May 1
May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years ). There are 244 days remaining.
Events
305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor .
1328 - Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton - England recognises Scotland as an independent nation.
1699 - Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville founds the first European settlement in the Mississippi River Valley.
1707 - The Act of Union joins England , and Scotland to form 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 .
1776 - Adam Weishaupt founds the Illuminati in Ingolstadt , Germany .
1786 - Opening night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna .
1790 - The United States completes its first census .
1834 - The British colonies abolish slavery.
1840 - The Penny Black postage stamp is put on sale in the United Kingdom .
1848 - Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji), collegiate social fraternity , founded at Jefferson College (now Washington & Jefferson College) in Canonsburg , PA
1851 - The Great Exhibition opens in London .
1860 - A chondrite-type meteorite falls to earth in Muskingum County, Ohio near the town of New Concord .
1863 - American Civil War : The Battle of Chancellorsville begins - Union forces under Major General Joseph Hooker begin to fight Confederate troops commanded by General Robert E. Lee (Union defeat).
1869 - The Folies Bergčres open in Paris .
1873 - The 1873 Vienna World's Fair opens in Vienna .
1882 - First Labor Day New York .
1883 - Buffalo Bill Cody put on his first Wild West Show .
1884 - Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States
1886 - The start of the general strike which eventually wins the eight-hour workday in the United States . These events are today commemorated as May Day or Labour Day in most industrialized countries.
1893 - The World Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago .
1894 - Coxey's Army , the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington D.C. .
1898 - Spanish-American War : The Battle of Manila Bay - The United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war.
1901 - The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York .
1902 - Petrol Loco , the first prototype gasoline -powered "locomobile" (automobile ), is completed.
1931 - The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City .
1940 - The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war.
1941 - Orson Welles 's Citizen Kane New York City
1941 - World War II : German forces launch major attack on Tobruk .
1941 - Cheerios is introduced as CheeriOats by the General Mills cereal company.
1948 - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ) is established, with Kim Il Sung as president.
1950 - Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth.
1956 - The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
1960 - Bombay Province was split into Maharashtra and Gujarat on linguistic grounds. (states of India )
1960 - Cold War : U-2 Crisis - Francis Gary Powers , in a U-2 spyplane , is shot down over the Soviet Union , beginning a crisis.
1967 - Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu .
1971 - Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service.
1972 - Vietnam War : Easter Offensive - North Vietnamese troops capture Quang Tri City , effectively giving them control Quang Tri Province .
1978 - Japan 's Naomi Uemura , travelling by dog sled , becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
1982 - The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee .
1983 - Edwin El Chapo Rosario wins boxing 's vacant WBC world Lightweight title by beating Jose Luis Ramirez in San Juan , by points in 12 rounds, becoming Puerto Rico 's 14th world boxing champion. A young Julio Cesar Chavez also wins as part of the undercard.
1994 - Formula One driver Ayrton Senna is killed during the San Marino Grand Prix .
1997 - HM Prison Pentridge , Melbourne, Australia is officially closed.
1999 - Three spectators are killed at a IRL race at Lowe's Motor Speedway when a collision propells a tire into the stands.
2003 - War in Iraq : U.S. President George W. Bush announces the end of major combat operations in Iraq .
2004 - Cyprus , Czech Republic , Estonia , Hungary , Latvia , Lithuania , Malta , Poland , Slovakia , and Slovenia join the European Union .
Births
1218 - Rudolph I of Germany , Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1291 )
1672 - Joseph Addison , English politician and writer (d. 1719 )
1769 - Likeliest birthdate for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , British general and Prime Minister (d. 1852 )
1830 - Mother Jones , labor activist (d. 1930 )
1852 - Calamity Jane , riflewoman , Wild West star (d. 1903 )
1881 - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin , French palaeontologist and philosopher (d. 1955 )
1887 - Alan Gordon Cunningham , British army officer (d. 1983 )
1905 - Henry Koster , German film director (d. 1988 )
1908 - Giovanni Guareschi , Italian journalist (d. 1968 )
1909 - Kate Smith , American singer (d. 1986 )
1913 - Walter Susskind , Czech conductor (d. 1980 )
1915 - Archie Williams , American athlete
1916 - Glenn Ford , American film actor
1918 - Jack Paar , American television host (d. 2004 )
1919 - Dan O'Herlihy , Irish film actor (d. 2005 )
1923 - Joseph Heller , American novelist (d. 1999 )
1924 - Art Fleming , game show host (d. 1995 )
1929 - Ralf Dahrendorf , German-born Britishsociologist and politician
1939 - Judy Collins , American folk singer
1940 - Elsa Peretti , Italian jewelry designer
1944 - Rita Coolidge , American singer
1944 - Suresh Kalmadi , Indian politician
1946 - John Woo , Hong Kong director, producer, writer, actor
1954 - Ray Parker Jr. , singer/songwriter
1960 - Steve Cauthen , jockey
1964 - Yvonne van Gennip , Dutch speed skater
1967 - Tim McGraw , country musician
1968 - Oliver Bierhoff , German footballer
1968 - D'Arcy Wretzky , musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
1975 - Marc-Vivien Foé , Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003 )
Deaths
1308 - Albert I of Habsburg , duke of Austria, murdered by John Parricida (b. c. 1250 )
1572 - Pope Pius V (b. 1504 )
1873 - David Livingstone , Scottish missionary (b. 1813 )
1904 - Antonín Dvořák , Czech composer (b. 1841 )
1945 - Joseph Goebbels (b. 1897 ) and his wife Magda (b. 1901 ), (suicide) prominent figures in Nazi Germany .
1965 - Spike Jones , band leader, musician, comedian (b. 1911 )
1978 - Aram Khachaturian , Armenian composer (b. 1903 )
1982 - William Primrose , Scottish violist (b. 1903 )
1989 - Douglass Watson , American actor (b. 1921 )
1993 - Pierre Bérégovoy , French minister (suicide) (b. 1925 )
1994 - Ayrton Senna , triple Formula One champion (b. 1960 )
2003 - Miss Elizabeth , WWE wrestling figure
Holidays and observances
External links
April 30 - May 2 - April 1 - June 1 -- listing of all days
