciliation with the Scots, proclaimed in Edinburgh. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromwell's_Act_of_Grace))
- **1762** — Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia))
- **1789** — In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France))
- **1809** — Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Dixon_Kies))
- **1821** — Emperor Napoleon dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon))
- **1821** — The first edition of The Manchester Guardian, now The Guardian, is published. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian))
- **1835** — The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_Belgium))
- **1862** — Cinco de Mayo: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo))
- **1864** — American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War))
- **1865** — American Civil War: The Confederate government is declared dissolved at Washington, Georgia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conclusion_of_the_American_Civil_War))
- **1866** — Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day))
- **1877** — American Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_Wars))
- **1886** — Workers marching for the eight-hour day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are shot at by Wisconsin National Guardsmen in what became known as the Bay View Massacre. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day_movement))
- **1887** — The Peruvian Academy of Language is founded. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruvian_Academy_of_Language))
- **1891** — The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Hall))
- **1904** — Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcher))
- **1905** — The trial in the Stratton Brothers case begins in London, England; it marks the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to gain a conviction for murder. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratton_Brothers_case))
- **1912** — The first issue of the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda is published. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolsheviks))
- **1920** — Authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti))
- **1930** — The 1930 Bago earthquake, the first of two major earthquakes in southern Burma, kills as many as 7,000 in Yangon and Bago. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_Bago_earthquake))
- **1936** — Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_of_the_Iron_Will))
- **1940** — World War II: Norwegian campaign: Norwegian squads in Hegra Fortress and Vinjesvingen capitulate to German forces after all other Norwegian forces in southern Norway had laid down their arms. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1941** — Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots' Victory Day. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie))
- **1945** — World War II: The Prague uprising begins as an attempt by the Czech resistance to free the city from German occupation. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_uprising))
- **1945** — World War II: A Fu-Go balloon bomb launched by the Japanese Army kills six people near Bly, Oregon. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu-Go_balloon_bomb))
- **1945** — World War II: Battle of Castle Itter, one of only two battles in that war in which American and German troops fought cooperatively. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Castle_Itter))
- **1946** — The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo with twenty-eight Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Military_Tribunal_for_the_Far_East))
- **1955** — The General Treaty, by which France, Britain and the United States recognize the sovereignty of West Germany, comes into effect. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonn%E2%80%93Paris_conventions))
- **1961** — Project Mercury: Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mercury))
- **1964** — The Council of Europe declares May 5 as Europe Day. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Europe))
- **1972** — Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 aboard, making it the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alitalia_Flight_112))
- **1973** — Secretariat wins the 1973 Kentucky Derby in 1:59.4, an as-yet-unbeaten record. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretariat_(horse)))
- **1980** — Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Embassy_siege))
- **1981** — Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Sands))
- **1985** — Ronald Reagan visits the military cemetery at Bitburg and the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he makes a speech. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan))
- **1987** — Iran–Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair))
- **1991** — A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Washington%2C_D.C.%2C_riot))
- **1994** — The signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively freezes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishkek_Protocol))
- **1994** — American teenager Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Michael_Fay))
- **2006** — The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan))
- **2007** — Kenya Airways Flight 507 crashes after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, killing all 114 aboard, making it the deadliest aircraft disaster in Cameroon. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya_Airways_Flight_507))
- **2010** — Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek government-debt crisis. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-austerity_movement_in_Greece))
- **2023** — The World Health Organization declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization))

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## Notable births on May 5

- **2004** — **Jenna Davis** — American actress and YouTuber ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenna_Davis))
- **2004** — **Kirsty Muir** — Scottish freestyle skier ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsty_Muir))
- **2003** — **Carlos Alcaraz** — Spanish tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Alcaraz))
- **1999** — **Nathan Chen** — American figure skater ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Chen))
- **1999** — **Justin Kluivert** — Dutch footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Kluivert))
- **1998** — **Aryna Sabalenka** — Belarusian tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryna_Sabalenka))
- **1997** — **Logan Gilbert** — American baseball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Gilbert))
- **1997** — **Mitch Marner** — Canadian hockey player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Marner))
- **1996** — **Christopher Eubanks** — American tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Eubanks))
- **1996** — **Mayar Sherif** — Egyptian tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayar_Sherif))

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## Notable deaths on May 5

- **2026** — **Chris Phelan** — Irish-Australian rugby league player (born 1955) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Phelan))
- **2024** — **Jeannie Epper** — American stuntwoman and actress (born 1941) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannie_Epper))
- **2024** — **Bernard Hill** — English actor (born 1944) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Hill))
- **2024** — **César Luis Menotti** — Argentine footballer and manager (born 1938) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Luis_Menotti))
- **2020** — **Millie Small** — Jamaican singer-songwriter (born 1947) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millie_Small))
- **2017** — **Binyamin Elon** — Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician (born 1954) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binyamin_Elon))
- **2017** — **Ely Ould Mohamed Vall** — Mauritanian politician (born 1953) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely_Ould_Mohamed_Vall))
- **2015** — **Jobst Brandt** — American cyclist, engineer, and author (born 1935) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobst_Brandt))
- **2015** — **Hans Jansen** — Dutch linguist, academic, and politician (born 1942) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Jansen))
- **2014** — **Michael Otedola** — Nigerian journalist and politician, 9th Governor of Lagos State (born 1926) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Otedola))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/may/5/](https://thisday.info/events/may/5/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.