On May 5th...

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Boys' Festival (Japan)

1260 Kublai Khan became ruler of the Mongol Empire.

1646 King Charles I surrendered to the Scottish army.

1762 Russia and Prussia signed the Treaty of St. Petersburg, ending the Seven Years War.

1789 The French Estates General assembled for the first time since 1614.

1809 Mary Kies became the first woman to be issued a U. S. patent, for weaving straw.

1816 The American Bible Society was founded in New York City, New York.

1818 Economist Karl Marx was born.

1821 Former French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte died.

1847 The American Medical Association was organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1855 New York City, New York, regained possession of Castle Clinton.

1858 The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews, Scotland, adopted a rule stipulating that "one round of the links or eighteen holes is reckoned a match."

1862 Mexican forces defeated French forces at Puebla.
1862 The Battle of Williamsburg (Virginia) was fought.

1863 The Battle of Tupelo (Mississippi) was fought.

1864 Journalist Nellie Bly was born.

1877 Sitting Bull led his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.

1886 State militia troops fired into a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing seven.

1890 Author Christopher Morley was born.

1891 Music Hall, aka Carnegie Hall, opened New York City, New York.

1900 The Billboard began weekly publication.

1902 Author Bret Harte died.

1903 Chef James Beard was born.

1908 The "Great White Fleet" arrived in San Francisco, California.
1908 Arthur Pickens rode Stone Street to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

1912 The 5th Olympic Games opened at Stockholm, Sweden.

1913 Actor Tyrone Power was born.

1916 U.S. Marines invaded the Dominican Republic.

1919 Georges Papadopoulos, dictator of Greece, was born.

1920 Germany and Latvia signed a peace treaty.
1920 Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were arrested for the robbery of a shoe factory paymaster.

1925 John T. Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee.
1925 Afrikaans was established as an official language in South Africa.

1934 Cavalcade, Mack Garner up, won the Kentucky Derby.
1934 John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, was born.

1935 Jesse Owens set a long jump record of 26' 8½".

1939 Flash floods killed 75 persons in northern Kentucky.

1940 A Norwegian government-in-exile formed in London, England.

1941 Coco Chanel released Chanel No. 5.

1942 Sugar rationing began in the United States.
1942 Singer Tammy Wynette was born.

1943 Comedian Michael Palin was born.

1944 Actor John Rhys-Davies was born.

1949 The Council of Europe was formed.

1950 Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned King Rama IX of Thailand.

1951 Count Turf, Conn McCreary up, won the Kentucky Derby.

1955 West Germany was granted full sovereignty.

1956 Needles, David Erb up, won the Kentucky Derby.

1958 Buses in London, England, were parked by a strike.
1958 Author James Branch Cabell died.

1961 Alan Shepard became the first American in space.

1962 Decidedly, Bill Hartack up, won the Kentucky Derby.

1966 The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.

1969 The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA Championship.

1972 An Alitalia DC-8 crashed west of Palermo, Sicily, killing 115 persons.

1973 Secretariat, Run Turcotte up, won the Kentucky Derby.
1973 Actress Tina Yothers was born.

1976 A train collision at Schiedam, Netherlands, killed 24 persons.

1979 Spectacular Bid, Ron Franklin up, won the Kentucky Derby.
1979 Ludwig Erhard, former Chancellor of West Germany, died.

1981 Irish activist Bobby Sands died.

1984 Swale, Laffitt Pincay, Jr., up, won the Kentucky Derby.

1988 Singer Adele was born.

1989 Singer Chris Brown was born.

1990 Unbridled, Craig Perret up, won the Kentucky Derby.

1995 The Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics in the last basketball game at Boston Gardens.

1997 The last episode of "Married, With Children" aired on Fox-TV.

2001 Monarchos, Jorge Chavez up, won the Kentucky Derby.

2002 Hugo Banzer, former President of Bolivia, died.

2007 Street Sense, Calvin Borel up, won the Kentucky Derby.

2010 Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua died.

2012 I'll Have Another, Mario Gutierrez up, won the Kentucky Derby.

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This page was last updated on July 11, 2018.