/year

May 6 in history

237 sourced entries recorded on May 6, from 53 BCE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 53 BCEBattle of Carrhae: Romans defeated, and Crassus killed, by Parthians led by General Surena.source
  • 1124Belek Ghazi, Bey of Artuqids was hit and killed by an arrow during the siege of Manbij.source
  • 1312The Council of Vienne (convened in the southeastern French town of Vienne, in the modern-day département of Isère) is closed by Pope Clement V almost seven months after opening on October 16. During its session, the Knights Templar organization was outlawed, the matter of a posthumous trial against the late Pope Boniface VIII was tabled and forgotten about, and a pledge was made to raise tithes and offerings for a new crusade to someday be made against the Muslims. A medieval historian, John of Saint-Victor, writes later that "It was said by many that the council was created for the purpose of extorting money."source
  • 1313In India, Veera Virupaksha Ballala, son and heir of Emperor Veera Ballala III of the Hoysala Empire, returns to the capital, Halebidu (now a ruins in the state of Karnataka), after two years as a hostage. Emperor Ballala III had agreed to leave his son behind at Delhi for two years as part of his surrender to the Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji.source
  • 1373Byzantine co-emperor Andronikos IV Palaiologos allies with Savcı Bey, the son of the Ottoman Sultan Murad I, rebels against his father, John V Palaiologos, for agreeing to let Constantinople become a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, but the rebellion fails.source
  • 1385Gian Galeazzo Visconti leads a coup d'etat against his uncle, Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan and begins conquests to transform Milan into a Duchy, with himself as the Duke of Milan.source
  • 1401The council of the Republic of Venice passes a law prohibiting the Republic's executive, the Doge, from using the state owned official ship, the bucentaur, from being used for private purposes.source
  • 1405Siege of Mercq takes place between France and England during the Hundred Years Warsource
  • 1432Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece is first presented to the public.source
  • 1438Albert becomes King of Bohemia.source
  • 1439Battle of Grotnik: Wladyslaw III's royal army defeats the Hussite rebels, led by Spytko III of Melsztyn, ending the non-Catholic movement in Poland.source
  • 1447In a royal wedding at Lisbon, King Afonso V of Portugal is married to his first cousin, Princess Isabel of Coimbra, when both of them are 15 years old. Isabel is the daughter of Afonso's uncle, Dom Pedro, Duke of Coimbra, who continues to serve as the regent for King Afonso.source
  • 1470Yun Chaun becomes the new Chief State Councillor (Yonguijong, equivalent to a prime minister as head of government) of Korea, when he is appointed by King Seongjong to replace Hong Yunsŏng.source
  • 1516A Category IX earthquake strikes Ragusa in the Republic of Ragusa.source
  • 1523In the Rhineland in Germany, the Knights' War, led by Franz von Sickingen since August 27, is finally put down at Landstuhl by troops of the Holy Roman Empire as the Nanstein Castle falls. Sickingen, mortally wounded in the final battle, dies of his wounds the next day.source
  • 1527Sack of Rome: Spanish and German troops led by the Duke of Bourbon sack Rome, forcing the Medici Pope Clement VII to make peace with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, marking the end of the High Renaissance. The Pope grows a beard in mourning.source
  • 1529The Battle of Ghaghra is fought.source
  • 1536Incan emperor Manco Inca Yupanqui, having on April 18 escaped from imprisonment in Cuzco, begins his revolt against his captors, when his army begins the 10-month Siege of Cuzco against a garrison of Spanish conquistadors and Indian auxiliaries, led by Hernando Pizarro.source
  • 1550Italian Protestant Michelangelo Florio, jailed since 1548 before being brought to trial for and sentenced to death for heresy, escapes from prison and is able flee to France.source
  • 1576The Edict of Beaulieu, negotiated by Monsieur Francois, Duke of Anjou and brother of King Henry III of France, ends the Fifth War of Religion. By the terms of the "Peace of Monsieur" that led to agreement on the Edict, freedom of worship is granted again to the Protestant Hugueonots.source
  • 1594The siege of the Spanish-held city of Coevorden ends after six months as the city surrenders to the Dutch Republic.source
  • 1598King Philip II of Spain announces that his eldest daughter, Isabella Clara Eugenia, will marry Albert of Austria (at the time a Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Toledo), and that the two will jointly govern the Habsburg Netherlands (now Belgium).source
  • 1615The Peace of Tyrnau is signed between Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor, and Gábor Bethlen.source
  • 1622Thirty Years' War: While waiting for the Protestant forces of Christian the Younger of Brunswick to join them, Mansfeld and Georg Friedrich of Baden-Durlach split up their forces as a diversion for the Imperial army of Tilly. Their plan fails, as Tilly manages to cut off Georg Friedrich at Wimpfen. At the ensuing Battle of Wimpfen, Georg Friedrich's army is almost completely destroyed.source
  • 1640the Earl of Warwick, Lord Brooke, Lord Saye, John Pym, John Hampden, and Sir Walter Earle arrested.source
  • 1644Johan Mauritius resigns as Governor of Brazil.source
  • 1646American colonial poet Anne Bradstreet becomes a founding mother of Andover Parish (modern-day North Andover), Massachusetts.source
  • 1659English Army General Hezekiah Haynes, joined by officers Charles Fleetwood, John Lambert, James Berry, Robert Lilburne, Thomas Kelsey, William Goffe and William Packer, presents the manifesto A Declaration of the Officers of the Army, advocating that Lord Protector Cromwell step down after restoring the "Rump Parliament" to administer England. Cromwell restores the parliament rule the next day and decides to step down.source
  • 1675The Siege of Ponda, an action by the Maratha Empire in southern India against the Sultanate of Bijapur, ends after four weeks when the Mughal Empire fails to send reinforcements. Most of the defenders are massacred after Emperor Shivaji's troops storm the fortress in what is now a small city in the Indian state of Goa.source
  • 1680King Charles XI of Sweden marries Princess Elonora, daughter of the late King Frederick III of Denmark-Norway and sister of King Christian V.source
  • 1682while on passage from Portsmouth to Scotland, HMS Gloucester runs aground on a sandbank off the Norfolk coast and sinks. The Duke of York (the future King James II) and John Churchill (the future 1st Duke of Marlborough) are among those saved but at least 120 drown.source
  • 1682Louis XIV of France moves his court to Versailles.source
  • 1686The Treaty of Perpetual Peace (1686) is signed between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, recognizing the former's possession of Left-bank Ukraine and the city of Kiev, as agreed upon in the earlier Treaty of Andrusovo in 1667. The treaty also brings the Tsardom of Russia into the Great Turkish War, on the side of the Holy League of 1684.source
  • 1687Emperor Higashiyama succeeds Emperor Reigen, on the throne of Japan.source
  • 1691The Province of New York establishes the New York Supreme Court as the Supreme Court of Judicature. It is the oldest Supreme Court with general original jurisdiction.source
  • 1691The Spanish Inquisition condemns and forcibly baptizes 219 Xuetas in Palma, Majorca. When 37 try to escape the island, they are burned alive at the stake.source
  • 1697General Bernard Desjean, Baron de Pointis of France carries out an attack and pillaging of the Spanish South American fort of Cartagena de Indias (now in Colombia) with 1,200 soldiers and 650 pirate mercenaries. The French attackers overwhelm the city for the next 18 days. The Baron reneges on a contract to share the wealth with the pirates, who will come back to Cartagena a second time and makes a more violent attack.source
  • 1702Cloudesley Shovell is promoted to full admiral in the English navy.source
  • 1703the last Parliament of Scotland formed in Edinburgh from the general election held the previous year.source
  • 1709The first influx into Britain of poor refugee families of German Palatines from the Rhenish Palatinate arrives in England. Most of them are Protestants en route to the New World colonies.source
  • 1710The South Sea Company begins.source
  • 1713The Parliament of Ireland is dissolved by Queen Anne and new elections are set.source
  • 1728Disenfranchising Act, an Act of the Parliament of Ireland, one of a series of penal laws, prohibiting all Roman Catholics from voting, receives royal assent.source
  • 1741HDMS Elephanten is launched at the Royal Danish Dockyard.source
  • 1742150 houses in the Northamptonshire town of Stony Stratford are consumed by a fire, the second in 6 years.source
  • 1746William Pitt the Elder appointed Paymaster of the Forces and Henry Fox appointed Secretary at War.source
  • 1757Seven Years' War: Battle of Prague – Frederick the Great defeats an Austrian army, and begins to besiege the city.source
  • 1757Seven Years' War – Battle of Prague: The Prussians under Frederick the Great defeats an Austrian army and begins to besiege the city of Prague.source
  • 1757asylum confinement of Christopher Smart: poet Christopher Smart is confined to St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics in London.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
  • 1795introduction of Speenhamland system of outdoor relief for the poor (originally by magistrates meeting at the Pelican Inn, Speenhamland, Berkshire).source
  • 1796Napoleon Bonaparte forms an advanced guard (3,500 infantry and 1,500 cavalry) under General Claude Dallemagne. He sends this force along the south bank of the Po River, to cross it with boats at Piacenza.source
  • 1801French Revolutionary Wars: Action of 6 May 1801 off Barcelona – British Royal Navy brig HMS Speedy, although outmanned and outgunned, captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.source
  • 1802William Herschel coins the term asteroid and on 1 July first uses the term binary star to refer to a star which revolves around another.source
  • 1806The first Welsh language version of the New Testament issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society is published.source
  • 1807Mozart's Don Juan is performed in Copenhagen for the first time, with Édouard Du Puy in the title role.source
  • 1808Ferdinand VII is forced to abdicate as King of Spain by Napoleon. This effectively ends the Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1808) as the United Kingdom allies with Spain and Portugal against the French in the Peninsular War.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
  • 1820failure of Newport's Bank in Waterford.source
  • 1822The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1822 opens at Somerset House. The exhibition is noted for portraits by Thomas Lawrence and David Wilkie's Chelsea Pensioners Reading the Waterloo Dispatchsource
  • 1829The patent for an instrument called the accordion is applied for by Cyrill Demian (officially approved on May 23).source
  • 1829The Cymmrodorion hold an eisteddfod in London.source
  • 1831The Battle of Balakot took place which saw the Sikh forces under prince Sher Singh defeat the Mujahideen under Syed Ahmad Barelvi at Balakot.source
  • 1833The Ottoman Empire promulgates a firman ratifying the Peace Agreement of Kütahya, bringing an end to the Egyptian-Ottoman War.source
  • 1833In Alexandria, Virginia, an attack is made on U.S. President Andrew Jackson.source
  • 1833In Germany, Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Weber obtain permission to build an electromagnetic telegraph in Göttingen.source
  • 1833Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Weber obtain permission to build an electromagnetic telegraph in Göttingen.source
  • 1835James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.source
  • 1840Postage stamps come into use.source
  • 1842May 5–8 – The Great fire of Hamburg in Germany destroys around one-third of the city centre and kills 51.source
  • 1846Work begins on Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, designed by Jean-Pierre Cluysenaarsource
  • 1851John Gorrie of Apalachicola, Florida is granted Patent No. 8080 for a machine to make ice.source
  • 1854May 5–15 – Hokkien–Teochew Riots in Singapore.source
  • 1857Samuel Roberts (S. R.) sails for Tennessee.source
  • 1860Expedition of the Thousand: Giuseppe Garibaldi and his troops depart from Quarto.source
  • 1861Arkansas secedes from the Union.source
  • 1863HDMS Rolf Krake is launched at Nyholm in Copenhagen.source
  • 1869May 4–10 – Naval Battle of Hakodate: The Imperial Japanese Navy defeats adherents of the Tokugawa shogunate.source
  • 1869Purdue University is founded in West Lafayette, Indiana.source
  • 1875Ernest Giles and party leave South Australia for an overland expedition to Perth, they arrive on 10 November.source
  • 1877Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to U.S. troops in Nebraska.source
  • 1882North Sea Fisheries Convention signed, to come into effect in 1884.source
  • 1882The Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting the immigration of Chinese laborers, is the first law which restricts immigration into the United States.source
  • 1882The Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting the immigration of Chinese laborers, is the first significant law that restricts immigration into the U.S.source
  • 1882Phoenix Park Murders in Ireland: Lord Frederick Cavendish, the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Thomas Henry Burke, his Permanent Undersecretary, are fatally stabbed in Phoenix Park, Dublin, by members of the Irish National Invincibles (militant Irish republicans).source
  • 1882Phoenix Park Murders: Lord Frederick Cavendish, the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Thomas Henry Burke, his Permanent Undersecretary (the primary target), are fatally stabbed in Phoenix Park, Dublin, by members of the "Irish National Invincibles" (militant Irish republicans).source
  • 1882Phoenix Park Murders in Ireland: Lord Frederick Cavendish, the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Thomas Henry Burke, his Permanent Undersecretary, are fatally stabbed in Phoenix Park, Dublin, by members of the "Irish National Invincibles" (militant Irish republicans).source
  • 1889The Exposition Universelle opens in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower as its entrance arch. The Galerie des machines, at 111 m, spans the longest interior space in the world at this time. The Exposition, which marks the centenary of the French Revolution, runs until October 31.source
  • 1891Itata Incident: the steamer Itata is detained in San Diego on orders of United States State Department official John W. Fostersource
  • 1897John Jacob Abel announces the successful isolation of epinephrine (adrenaline), in a paper read before the Association of American Physicians.source
  • 1898The paddle steamer Maitland sinks near Broken Bay, drowning 24 people.source
  • 1902Qulusi-Zulu chief Sikhobobo with a 300-strong impi attacks Field-cornet Potgieter and 70 Boers while sleeping, leaving 56 Burghers and 52 Zulus dead in the Battle of Holkrans.source
  • 1906The first Targa Florio, an open road endurance automobile race, starts in the mountains of Sicily near Palermo. The race was initiated by Vincenzo Florio and is considered to be the oldest sports car racing event.source
  • 1910George V becomes King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland upon the death of his father, Edward VII.source
  • 1913May 6–22 – The Italian rider Carlo Oriani wins the 5th Giro d'Italia stage bicycle race.source
  • 1915Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: SY Auroras drift – The SY Aurora breaks loose from its anchorage during a gale, beginning a 312-day ordeal.source
  • 1921The German-Soviet Provisional Agreement is signed: Germany recognises the Soviet government in the RSFSR.source
  • 1921May 1–7 – Jaffa riots: Riots at Jaffa, Mandatory Palestine result in 47 Jewish and 48 Arab deaths.source
  • 1924James Craig refuses to nominate a Northern Ireland representative to the Boundary Commission.source
  • 1930China signed tariff treaties with Japan. The Republic of China government obtained itself right of tariff autonomy. Some Japanese goods do not need to pay tariffs.source
  • 1932The politically powerful General Kurt von Schleicher meets secretly with Adolf Hitler. Schleicher tells Hitler that he is scheming to bring down the Brüning government in Germany and asks for Nazi support of the new "presidential government" Schleicher is planning to form. Schleicher and Hitler negotiate a "gentlemen's agreement" where in exchange for lifting the ban on the SA and SS and having the Reichstag dissolved for early elections this summer, the Nazis will support Schleicher's new chancellor.source
  • 1937Historic radio link up to cover the arrival of Airship Hindenburg at New Jersey (and hence its destruction by fire). This is probably the first direct international radio broadcast of this nature from such a distance.source
  • 1937Hindenburg disaster: In the United States, the German airship Hindenburg bursts into flame when mooring to a mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Of the 36 passengers and 61 crew on board, 13 passengers and 22 crew die, as well as one member of the ground crew.source
  • 1937Hindenburg disaster: In the United States, the German airship Hindenburg bursts into flame when mooring to a mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirteen passengers, 22 crew and one member of the ground crew were killed.source
  • 1937Hindenburg disaster: The German airship Hindenburg bursts into flame when mooring to a mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey.source
  • 1939German anti-Nazi Carl Friedrich Goerdeler tells the British government that the German and Soviet governments are secretly beginning a rapprochement, with the aim of dividing Eastern Europe between them. Goerdeler also informs the British of German economic problems which he states threaten the survival of the Nazi regime, and advises that if a firm stand is made for Poland, then Hitler will be deterred from war.source
  • 1941At California's March Field, entertainer Bob Hope performs his first USO Show.source
  • 1943WWII: Six U-boats are sunk, after sinking 12 ships from Convoy ONS 5, in the last major North Atlantic U-boat "wolfpack" attack of the war.source
  • 1943Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo visits the Philippines. A ceremony is held in Luneta in thanksgiving to the great Japanese Empire.source
  • 1945May 6–7 – The government of the Independent State of Croatia, the Nazi-affiliated fascist puppet state established in occupied Yugoslavia, flees Zagreb for a location near Klagenfurt in Austria, but is captured in the Bleiburg repatriations, leading to mass executions.source
  • 1945Mildred Gillars ("Axis Sally") delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (the first was on December 11, 1941).source
  • 1949EDSAC, the first practicable stored-program computer, runs its first program at Cambridge University.source
  • 1950Cazin rebellion in Bosnia against Communist agrarian reforms.source
  • 1952Farouk of Egypt has himself announced as a descendant of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.source
  • 1954Roger Bannister runs the first sub-four minute mile, in Oxford, England.source
  • 1955The Western European Union Charter becomes effective.source
  • 1958Margaret Rheeder is hanged in Pretoria for poisoning her husband, Benjamin Fredenman.source
  • 1960United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960 into law.source
  • 1961Constitution Commission, appointed by President Ayub Khan, presents its report, specifying pinpoints the failures of parliamentary government in Pakistan.source
  • 1962Antonio Segni is elected President of the Italian Republic.source
  • 1962Luang Namtha is abandoned by Lao Royal Forces, ending the Battle of Luang Namtha.source
  • 1962A test of a W47 warhead fired from a Polaris missile – the only time a nuclear missile has been test fired with its warhead detonated – occurs near Palmyra Atoll south of Hawaii.source
  • 1963Switzerland joins the Council of Europe.source
  • 1966The Moors murders trial ends in the UK with Ian Brady being found guilty on all three counts of murder and sentenced to three concurrent terms of life imprisonment. Myra Hindley is convicted on two counts of murder and of being an accessory in the third murder committed by Brady, receiving two concurrent terms of life imprisonment and a seven-year fixed term for being an accessory.source
  • 1967Zakir Husain is the first Muslim to become president of India.source
  • 1967Hong Kong 1967 riots: Clashes between striking workers and police kill 51 and injure 800.source
  • 1970Arms Crisis in the Republic of Ireland: Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney are dismissed as members of the Irish Government for accusations of their involvement in a plot to import arms for use by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.source
  • 1970Arms Crisis in the Republic of Ireland: The Minister for Finance, Charles Haughey, and the Minister for Agriculture, Neil Blaney, are asked to resign by Taoiseach Jack Lynch. He accuses them of the attempted illegal importation of arms for use by the Provisional IRA. Kevin Boland, the Minister for Local Government, resigns in sympathy with them.source
  • 1974A law concerning industrial relations is passed, requiring all firms employing more than 150 people to have 'Mixed Committees' to represent employees.source
  • 1976An earthquake hits the Friuli area in Italy, killing more than 900 people and making another 100,000 homeless.source
  • 1979In the Austrian legislative election, the country's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in government.source
  • 1980Thozamile Botha, a Port Elizabeth activist, breaks his banning order and escapes to Maseru, Lesotho.source
  • 1981Citing Libya's support of international terrorism, the United States ordered the closure of the Libyan Embassy in Washington, D.C. Ambassador Ali Houderi was summoned to the U.S. State Department, and told to withdraw the 27 diplomats and their families within one week. The U.S. Embassy in Libya had closed in 1980. Diplomatic relations were restored in 2004.source
  • 1981A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., from among 1,421 other entries.source
  • 1982Thaksin bridge is opened by the King and Queen.source
  • 1983Stern magazine publishes the "Hitler Diaries" (which are later found to be forgeries).source
  • 1990More than 1,200,000 people form a human chain along the Prut River, on a length of 700 km. For six hours, Romanians were allowed to cross the Prut River in the Moldavian SSR without passports and visas.source
  • 1991In the U.S., Time magazine publishes "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power," an article highly critical of the Scientology movement.source
  • 1992A powerful F4 tornado strikes the small village of Estación López in Buenos Aires Province. Ninety percent of the village's structures are destroyed, as vehicles are tossed hundreds of meters, along with four fatalities. It stands as one of the strongest tornadoes recorded in Argentina and the Southern Hemisphere.source
  • 1994The Channel Tunnel, which took 15,000 workers more than seven years to complete, officially opens between England and France; it will enable passengers to travel by rail between the two countries in 35 minutes.source
  • 1998A large Eritrean mechanized force enters Badme in Tigray Region, Ethiopia, resulting in the Eritrean–Ethiopian War.source
  • 1998May 5–6 - landslides in Campania, Italy kill 161source
  • 2003John Paul II visits Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, becoming the first pope ever to enter a mosque.source
  • 2005Burkinabe presidential election, 2005source
  • 20072007 French presidential election: Nicolas Sarkozy is elected President of France in the second round.source
  • 2009The Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall marked the upcoming 200th anniversary of Frédéric Chopin.source
  • 2010The 2010 United Kingdom general election results in a hung parliament, with the Conservative Party twenty seats short of a majority.source
  • 2010The 2010 flash crash, a trillion-dollar stock market crash, occurs over 36 minutes, initiated by a series of automated trading programs in a feedback loop.source
  • 2012Legislative elections are held in Greece to elect all 300 members of the Hellenic Parliament and the New Democracy party led by Antonis Samaras, comes out as the largest party winning 108 out of 300 seats.source
  • 2014Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014: The song "Wild Soul" by Cristina Scarlat is sung representing Moldova in the semi-finals of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, but fails to score enough points to move on to the finals.source
  • 2014May 6–10 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is won by Austrian entrant Conchita Wurst with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix".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
  • 2019Syrian civil war: The Syrian Army launches a major ground offensive against one of the last rebel strongholds in the country.source
  • 2019In its first report since 2005, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warns that biodiversity loss is "accelerating", with over a million species now threatened with extinction; the decline of the natural living world is "unprecedented" and largely a result of human actions, according to the report.source
  • 2020Astronomers announce the discovery of the first black hole located in a star system visible to the naked eye.source
  • 20222022 monkeypox outbreak: An outbreak of monkeypox begins when the first monkeypox virus case is reported in London, the United Kingdom.source
  • 2023The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is held in Westminster Abbey, London.source
  • 2023Coronation of Charles III as King of Papua New Guinea and the other Commonwealth realms. Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae attend the ceremony in London.source
  • 20252025 German federal election: Friedrich Merz is elected Chancellor of Germany in the second round of parliamentary voting, hours after being defeated in the first round, a first in post-WWII German history.source

Births

  • 973Henry II, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (died 1024)source
  • 1212Constance, margravine of Meissen (died 1243)source
  • 1262John Hastings, English nobleman and knight (died 1313)source
  • 1405George Kastrioti, better known as Skanderbeg, Albanian national hero (died 1468) (probable date)source
  • 1464Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Polish princess (died 1512)source
  • 1493Girolamo Seripando, Catholic cardinal (died 1563)source
  • 1501Pope Marcellus II (died 1555)source
  • 1574Pope Innocent X (died 1655)source
  • 1580Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (died 1637)source
  • 1635Johann Joachim Becher, German chemist (died 1682)source
  • 1705William Morris, botanist, one of the Morris brothers of Anglesey (died 1763)source
  • 1742Jean Senebier, Swiss pastor, botanist (died 1809)source
  • 1758Maximilien Robespierre, French revolutionary (died 1794)source
  • 1758André Masséna, Napoleonic general, Marshal of France (died 1817)source
  • 1812Madame Restell, American abortion provider (died 1878)source
  • 1856Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist (died 1939)source
  • 1856Robert Peary, American Arctic explorer (died 1920)source
  • 1860Eliodoro Yáñez (died 1932)source
  • 1875William D. Leahy, American admiral (died 1959)source
  • 1880Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside, British field marshal (died 1959)source
  • 1895Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (died 1926)source
  • 1915Orson Welles, American actor and director (died 1985)source
  • 1931Willie Mays, African-American baseball player (died 2024)source
  • 1953Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdomsource
  • 1998Luigi Mangione, perpetrator of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompsonsource

Deaths

  • 53 BCEPublius Licinius Crassus, son of Marcus Licinius Crassus — executed after the Battle of Carrhaesource
  • 53 BCEMarcus Licinius Crassus, Roman politician and general — executed after the Battle of Carrhaesource
  • 223Cao Ren (or Zixiao), Chinese general (born 168)source
  • 698Eadberht, bishop of Lindisfarnesource
  • 850Emperor Ninmyō dies after a 17-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Montoku, as the 55th emperor of Japan.source
  • 850Ninmyō, emperor of Japan (born 808)source
  • 932Qian Liu, Chinese warlord and king (born 852)source
  • 988Dirk II, count of Frisia and Hollandsource
  • 1002Ealdwulf, archbishop of Yorksource
  • 1052Boniface III, Italian prince and margrave (assassinated)source
  • 1074Dúnán (or Donat(us)), 1st bishop of Dublinsource
  • 1170Lope Díaz I de Haro, Castilian nobleman (born 1105)source
  • 1187Ruben III (or Roupen), Armenian ruler (born 1145)source
  • 1210Conrad II, Margrave of Lusatia, German nobleman and knight (born 1159)source
  • 1218Theresa of Portugal, countess of Flanderssource
  • 1225John of Fountains, English prelate and bishopsource
  • 1236Roger of Wendover, English Benedictine monk and chronicler, dies at St Albans Abbey. His chronicle is continued by Matthew Paris.source
  • 1236Roger of Wendover, English monk and chroniclersource
  • 1256Peter Nolasco, French religious leader (born 1189)source
  • 1275Marie of Brienne, Latin empress and regent (born 1224)source
  • 1446Georges de La Trémoille, courtier (born 1382)source
  • 1458At Bidar in India, the Sultan of Bahmani, dies after a reign of 22 years and is succeeded by his son, Humayun Shah Zalim Bahmani.source
  • 1483Queen Jeonghui, Korean regent (born 1418)source
  • 1502James Tyrrell, English knight, alleged murderer of the princes in the Tower (executed) (born c. 1450)source
  • 1527Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne (born 1490)source
  • 1540Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (born 1492)source
  • 1579François de Montmorency, 2nd Duke of Montmorency, French nobleman (born 1530)source
  • 1579François de Montmorency, French noble, governor of Île de France and 2nd Duke of Montmorency. (b.1530)source
  • 1596Giaches de Wert, Flemish composer (born 1535)source
  • 1631Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English politician (born 1570)source
  • 1638Gaj Singh of Marwar, Raja of Marwar Kingdom (born 1595)source
  • 1687Daniel Danielsen Knoff, civil servant and politician (born 1614).source
  • 1703John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl (born 1631)source
  • 1708François de Laval, first bishop of New France (born 1623)source
  • 1708François de Laval, 1st Bishop of Quebec (born 1623)source
  • 1743Andrew Michael Ramsay, English Freemason (born 1686)source
  • 1796Adolph Freiherr Knigge, German writer, Freemason (born 1752)source
  • 1839John Batman, Australian grazier, entrepreneur, and explorer (born 1801)source
  • 1840Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, Russian aristocrat, priest (born 1770)source
  • 1840Francisco de Paula Santander, President of Colombia (born 1792)source
  • 1859Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and geographer (born 1769)source
  • 1862Henry David Thoreau, American author, philosopher (born 1817)source
  • 1870Sir James Young Simpson, Scottish physician, researcher (born 1811)source
  • 1873José Antonio Páez, first president of Venezuela (born 1790)source
  • 1884Judah P. Benjamin, American politician, US senator from Louisiana, Cabinet officer of the Confederate States (born 1811)source
  • 1910King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (born 1841)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
  • 1930The 7.1 Mw Salmas earthquake shakes northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent); up to 3,000 people are killed.source
  • 1932Paul Gorguloff shoots French president Paul Doumer in Paris; Doumer dies the next day.source
  • 1952Maria Montessori, Italian educator (born 1870)source
  • 2013Giulio Andreotti, 94, Italian politician, Prime Minister (1972–1973, 1976–1979, 1989–1992), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1983–1989) and Lifetime Senator (since 1991).source
  • 2019Seymour Nurse, 85, cricketer (West Indies cricket team)source