• 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins.
• 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John. This was part of a chain of events leading to the Magna Carta signing.
• 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.
• 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 - Emperor Napoleon I dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
• 1835 - In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
• 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, Ohio), the first train robbery in the United States takes place.
• 1877 - Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
• 1886 - The Bay View Tragedy occurs, as militia fire upon a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin killing seven.
• 1891 - The Music Hall in New York City (now known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
• 1902 - The 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 throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
• 1916 - American marines invade the Dominican Republic.
• 1920 - Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are arrested, accused of robbery and murder.
• 1941 - Chanel No. 5 is released.
• 1925 - Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is served an arrest warrant for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
• 1925 - Afrikaans is 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.
• 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: The 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.
• 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 May 5, 1949.
• 1950 - Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King Rama IX of Thailand.
• 1955 - West Germany gains full sovereignty.
• 1961 - The Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, making a sub-orbital flight of 15 minutes.
• 1964 - May 5 is declared Europe Day on the 15th anniversary of the Council of Europe.
• 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 President of Greece.
• 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings.
• 1991 - A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after a Salvadoran man is shot by police.
• 1992 - The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified.
• 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 signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).
• 2007 - Kenya Airways Flight KQ 507 crashes in Cameroon.

Births