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May 5 is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 240 days remaining until the end of the year.
Up to 1900
- 553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins.
- 1215 – Rebel barons renounce (withdraw) their allegiance to King John of England, as part of a chain of events leading to the signing of Magna Carta.
- 1260 – Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
- 1494 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica and claims it for Spain.
- 1640 – King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.
- 1668 – Portuguese galley Santissimo Sacramento strikes a reef off the coast of Salvador, Northeast Brazil, and sinks. Out of the over 1,000 people on board, only 70 survive the disaster.
- 1762 – Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg.
- 1789 – In France, the Estates–General convenes for the first time in 150 years.
- 1809 – Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
- 1809 – The Swiss canton of Aargau denies citizenship to Jews.
- 1821 – Napoleon Bonaparte dies aged 51 on the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena. It takes several weeks for the news to reach Europe, due to the remoteness of the island.
- 1821 – The first edition of the British daily newspaper The Guardian is published.
- 1835 – In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
- 1842 – The Great Fire of Hamburg starts. It is brought under control on May 8.
- 1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi sets sail from Genoa, leading the expedition of the Thousand to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, eventually leading to the creating of the Kingdom of Italy.
- 1862 – Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.
- 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
- 1865 – In North Bend, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati), the first train robbery in the United States takes place.
- 1866 – First Memorial Day commemoration in Waterloo, New York.
- 1877 – Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
- 1885 – George Eastman is granted a US patent for rolling film.
- 1886 – The Bay View Tragedy occurs, militia fire upon a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin killing seven.
- 1891 – The Music Hall in New York (now known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
1901 – 2000
- 1902 – Commonwealth Public Service Act creates the Australian Public Service.
- 1904 – Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans threw the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
- 1905 – The trial in the Stratton brothers case begins in London. It is the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to get a conviction for murder.
- 1916 – American marines invade the Dominican Republic.
- 1920 – Sacco and Vanzetti case: US authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder.
- 1925 – Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is served an arrest warrant for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
- 1925 – Afrikaans established as an official language in South Africa.
- 1936 – Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- 1940 – World War II: In London, a Norwegian government–in–exile is formed.
- 1941 – Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; this date has been since commemorated as Liberation Day, or Patriots' Victory Day.
- 1944 – World War II: German troops execute 216 civilians in the village of Kleinoura, Greece.
- 1945 – World War II: German troops in the Netherlands and Denmark capitulate to Canadian and British forces, liberating these countries from Nazi occupation.
- 1945 – World War II: Prague uprising against the Nazis.
- 1945 – World War II: Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
- 1945 – World War II: Admiral Karl Dönitz, leader of Germany after Hitler's death, orders all U–boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
- 1946 – The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo, with 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- 1949 – The Council of Europe in Strasbourg is founded through the Treaty of London as the first European institution working for European integration. Since 1964, May 5 has been designated Europe Day by the Council of Europe and is celebrated since then to commemorate its founding on 5 May 1949.
- 1950 – Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King Rama IX of Thailand.
- 1955 – West Germany gains full sovereignty.
- 1961 – Mercury program: Mercury–Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into space, making a sub–orbital flight of 15 minutes.
- 1964 – 5 May is declared Europe Day on the 25th anniversary of the Council of Europe.
- 1967 – The first all–British space satellite, Ariel 3 is launched from the United States.
- 1972 – Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 people on board.
- 1973 – Secretariat wins the Kentucky Derby in record time.
- 1977 – The first interview between David Frost and Richard Nixon is broadcast.
- 1980 – Operation Nimrod: The Special Air Service storm the Iranian embassy in London after a six–day siege.
- 1980 – Constantine Karamanlis is elected for the first time as President of Greece.
- 1984 – In Luxembourg, the Herreys win the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with the song Diggi–Loo, Diggi Ley.
- 1987 – Iran–Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings.
- 1991 – A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, DC after a Salvadoran man is shot by police.
- 1992 – The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified.
- 1994 – The Signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively freezes the Nagorno–Karabakh conflict.
- 1999 – Indonesia and Portugal reach an agreement on ending the war in East Timor. They also agree to give East Timor a referendum on independence later in the year.
From 2001
- 2002 – Jacques Chirac is elected to a second term as President of France, defeating far–right candidate Jean–Marie Le Pen in the second round of the Presidential Election.
- 2004 – Pablo Picasso's painting Boy With a Pipe is sold at auction for 104.2 million US Dollars.
- 2005 – The United Kingdom general election takes place, in which Tony Blair's Labour Party is re–elected for a third, consecutive term.
- 2006 – The government of Sudan signed an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).
- 2007 – Kenya Airways Flight KQ 507 crashes in Cameroon.
- 2010 – In Greece, widespread protests occur in the wake of the debt crisis.
- 2010 – Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua dies after a long illness. Caretaker President Goodluck Jonathan succeeds him.
- 2011 – The election to the Scottish Parliament takes place, with the Scottish National Party, under Alex Salmond, getting an overall majority, taking 69 of the 129 seats.
- 2018 – NASA launches its InSight probe to Mars.
- 2019 – Presidential elections: Stevo Pendarovski is elected President of North Macedonia, while Laurentino Cortizo is elected President of Panama.
- 2019 – Brunei abandons its policy of making gay sex punishable by death.
- 2019 – Aeroflot Flight 1492 bursts into flames on its return to Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, killing 41 out of the 78 people on board.
- 2019 – A tanker explosion near Niamey, Niger, kills 58 people.
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Up to 1900
- 867 – Emperor Uda of Japan (d. 931)
- 1210 – King Afonso III of Portugal (d. 1279)
- 1352 – Rupert I, King of Germany (d. 1410)
- 1479 – Guru Amar Das, 3rd Sikh Guru (d. 1574)
- 1546 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician (d. 1623)
- 1747 – Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1792)
- 1810 – Lorenzo Salvi, Italian tenor (d. 1879)
- 1813 – Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (d. 1855)
- 1818 – Karl Marx, German Communist philosopher (d. 1883)
- 1819 – Stanislaw Moniuszko, Polish composer, conductor and teacher (d. 1872)
- 1826 – Eugenie de Montijo, Empress of France (d. 1920)
- 1828 – Robert von Puttkamer, Prussian statesman (d. 1900)
- 1830 – John Patterson Stetson, American hat manufacturer (d. 1906)
- 1833 – Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer (d. 1905)
- 1834 – Viktor Hartmann, Russian architect and painter (d. 1873)
- 1846 – Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish writer (d. 1917)
- 1846 – Lars Magnus Ericsson, Swedish inventor (d. 1926)
- 1864 – Nellie Bly, American journalist (d. 1922)
- 1869 – Hans Pfilzner, German composer (d. 1949)
- 1877 – Georgi Sedov, Russian naval officer and polar explorer (d. 1914)
- 1882 – Douglas Mawson, Australian Antarctic explorer (d. 1958)
- 1882 – Sylvia Pankhurst, British activist (d. 1960)
- 1883 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, British field marshal and Viceroy of India (d. 1950)
- 1883 – Agustin Barrios, Paraguayan guitarist and composer (d. 1944)
- 1883 – Rudolf Spielmann, Austrian chess player (d. 1932)
- 1887 – Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1972)
- 1887 – Marvyn S. Bennion, American captain (d. 1941)
- 1890 – Christopher Morley, American writer (d. 1957)
- 1894 – August Dvorak, American inventor (d. 1975)
- 1899 – Freeman Fisher Gosden, American comedian and actor (d. 1982)
1901 – 1950
- 1901 – Blind Willie McTell, American singer (d. 1959)
- 1907 – Iryna Vilde, Ukrainian writer (d. 1982)
- 1908 – Kurt Böhme, German bass (d. 1989)
- 1911 – Andor Lilienthal, Hungarian chess player (d. 2010)
- 1911 – Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
- 1914 – Tyrone Power, American actor (d. 1958)
- 1915 – Alice Faye, American actress and singer (d. 1998)
- 1916 – Zail Singh, 7th President of India (d. 1994)
- 1917 – Pío Leyva, Cuban singer (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Lennie Merullo, American baseball player (d. 2015)
- 1919 – Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek military leader (d. 1999)
- 1921 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Monica Lewis, American actress (d. 2015)
- 1923 – Sergey Akhromeyev, Marshal of the Soviet Union (d. 1991)
- 1925 – Leo Ryan, American politician (d. 1978)
- 1927 – Charles Rosen, American pianist and music writer (d. 2012)
- 1928 – Richard Schaal, American actor (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Ezzatollah Sahabi, Iranian politician (d. 2011)
- 1931 – Greg, Belgian cartoonist (d. 1999)
- 1932 – Stan Goldberg, American comic writer (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Igor Kashkarov, Soviet high jumper
- 1934 – Ace Cannon, American saxophonist
- 1934 – Henri Konan Bédié, former President of Ivory Coast
- 1935 – Shih Chi–yang, Taiwanese politician (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Tran Duc Luong, former President of Vietnam
- 1937 – Delia Derbyshire, English composer (d. 2001)
- 1939 – Ray Gosling, English broadcaster, journalist and activist (d. 2013)
- 1940 – Lance Henriksen, American actor and painter
- 1941 – Alexander Ragulin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
- 1942 – Marc Alaimo, American actor
- 1942 – Tammy Wynette, American musician (d. 1998)
- 1943 – Michael Palin, British actor, comedian, writer and TV presenter
- 1943 – Ignacio Ramonet, Spanish journalist and writer
- 1944 – Bo Larsson, Swedish footballer
- 1944 – John Rhys–Davies, British actor
- 1944 – Roger Rees, British actor (d. 2015)
- 1945 – Kurt Loder, American journalist, critic, writer and columnist
- 1946 – Beth Carvalho, Brazilian samba singer (d. 2019)
- 1947 – Malam Bacai Sanhá, President of Guinea–Bissau (d. 2012)
- 1948 – Bill Ward, British musician
- 1950 – Morton Rhue, American writer
1951 – 1975
- 1952 – Willem Witteveen, Dutch legal scholar and politician (d. 2014)
- 1952 – Ed Lee, American politician, Mayor of San Francisco (d. 2017)
- 1953 – Dieter Zetschke, German businessman
- 1955 – Lisa Jane Persky, American actress
- 1957 – Richard E. Grant, British actor
- 1959 – Ian McCulloch, British singer
- 1959 – Brian Williams, American news anchor
- 1960 – Jorge Quiroga, former President of Bolivia
- 1961 – Mike J. Dunleavy, American politician, Governor of Alaska
- 1962 – Nicolas Vanier, Senegalese writer, explorer and director
- 1963 – Simon Rimmer, English chef
- 1964 – Heike Henkel, German high jumper
- 1964 – Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
- 1966 – Shawn Drover, Canadian musician
- 1966 – Sergei Stanishev, 46th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
- 1966 – Josh Weinstein, American writer
- 1967 – Takehito Koyasu, Japanese voice actor
- 1969 – Olav Sepp, Estonian chess player
- 1972 – Zigmund Palffy, Slovakian ice hockey player
- 1972 – James Cracknell, British rower
- 1972 – Brad Bombadir, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 – Devin Townsend, Canadian musician
- 1975 – Meb Keflezighi, Eritrean–born American runner
From 1976
- 1976 – Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentine footballer
- 1976 – Sage Stallone, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1977 – Jessica Schwarz, German actress
- 1978 – John Wilshere, Papua New Guinea rugby league player
- 1978 – Santiago Cabrera, Chilean actor
- 1979 – Vince Grella, Australian footballer
- 1980 – Yossi Benayoun, Israeli footballer
- 1981 – Danielle Fishel, American actress
- 1981 – Craig David, British singer
- 1982 – Jay Bothroyd, English footballer
- 1982 – Sándor Torghelle, Hungarian footballer
- 1983 – Henry Cavill, Jersey actor
- 1984 – Wade McNeil, Canadian singer–songwriter and producer
- 1985 – Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese actress, illustrator and singer
- 1985 – Tsapo Masilela, South African footballer
- 1985 – Emanuele Giaccherini, Italian footballer
- 1987 – Graham Dorrans, Scottish footballer
- 1988 – Adele, English singer–songwriter
- 1988 – Brooke Hogan, American singer and television personality
- 1988 – Skye Sweetnam, Canadian singer–songwriter and actress
- 1989 – Chris Brown, American singer and actor
- 1990 – Sophie Wells, English para–equestrian
- 1991 – Shubha Phutela, Indian actress (d. 2012)
- 1991 – Robin de Kruijf, Dutch volleyball player
- 1992 – Yosuke Mikami, Japanese footballer
- 1992 – Taisuke Miyazaki, Japanese footballer
- 1993 – Francine Niyonsaba, Burundian middle–distance runner
- 1998 – Menna Fitzpatrick, British Paralympic skier
- 1999 – Nathan Chen, American figure skater
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Up to 1900
- 200 – Sun Ce, Chinese warlord (b. 175)
- 311 – Gallerius, Roman Emperor (b. 260)
- 984 – Gerberga of Saxony (b. 913)
- 1028 – Alfonso V of Castile (b. 994)
- 1194 – Casimir II of Poland (b. 1138)
- 1219 – Leo II, King of Armenia (b. 1150)
- 1257 – Haakon the Young, Junior King of Norway (b. 1232)
- 1306 – Constantine Palaiologus, Byzantine prince and general (b. 1261)
- 1309 – Charles II of Naples (b. 1254)
- 1525 – Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1463)
- 1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (b. 1533)
- 1700 – Angelo Italia, Sicilian Baroque architect (b. 1628)
- 1705 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1640)
- 1731 – Daniel Defoe, English writer (b. 1660)
- 1808 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (b. 1757)
- 1821 – Napoleon, French general and later Emperor of France (b. 1769)
- 1827 – Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1750)
- 1855 – Seabury Ford, 20th Governor of Ohio (b. 1801)
- 1859 – Peter Gustav Dirichlet, German mathematician (b. 1805)
- 1865 – Ben Hall, Australian bushranger shot dead by the police (b. 1837)
- 1881 – Ansel Briggs, 1st Governor of Iowa (b. 1806)
- 1883 – Eva Gonzales, French painter (b. 1847)
- 1892 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist (b. 1818)
- 1896 – Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
- 1900 – Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian painter (b. 1817)
1901 – 2000
- 1916 – John MacBride, Irish Nationalist (b. 1865)
- 1921 – Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian writer and pacifist (b. 1864)
- 1925 – Tome Jose de Barros Queiros, Portuguese politician (b. 1872)
- 1931 – Glen Kidston, English pilot and racing driver (b. 1899)
- 1941 – Natalie of Serbia (b. 1859)
- 1944 – Bertha Benz, German automobile pioneer (b. 1849)
- 1945 – Peter Van Pels, Dutch–Jewish refugee (b. 1926)
- 1959 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician (b. 1878)
- 1962 – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (b. 1889)
- 1977 – Ludwig Erhard, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
- 1981 – Bobby Sands, Northern Irish activist and hunger striker (b. 1954)
- 1992 – Jean–Claude Pascal, French comedian and singer (b. 1927)
- 1995 – Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player (b. 1911)
- 1999 – Candy Candido, American radio performer, bass player, singer, animator and voice actor (b. 1913)
From 2001
- 2002 – Hugo Banzer, President of Bolivia (b. 1926)
- 2003 – Walter Sisulu, South African activist (b. 1912)
- 2004 – Ritsuko Okazaki, Japanese singer–songwriter (b. 1959)
- 2005 – Edgar Ponce, Mexican actor and dancer (b. 1974)
- 2007 – Theodore Maiman, American physicist (b. 1927)
- 2008 – Irv Robbins, Canadian–American entrepreneur (b. 1917)
- 2010 – Giulietta Simionato, Italian mezzo–soprano (b. 1910)
- 2010 – Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, President of Nigeria (b. 1951)
- 2011 – Claude Choules, English–Australian World War I veteran (b. 1901)
- 2011 – Arthur Laurents, American playwright (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg, Swedish royal, uncle of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Margrethe II of Denmark (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Eduardo Mac Entyre, Argentine artist (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Billy Frank, Jr., American activist (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Butler Derrick, American politician (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Hans Jansen, Dutch politician (b. 1942)
- 2015 – Oscar Holderer, German rocket scientist (b. 1919)
- 2015 – Craig Gruber, American musician (b. 1951)
- 2015 – Brian Sedgemore, British politician (b. 1937)
- 2015 – Jon Castañares, Spanish economist and politician (b. 1925)
- 2016 – Sylvia Kauders, American actress (b. 1921)
- 2016 – Siné, French cartoonist (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Isao Tomita, Japanese musician and composer (b. 1932)
- 2017 – Buhe, Chinese politician (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Benny Elon, Israeli politician (b. 1954)
- 2017 – Corinne Erhel, French politician (b. 1967)
- 2017 – Amancio Escapa Aparicio, Spanish–Dominican prelate (b. 1938)
- 2017 – Almir Guineto, Brazilian singer–songwriter (b. 1946)
- 2017 – Adolph Kiefer, American swimmer (b. 1918)
- 2017 – Leila Seth, Indian judge (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, President of Mauritania (b. 1953)
- 2018 – Michele Castoro, Italian Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1952)
- 2018 – Wilson Frost, American politician (b. 1925)
- 2018 – Ermanno Olmi, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
- 2018 – Klaus Dede, German writer and journalist (b. 1935)
- 2018 – Stanley Falkow, American microbiologist (b. 1934)
- 2018 – José María Iñigo, Spanish journalist and commentator (b. 1942)
- 2018 – Boyan Petrov, Bulgarian zoologist and mountaineer (b. 1973)
- 2019 – Barbara Perry, American actress (b. 1921)
- 2019 – Shih Chi–yang, Taiwanese politician (b. 1935)
- 2019 – Norma Miller, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1919)
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- Cinco de Mayo (Mexico and United States)
- Liberation Day (Denmark and Netherlands)
- Children's Day (Japan)
- Children's Day (South Korea)
- Coronation Day (Thailand)
- Patriots' Victory Day (Ethiopia)
- Martyrs' Day (Albania)
- Constitution Day (Kyrgyzstan)
- Lusophone Culture Day in Portuguese–speaking countries
- Europe Day
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