/year

May 3 in history

200 sourced entries recorded on May 3, from 369 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 1117Merton Priory (previously established at Huntingdon) is consecrated at a site near London. The priory becomes an important centre of learning and diplomacy in England.source
  • 1297Stefano Colonna, Italian chief magistrate and papal official, captures the treasure of the tomb of Caecilia Metella near Rome, which is sent by the rival Caetani family to Pope Boniface VIII.source
  • 1324France's Consistori del Gay Saber holds its first annual contest to determine the best poet in the Kingdom. Arnaut Vidal de Castelnou d'Ari wins the first prize, the violeta d'aur. The contest continues for 160 years, ceasing in 1484.source
  • 1336ordinances for reform of Irish administrationsource
  • 1376Olav IV Haakonsson is elected King Oluf II of Denmark, following the death of his grandfather, Valdemar IV, in 1375.source
  • 1389Richard II takes control of England, away from the Lords Appellant.source
  • 1399Pope Boniface IX of Rome excommunicates Onorato Caetani, Great Constable of the Kingdom of Naples, who had previously been excommunicated in 1367 by Pope Urban V of Rome, and then was forgiven in 1378 by Pope Clement VII of Avignon. Boniface's action follows Caetani's continued support of the Avignon papacy, after which a crusade against Caetani's properties at Fondi.source
  • 1416Unable to reach an agreement with France, King Sigismund of Germany travels to London, where he is welcomed by King Henry V of England.source
  • 1441In Denmark, a rebel army of 25,000 peasants led by Henrik Reventlow repels an attack by Swedish nobles, led by Eske Jensen Brock. The peasants prepare a trap near their camp at St. Jørgensbjerg before the Battle of St. Jorgen's Hill, placing trees and soil over a swamp, and Brock's army of knights becomes mired down, where almost all (including Brock) are slaughtered.source
  • 1448The Treaty of Prenzlau is signed between in Germany by the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Pomerania, both principalities within the Holy Roman Empire. The treaty partitions the disputed territory of the Uckermark, with Brandenburg receiving the southern part and Pomerania the northern part, with rights for Brandenburg to receive the north if Pomerania's ruling house should become extinct.source
  • 1461Theodosius Byvaltsev is installed as the new leader of the Russian Orthodox Church as Metropolitan of Moscow and all the Russias by order of Vasily II Vasilyevich, Grand Prince of Moscow.source
  • 1469At Olomouc, Hungarian King Matyáš Korvín is elected by the Czech Catholic estates to be the King of Bohemia and his rule is accepted by the occupied regions of Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia, though the other Bohemian estates remain loyal to the Bohemian King Jiří z Poděbrad.source
  • 1476Hans Böhm, the "rummer of Niklashausen", incites a peasant uprising in an around Niklashausen in the German Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg. He is captured and eventually executed on July 19.source
  • 1481The 1481 Rhodes earthquake, the largest of a series, strikes the island of Rhodes, causing an estimated 30,000 casualties.source
  • 1491The ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, Nkuwu Nzinga, is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I.source
  • 1492In the Canary Islands, the Spanish conquistador Alonso Fernandez de Lugo finishes the conquest of the island of La Palma by capturing Tanausu, King of the native Guanches.source
  • 1500Cabral and his fleet depart from Brazil and sail eastward toward Africa, resuming their journey to India.source
  • 1502Portuguese navigator João da Nova discovers the uninhabited island of Saint Helena.source
  • 1512The Fifth Council of the Lateran begins.source
  • 1518Grijalva and his crew become the first Europeans to find Cozumel in Mexico.source
  • 1544Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, with an English army, captures Leith and Edinburgh from the Kingdom of Scotland.source
  • 1558The Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire gives recognition to Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor, two months after his proclamation on March 14 as the successor to his brother Charles V.source
  • 1611Danish forces lay siege to Kalmar. The Siege of Kalmar ends on August 3.source
  • 1616The Treaty of Loudun is signed, ending a series of rebellions in France.source
  • 1622The Montgomery Viscountcy of the Great Ards in the Peerage of Ireland is created for Hugh Montgomery.source
  • 1641The Protestation of 1641 is passed by England's Parliament, requiring all officeholders to swear an oath of allegiance to King Charles I and to the Church of England.source
  • 1641the Protestation of 1641 is passed by Parliament, requiring all officeholders to swear an oath of allegiance to the monarch and to the Church of England.source
  • 1660In the Treaty of Oliva, peace is made between the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Habsburgs and Brandenburg-Prussia.source
  • 1660Treaty of Oliva: Formally ended the Second Northern War (1655–1660) with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where3 John II Casimir Vasa renounced his claim to the Swedish throne.source
  • 1662John Winthrop the Younger, the son of the first governor of Massachusetts, is honored by being made a fellow of the Royal Society, England's new scientific society. Winthrop uses his election to the Society to gain access to the king, who grants him a new charter, uniting the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven.source
  • 1683Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire enters Belgrade.source
  • 1695Parliament passes the Corrupt Practices Act to tackle bribery in general elections.source
  • 1709Elspeth Rule becomes the last person in Scotland to be tried before the High Court of Justiciary for witchcraft; the judge, sitting at Dumfries, orders her to be burned on the cheek and banished from Scotland for life.source
  • 1715A total solar eclipse is seen across southern England, Sweden and Finland (the last total eclipse visible in London for almost 900 years). English astronomer Edmond Halley (who is using the old style Julian calendar date of April 22) records the first observation noted of the phenomenon of "Baily's beads", in which higher elevations on the moon can be observed obscuring portions of the light moments before and after totality.source
  • 1715A total solar eclipse is seen across southern England and Scandinavia, the last total eclipse visible in London for almost 900 years.source
  • 1720The coronation of King Frederick I of Sweden takes place in Stockholm, six weeks after his rule began.source
  • 1720Coronation of Frederick I.source
  • 1744News of the declaration of war by France on Great Britain arrives in New France, starting King George's War.source
  • 1746"Battle of Loch nan Uamh": Royal Navy sloops attack French privateers which have landed money (and brandy) intended to aid the Jacobite cause in the Sound of Arisaig.source
  • 1755France dispatches 3,600 troops to protect its Canadian colonies in Quebec from a British invasion, dispatching 2,400 to Quebec city and 1,200 to Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, unaware that a squadron of 11 fully armed warships from Britain's Royal Navy had sailed toward Canada on April 27.source
  • 1764Baden, one of the member states of the Confederation of Switzerland, declares a policy of remaining neutral in future conflicts, a model that is soon followed by other members of the Confederation and which eventually becomes the basis for Swiss neutrality from 1815 onward.source
  • 1767A fleet of ships from the Republic of Genoa arrives at Capraia and sends 150 men ashore to drive out the Corsicans, but the outnumbered Genoese marines are "quickly cut to pieces".source
  • 1791The Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth proclaims the Constitution of May 3, 1791, the first modern codified constitution in Europe.source
  • 17911st Lt. Ralph Clark records in his diary that he has ordered three female convicts flogged. Catherine White faints after the first 15 lashes, Mary Teut after 22. When Mary Higgins has received 26 lashes, Lieutenant Clark "forgave her the remainder (he has ordered 50) because she was an old woman".source
  • 1791April 29–May 8 – The first American ships reach Japan, brigantine Lady Washington captained by John Kendrick of Boston, and the brig Grace.source
  • 1808Finnish War: The fortress of Sveaborg is lost by Sweden to Russia.source
  • 1809Battle of Ebelsberg: André Masséna defeats Austrian General Johann von Hiller, forcing him to retreat.source
  • 1810Lord Byron swims across the Hellespont in Turkey.source
  • 1810Lord Byron swims across the Hellespont in Turkey.source
  • 1810The Brothers collects two men it had dropped in 1809 on islands on what is now the Dunedin coast at Port Daniel (Otago Harbour), including William Tucker. Tucker is sent to look for other sealers from the Brothers at Stewart Island. It is probably at this time, on the shores of Foveaux Strait, that he steals the Māori preserved head that he later sells in Sydney, thus inaugurating the retail trade of such items.source
  • 1811May 3–5 – Peninsular War – Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro: An Anglo-Portuguese Army under General Arthur Wellington defeats the French forces under Marshal André Masséna.source
  • 1813May 1–9 – War of 1812: Fort Meigs is first besieged, by British allied forces under General Henry Proctor and Chief Tecumseh.source
  • 1813May 1–9 – War of 1812: First Siege of Fort Meigs: British allied forces, under General Henry Proctor and Chief Tecumseh, lay siege to the fort but do not capture it.source
  • 1814Treaty of Lircay signed between Royalists and Patriots during the Chilean War of Independence.source
  • 1814The Duke of Provence, the future Louis XVIII, returns to Paris.source
  • 1815Battle of Tolentino: Austria defeats the Kingdom of Naples, which quickly ends the Neapolitan War. Joachim Murat, the defeated King of Naples, is forced to flee to Corsica, and is later executed.source
  • 1820John Joseph Therry and Philip Conolly, the first Catholic priests officially appointed to Australia, arrive at Port Jackson from Ireland.source
  • 1820A plough is used for the first time in New Zealand when John Gare Butler drives a team of six bullocks at Kerikeri.source
  • 1830The Royal Danish Defence College is established by Frederik VI.source
  • 1839May 3 José Antonio Mexía – politician executed in Acajete, Veracruz (born 1800)source
  • 1841New Zealand becomes a separate British colony, having previously been administered as part of the Colony of New South Wales.source
  • 1848The boar-crested Anglo-Saxon Benty Grange helmet is discovered in a barrow on the Benty Grange farm in Derbyshire.source
  • 1849The May Uprising in Dresden, last of the German revolutions of 1848–49, begins. Richard Wagner is among the participants.source
  • 1849The Mississippi River levee at Sauvé's Crevasse breaks, flooding much of New Orleans.source
  • 1849The Mississippi River levee at Sauvé's Crevasse breaks, flooding much of New Orleans, Louisiana.source
  • 1855American adventurer William Walker and a group of armed mercenaries (filibusters) sail from San Francisco in California south to Central America to attempt to conquer Nicaragua.source
  • 1856Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom gives Norfolk Island to the population of the colony at Pitcairn Island, most being descendants of the Mutiny on the Bounty. They first settle on Norfolk Island on June 8. Women's suffrage, as practiced on Pitcairn, is extended to Norfolk Island.source
  • 1863May 1–4 – American Civil War: Battle of Chancellorsville – General Robert E. Lee defeats Union forces with 13,000 Confederate casualties, among them Stonewall Jackson (fatally wounded by friendly fire), and 17,500 Union casualties.source
  • 1866May 1–3 – The Memphis massacre: a rebellion with a series of violent racial events.source
  • 1870Liberian constitutional referendum, 1870source
  • 1873The New Zealand Tablet begins publication in Dunedin. The newspaper was published weekly by the Catholic Church until 1996.source
  • 1887An earthquake hits Sonora, Mexico.source
  • 1897Margaret Cruickshank becomes New Zealand's first registered woman doctor.source
  • 1898The Ugong conferees are rowed upstream in 17 bancas to a part of the Pasig River known as Bitukang Manok. They are welcomed by Valentin Cruz, president of the Sangguinang Bayan of the Katipunan in Pasig. In this big gathering, called Asemblea Magna, Dr. Pio Valenzuela is chosen to see Rizal in Dapitan.source
  • 1900The first Roman Catholic seminary in New Zealand, Holy Cross College, Mosgiel, is established.source
  • 1901The Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, Florida.source
  • 1901The Great Fire of 1901 in Jacksonville, Florida, begins.source
  • 1913Raja Harishchandra, the first full-length Indian feature film, is released, marking the beginning of the Indian film industry.source
  • 1915"In Flanders Fields" is written by Canadian poet John McCrae.source
  • 1916Brazilian merchant ship Rio Branco is sunk by a German submarine. Because the ship is in restricted waters and registered under the British flag, and most of its crew is Norwegian, it is not considered an illegal attack by the Brazilian government, despite public protests.source
  • 1921May 1–7 – Jaffa riots: Riots at Jaffa, Mandatory Palestine result in 47 Jewish and 48 Arab deaths.source
  • 1924The Aleph Zadik Aleph, the oldest Jewish youth fraternity, is founded in Omaha, Nebraska.source
  • 1927A general election and constitutional referendum were held.source
  • 1927The Australasian Council of Trade Unions is formed at the All-Australian Trade Union Congress in Melbourne.source
  • 1927April 22–May 5 – The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 strikes 700,000 people, in the greatest natural disaster in American history through this time.source
  • 1928Jinan incident: An armed conflict between the Imperial Japanese Army (allied with Northern Chinese warlords) and the Kuomintang's southern army occurs in Jinan, China.source
  • 1928Jinan Incident, an armed conflict between the Japanese Imperial Army allied with Northern Chinese warlords against the Kuomintang's southern army, occurs in Jinan.source
  • 1928Jinan Incident: an armed conflict between the Japanese Imperial Army allied with Northern Chinese warlords against the Kuomintang's southern army, occurs in Jinan, eastern China.source
  • 19303 May to 3 November – Exposition internationale held in Liège with simultaneous International Exhibition of Colonies, Shipping and Flemish Art held in Antwerp.source
  • 1933In the Irish Free State, Dáil Éireann abolishes the oath of allegiance to the British Crown.source
  • 1933Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman to be named director of the United States Mint.source
  • 1939Vyacheslav Molotov succeeds Maxim Litvinov, as Soviet Foreign Commissar.source
  • 1945German Protestant theologian Gerhard Kittel is arrested by the French forces in Tübingen, Germany.source
  • 1945The prison ships Cap Arcona (5,000 dead), Thielbek (2,750 dead) and Deutschland (all survive) are sunk by the British Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay.source
  • 1951The U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services and U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations begin their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry S Truman.source
  • 1951King George VI opens the Festival of Britain in London, including the Royal Festival Hall.source
  • 1951George VI opens the Festival of Britain in London, including the Royal Festival Hall, Dome of Discovery and Skylon. This would be the last major public event attended by the King and Queen together. Festival Gardens and a fun fair are opened in Battersea Park and the Lansbury Estate in Poplar is begun this year as a housing showcase.source
  • 1952U.S. lieutenant colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict land a plane at the geographic North Pole.source
  • 1952The first regular jet flight between South Africa and Britain is started with the arrival of a De Havilland Comet with 36 passengers at Johannesburg.source
  • 1962Mikawashima train crash: 160 die in a triple-train disaster near Tokyo.source
  • 1968Braniff Flight 352 crashes near Dawson, Texas, United States, killing all 85 people on board.source
  • 1971Arsenal F.C. wins the English League First Division championship at the home of their bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with Ray Kennedy scoring the winner. (Arsenal will go on to win the league and cup 'double' six days later by defeating Liverpool in the FA Cup final).source
  • 1972Abram Onkgopotse Tiro is expelled from the University of the North and students protest the expulsion.source
  • 1973The Sears Tower in Chicago, United States, is topped-out, becoming the world's tallest building at 1,451 ft.source
  • 1975West Ham United win the FA Cup at Wembley, beating Fulham 2–0 in the final.source
  • 1977Two Palestinians die and six Israelis are injured in an outbreak of unrest on the West Bank sparked by a Gush Emunim announcement that it intended to establish more settlements.source
  • 1979The 1979 United Kingdom general election for the House of Commons takes place, giving the Conservatives a majority, and designating Margaret Thatcher the nation's first woman prime minister, ending the rule of James Callaghan's Labour government.source
  • 1986Representing Luxembourg, Sherisse Laurence finishes third in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 with the song Sherisse Laurence.source
  • 1989Cold War: Perestroika – The first McDonald's restaurant in the USSR begins construction in Moscow. It will open on January 31, 1990.source
  • 1992April 29–May 4 – In Simi Valley, California, a jury acquits four LAPD police officers accused of excessive force in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King, causing the 1992 Los Angeles riots and leading to 53 deaths and $1 billion in damage.source
  • 1994Some scientists at Anhui use the technology of Genetic engineering to successful improve Oryza sativa.source
  • 1995The launch of the first Internet network at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciencessource
  • 19991999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak: a devastating tornado, rated F5 on the Fujita scale, hits southern and eastern Oklahoma City metropolitan area, killing 36 people (and 5 indirectly) and producing the highest winds recorded on Earth: 301 ± 20 mph.source
  • 2006An Armavia plane crashed into the sea while attempting to conduct a go-around following its first approach to Sochi airport, Russia, killing all 113 people on board.source
  • 2007British three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappears in Praia da Luz, Lagos, Portugal, described by The Daily Telegraph as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history".source
  • 2008Cyclone Nargis passes through Myanmar, killing more than 138,000 people.source
  • 2010The European Commission proposes rules for imports of fishery products from Greenland into the EU.source
  • 2013The world's largest rubber duck is moved to Hong Kong.source
  • 2018The separatist group ETA officially announces its final dissolution after 40 years of conflict and more than 800 deaths in Spain.source
  • 2018The 2018 lower Puna eruption causes destruction of structures and forces thousands of residents of Hawaii to evacuate as lava floods the land.source
  • 2019May 3–6 – May 2019 Gaza–Israel clashes: The Gaza–Israel conflict escalates after the Israeli military launches airstrikes into Gaza killing more than 20 Palestinians including a pregnant woman and a toddler following the injury of two soldiers from Gazan sniper fire.source
  • 2019The number of deaths from the Kivu Ebola epidemic exceeds 1,000. It is the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, only surpassed by the Western African Ebola virus epidemic of 2013–2016.source
  • 2020May 3–4 – Venezuelan dissidents and a North American-based private military company, Silvercorp USA, unsuccessfully attempt to infiltrate Venezuela and forcibly remove President Nicolás Maduro from office.source
  • 2023A school shooting occurs in Belgrade, Serbia. A second mass murder occurs the next day near Mladenovac and Smederevo. These events leave 19 people dead, causing the government to increase regulations on gun ownership and mass anti-government protests to begin.source
  • 20232023 Manipur violence: Ethnic violence erupts in the state of Manipur between the Kuki and Meitei people.source
  • 20252025 Australian federal election: The incumbent Labor Party led by Anthony Albanese wins reelection, increasing their majority.source
  • 20252025 Singaporean general election: The incumbent People's Action Party led by Lawrence Wong wins reelection in a landslide, retaining a supermajority government.source

Births

  • 490Kʼan Joy Chitam I, ruler of Palenque (died 565)source
  • 612Constantine III, Byzantine emperor (died 641)source
  • 1217Henry I (the Fat), king of Cyprus (died 1253)source
  • 1238Emilia Bicchieri, Italian nun and prioress (died 1314)source
  • 1276Louis, Count of Évreux, son of Philip III of France (died 1319)source
  • 1415Cecily Neville, English duchess, mother of Edward IV and Richard III of England (died 1495)source
  • 1428Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman (died 1495)source
  • 1446Frederick I of Liegnitz, Duke of Chojnów and Strzelin from 1453 (died 1488)source
  • 1446Margaret of York, duchess consort of Burgundy by marriage to Charles the Bold (died 1503)source
  • 1446Margaret of York, English-born woman married to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (died 1503)source
  • 1461Raffaele Riario, Italian cardinal (died 1521)source
  • 1469Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and political author (died 1527)source
  • 1479Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg (died 1552)source
  • 1481Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez, Spanish abbess of the Franciscan Third Order Regular (died 1534)source
  • 1497Wilhelm IV of Eberstein, President of the Reichskammergericht (died 1562)source
  • 1536Stephan Praetorius, German theologian (died 1603)source
  • 1661Antonio Vallisneri, Italian scientist (died 1730)source
  • 1678Amaro Pargo, Spanish corsair (died 1747)source
  • 1748Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, French cleric, constitutional theorist (died 1836)source
  • 1761August von Kotzebue, German dramatist (died 1819)source
  • 1764Princess Élisabeth of France, sister of Louis XVI (executed 1794)source
  • 1783José de la Riva Agüero, Peruvian soldier and politician, 1st President of Peru and 2nd President of North Peru (died 1858)source
  • 1849Bernhard von Bülow, 8th Chancellor of Germany (died 1929)source
  • 1898Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (died 1978)source
  • 1903Bing Crosby, American singer, actor (died 1977)source
  • 1915Stu Hart, Canadian wrestling trainer (died 2003)source
  • 1919Pete Seeger, American folk singer and musician (died 2014)source
  • 1921Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (died 1989)source
  • 1933James Brown, African-American soul musician (died 2006)source
  • 1974Princess Haya bint Al Husseinsource

Deaths

  • 369Juvenal of Narni, Roman Catholic bishop, confessor and saintsource
  • 678Tōchi, Japanese princesssource
  • 678Princess Tōchi suddenly takes ill and dies within the palace. Tenmu, her father, is unable to sacrifice to the Gods of Heaven and Earth.source
  • 738Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, Mayan ruler (ajaw)source
  • 1090Adelaide of Rheinfelden, queen consort of Hungarysource
  • 1123Felicia of Roucy, queen of Aragon and Navarresource
  • 1152Matilda of Boulogne, queen of Englandsource
  • 1207Fujiwara no Kanezane, Japanese noblemansource
  • 1243Hawise of Chester, English noblewoman (born 1180)source
  • 1257Katherine of England, English princess (born 1253)source
  • 1270Béla IV of Hungary (born 1206)source
  • 1294John I, Duke of Brabantsource
  • 1330Alexios II Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (born 1282)source
  • 1402João Anes, Archbishop of Lisbonsource
  • 1410Antipope Alexander V, (born 1339)source
  • 1480Pedro del Algaba, the Spanish colonial Governor of the Canary Islands, is arrested by Juan Rejón, and is executed on Rejón's orders on May 20.source
  • 1481Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his son, Bayezid II.source
  • 1481Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan (born 1432)source
  • 1489Stanisław Kazimierczyk, Polish canon regular and saint (born 1433)source
  • 1514Anna of Brandenburg, Duchess consort of Schleswig and Holstein (born 1487)source
  • 1534Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez, Spanish abbess of the Franciscan Third Order Regular (born 1481)source
  • 1589Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (born 1528)source
  • 1606Henry Garnet, English Jesuit (executed) (born 1555)source
  • 1663Johan Björnsson Printz, governor of New Sweden (born 1592)source
  • 1679James Sharp, the Church of Scotland's Archbishop of St Andrews, is assassinated at Magus Muir in Fife, when his coach is ambushed by a group of nine of the Scottish Covenanters. Only two of the assassins, David Hackston and Andrew Guillan, are captured.source
  • 1704Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Austrian composer (born 1644)source
  • 1707Michiel de Swaen, Flemish poet (born 1654)source
  • 1719Pierre Le Gros the Younger, sculptor from France (born 1666)source
  • 1733Sir Richard Cox, 1st Baronet, England (born 1650)source
  • 1737James Johnston (secretary of state), diplomat, Secretary of State for Scotland (born 1655)source
  • 1758Pope Benedict XIV (born 1675)source
  • 1763George Psalmanazar, French-born impostor and English writer (born c. 1679)source
  • 1764Francesco Algarotti, Italian philosopher (born 1712)source
  • 1774Heinrich August de la Motte Fouqué, German general (born 1698)source
  • 1784Anthony Benezet, French-born American abolitionist and educator (born 1713)source
  • 1808The Madrid rebels who rose on May 2 are executed near the hill of Príncipe Pío (Goya paints the fight and the execution in 1814).source
  • 1856Adolphe Charles Adam, French composer (born 1803)source
  • 1897Sir Frederick Knight, British politician (born 1812)source
  • 1916May 3–12 - 15 Irish rebel leaders who took part in the Easter Rising in Dublin in April are executed. Among them were Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, Thomas Clarke and William Pearse, brother of Patrick Pearse who had served as a captain rather than a leader.source
  • 1969Zakir Husain, Indian politician, 3rd President of India (born 1897)source
  • 198621 people are killed and 41 are injured in an LTTE bombing of an Air Lanka flight set to fly to the Maldives. The attack was condemned by France and the United Kingdom.source
  • 1987Dalida, 54, Egyptian-born French singer and actress (Bambino, Gondolier), suicide.source
  • 2021Mexico City Metro overpass collapse: 26 people were killed and 98 people were injured when a Mexico City Metro train bridge collapsed when a train passed it.source