Vintage News · Odd history for May 5

What Happened On May 5

Q: What happened on May 5?

1809: Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread. 1646: First English Civil War: Charles I surrendered himself to Scottish Covenanter leader David Leslie near Newark, England. 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. 1866: Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York. 1835: The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen. 1821: The first edition of The Manchester Guardian, now The Guardian, is published. 1789: In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614. 2020: Philippine broadcast network ABS-CBN was forced to go off-air by the National Telecommunications Commission after Congress failed to renew its franchise granted in 1995. 1992: The Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, 202 years after it was first proposed. 1904: Pitching for the Boston Americans, Cy Young threw the first perfect game in modern professional baseball.

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10 odd things that happened on May 5

1809 First ever
Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
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Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1646 First ever
First English Civil War: Charles I surrendered himself to Scottish Covenanter leader David Leslie near Newark, England.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1891 First ever
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.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1866 First ever
Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1835 First ever
The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1821 First ever
The first edition of The Manchester Guardian, now The Guardian, is published.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1789 First ever
In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
2020 Oddly true
Philippine broadcast network ABS-CBN was forced to go off-air by the National Telecommunications Commission after Congress failed to renew its franchise granted in 1995.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1992 First ever
The Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, 202 years after it was first proposed.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1904 First ever
Pitching for the Boston Americans, Cy Young threw the first perfect game in modern professional baseball.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Observed today

2023The World Health Organization declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency. Wikipedia →
2010Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek government-debt crisis. Wikipedia →
2007Kenya 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 →
2006The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army. Wikipedia →
1994The signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively freezes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Wikipedia →
1994American teenager Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism. Wikipedia →
1991A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man. Wikipedia →
1987Iran–Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States. Wikipedia →
1985Ronald Reagan visits the military cemetery at Bitburg and the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he makes a speech. Wikipedia →
1981Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital (Northern Ireland) after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27. Wikipedia →
1980Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege. Wikipedia →
1973Secretariat wins the 1973 Kentucky Derby in 1:59.4, an as-yet-unbeaten record. Wikipedia →
1972Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 aboard, making it the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy. Wikipedia →
1964The Council of Europe declares May 5 as Europe Day. Wikipedia →
1961Project Mercury: Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight. Wikipedia →
1955The General Treaty, by which France, Britain and the United States recognize the sovereignty of West Germany, comes into effect. Wikipedia →
1946The 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 →
1945World War II: The Prague uprising begins as an attempt by the Czech resistance to free the city from German occupation. Wikipedia →
1945World War II: A Fu-Go balloon bomb launched by the Japanese Army kills six people near Bly, Oregon. Wikipedia →
1945World War II: Battle of Castle Itter, one of only two battles in that war in which American and German troops fought cooperatively. Wikipedia →
1941Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots' Victory Day. Wikipedia →
1940World 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 →
1936March of the Iron Will: Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Wikipedia →
1930The 1930 Bago earthquake, the first of two major earthquakes in southern Burma, kills as many as 7,000 in Yangon and Bago. Wikipedia →
1920US authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder. Wikipedia →
1912The first issue of the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda is published. Wikipedia →
1905The 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 →
1904Pitching 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 →
1891The 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 →
1887The Peruvian Academy of Language is founded. Wikipedia →
1886Workers marching for the eight-hour day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are shot at by Wisconsin National Guardsmen in what becomes known as the Bay View Massacre. Wikipedia →
1877American Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles. Wikipedia →
1866Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York. Wikipedia →
1865American Civil War: The Confederate government is declared dissolved at Washington, Georgia. Wikipedia →
1864American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County. Wikipedia →
1862Cinco de Mayo: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico. Wikipedia →
1835The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen. Wikipedia →
1821Emperor Napoleon dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. Wikipedia →
1821The first edition of The Manchester Guardian, now The Guardian, is published. Wikipedia →
1809Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread. Wikipedia →
1789In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614. Wikipedia →
1762Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg. Wikipedia →
1654Cromwell's Act of Grace, aimed at reconciliation with the Scots, proclaimed in Edinburgh. Wikipedia →
1640King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament. Wikipedia →
1609Daimyō (Lord) Shimazu Tadatsune of the Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in Okinawa. Wikipedia →
1494On 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 →
1292Election of Count Adolf of Nassau as King of the Romans in the Dominican monastery of Frankfurt. Wikipedia →
1260Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire. Wikipedia →
1215Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta. Wikipedia →
1192Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem marries Henry II, Count of Champagne. Wikipedia →
553The Second Council of Constantinople begins. Wikipedia →

Facts from Wikipedia On This Day API (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia. Thumbnails CC BY-SA. Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform. Historic pages via Library of Congress Chronicling America. Curated by OddlyTrue.