From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

May 1 is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 244 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
• 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.
• 1328 – Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton – the Kingdom of England recognises the Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state.
• 1576 – Stefan Batory, the reigning Prince of Transylvania, marries Anna Jagiellon and they become the co-rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1707 – The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• 1751 – The first cricket match is played in America.
• 1753 – Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
• 1759 – Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain.
• 1776 – Establishment of the Illuminati in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria), by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt.
• 1778 – American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.
• 1785 – Kamehameha, the king of Hawaiʻi defeats Kalanikupule and establishes the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.
• 1786 – Opening night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna, Austria.
• 1834 – The British colonies abolish slavery.
• 1840 – The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom.
• 1846 – The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple.
• 1848 – The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta is founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
• 1851 – Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition in London.
• 1852 – The Philippine peso is introduced into circulation.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.
• 1865 – The Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance
• 1869 – The Folies Bergère opens in Paris.
• 1875 – Alexandra Palace reopens after the 1873 fire burnt it down.
• 1884 – Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States.
• 1884 – Moses Fleetwood Walker became the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States.
• 1886 – Rallies, that ended in the Haymarket affair, were held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day
• 1893 – The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.
• 1894 – Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C.
• 1898 – Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manila Bay – the United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war.
• 1900 – The Scofield mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.
• 1901 – The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York.
• 1915 – The RMS Lusitania departs from New York City on her two hundred and second, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, rousing American sentiment against Germany.
• 1925 – The All-China Federation of Trade Unions is officially founded. Today it is the largest trade union in the world, with 134 million members.
• 1927 – The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.
• 1927 – The Union Labor Life Insurance Company is founded by the American Federation of Labor.
• 1930 – The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.
• 1931 – The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.
• 1940 – The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war.
• 1941 – World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk.
• 1945 – World War II: A German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany".
• 1945 – The Yougoslav partisans free Trieste.
• 1946 – Start of 3 year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians.
• 1946 – The Paris Peace Conference concludes that the islands of the Dodecanese should be returned to Greece by Italy.
• 1947 – Portella della Ginestra massacre against May Day celebrations in Sicily by the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano; 11 persons were killed and 33 wounded.
• 1948 – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il-sung as president.
• 1950 – Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth.
• 1956 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
• 1956 – A doctor in Japan reports an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease.
• 1960 – Formation of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
• 1960 – Cold War: U-2 incident – Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
• 1961 – The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.
• 1965 – Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between ROC and PRC, takes place.
• 1970 – Protests erupt in Seattle, Washington, following the announcement by U.S. President Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country.
• 1971 – Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service.
• 1977 – 36 people are killed in Taksim Square, Istanbul, during the Labour Day celebrations.
• 1978 – Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
• 1982 – The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.
• 1982 – Operation Black Buck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during Falklands War.
• 1983 – Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis is awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.
• 1987 – Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
• 1989 – Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
• 1990 – The former Philippine Episcopal Church (supervised by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America) was granted full autonomy and raised to the states of an Autocephalous Anglican Province and renamed the Episcopal Church of the Philippines.
• 1991 – Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics steals his 939th base, making him the all-time leader in this category. However, his accomplishment is overshadowed later that evening by Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers, when he pitches his seventh career no-hitter, breaking his own record.
• 1992 – On the third day of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, African-American activist, criminal, and victim of police beating Rodney King appears in public before television news cameras to appeal for calm and plead for peace, asking, "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?".
• 1994 – Three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
• 1995 – Croatian forces launch Operation Flash during the Croatian War of Independence.
• 1997 – Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality.
• 1997 – The 7th Congress of the Communist Youth of Greece starts.
• 2001 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares the existence of "a state of rebellion", hours after thousands of supporters of her arrested predecessor, Joseph Estrada, storm towards the presidential palace at the height of the EDSA III rebellion.
• 2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".
• 2004 – Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.
• 2006 – The Puerto Rican government closes the Department of Education and 42 other government agencies due to significant shortages in cash flow.
• 2007 – the Los Angeles May Day mêlée occurs, in which the Los Angeles Police Department's response to a May Day pro-immigration rally become a matter of controversy.
• 2008 – The London Agreement on translation of European patents, concluded in 2000, enters into force in 14 of the 34 Contracting States to the European Patent Convention.
• 2009 – Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden.

Births

• 1218 – John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257)
• 1218 – Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1291)
• 1225 – Jean de Joinville, French writer (d. 1317)
• 1285 – Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1326)
• 1582 – Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643)
• 1594 – John Haynes, Massachusetts colonial magistrate
• 1672 – Joseph Addison, English politician and writer (d. 1719)
• 1738 – King Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii (d. 1819)
• 1769 – Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Anglo-Irish statesman (d. 1852)
• 1804 – Aleksey Khomyakov, Russian poet (d. 1860)
• 1829 – José de Alencar, Brazilian novelist (d. 1877)
• 1831 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and suffragist (d. 1903)
• 1850 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Governor General of Canada (d. 1942)
• 1851 – Laza Lazarević, Serbian writer and psychiatrist (d. 1891)
• 1852 – Calamity Jane, American Wild West performer (d. 1903)
• 1852 – Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish neuroscientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1934)
• 1857 – Theo Van Gogh, Dutch art dealer (d. 1891)
• 1872 – Sidónio Pais, Portuguese military and politician (d. 1918)
• 1881 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French palaeontologist and philosopher (d. 1955)
• 1884 – Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, British politician, naval officer and racing driver (d. 1964)
• 1885 – Ralph Stackpole, American sculptor, painter (d. 1973)
• 1887 – Alan Gordon Cunningham, British army officer (d. 1983)
• 1896 – Herbert Backe, German Nazi politician (d. 1947)
• 1896 – Mark Wayne Clark, American general (d. 1984)
• 1896 – J. Lawton Collins, American general (d. 1987)
• 1901 – Heinz Eric Roemheld, American film composer (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Antal Szerb, Hungarian author and historian (d. 1945)
• 1905 – Henry Koster, German film director (d. 1988)
• 1905 – Paul Desruisseaux, French Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician (d. 1982)
• 1906 – Horst Schumann, Nazi physician (d. 1983)
• 1907 – Oliver Hill, civil rights attorney (d. 2007)
• 1907 – Kate Smith, American singer (d. 1986)
• 1908 – Giovanni Guareschi, Italian journalist (d. 1968)
• 1909 – Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet, winner of the Lenin Peace Prize, 9 times candidate for the Nobel Prize (d. 1990)
• 1910 – Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Astronomer/Astro-physicist. Noted UFO investigator (d. 1986)
• 1912 – Otto Kretschmer, German U-Boat commander (d. 1998)
• 1913 – Louis Nye, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)
• 1913 – Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (d. 1980)
• 1915 – Archie Williams, American athlete (d. 1993)
• 1916 – Glenn Ford, Canadian actor (d. 2006)
• 1917 – John Beradino, American actor and baseball player (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Danielle Darrieux, French singer and actress
• 1917 – Ahron Soloveichik, Orthodox Jewish rabbi (d. 2001)
• 1918 – Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (d. 1977)
• 1918 – Jack Paar, American television host (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Lewis Hill, American pacifist and founder of Pacifica Radio (d. 1957)
• 1919 – Manna Dey, Indian singer
• 1919 – Dan O'Herlihy, Irish film actor (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Joseph Heller, American novelist (d. 1999)
• 1924 – Art Fleming, American game show host (d. 1995)
• 1924 – Karel Kachyňa, Czech film director (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Terry Southern, American screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1925 – Chuck Bednarik, American football player
• 1925 – Scott Carpenter, American astronaut
• 1926 – Peter Lax, Hungarian Mathematician
• 1928 – Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racer (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German-born sociologist and politician (d. 2009)
• 1929 – Sonny James, American country music singer and songwriter
• 1930 – Richard Riordan, American politician, former mayor of Los Angeles
• 1930 – Little Walter, American blues singer (d. 1995)
• 1934 – Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, Mexican politician
• 1934 – Joan Hackett, American actress (d. 1983)
• 1934 – Shirley Horn, American jazz singer and pianist (d. 2005)
• 1935 – Ann Robinson, American actress
• 1937 – Una Stubbs, English actress
• 1939 – Judy Collins, American folk singer
• 1939 – Max Robinson, American broadcast journalist (d. 1988)
• 1939 – Victor Davies, Canadian composer
• 1940 – Elsa Peretti, Italian jewelry designer
• 1943 – Vassal Gadoengin, Nauruan politician (d. 2004)
• 1944 – Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician
• 1945 – Rita Coolidge, American singer
• 1946 – Joanna Lumley, English actress
• 1946 – John Woo, Hong Kong director
• 1947 – Sergio Infante, Chilean poet and writer
• 1949 – Tim Hodgkinson, English composer and musician (Henry Cow)
• 1949 – Paul Teutul, Sr., founder of Orange County Choppers
• 1950 – Dann Florek, American actor
• 1950 – Danny McGrain, Scottish footballer
• 1951 – Antony Worrall Thompson, English celebrity chef
• 1953 – Glen Ballard, American songwriter and record producer
• 1954 – Ray Parker Jr., American singer and songwriter
• 1954 – Joel Rosenberg, science fiction author
• 1955 – Martin O'Donnell, American composer
• 1955 – Nick Feldman, English musician
• 1956 – Catherine Frot, French actress
• 1957 – Kō Ōtani, Japanese composer
• 1959 – Lawrence Seeff, South African cricketer
• 1960 – Steve Cauthen, American jockey
• 1961 – Marilyn Milian, current judge on The People's Court
• 1962 – Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress
• 1962 – Ted Sundquist, General Manager of the Denver Broncos
• 1964 – Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater
• 1966 – Olaf Thon, German football player
• 1967 – Tim McGraw, American musician
• 1968 – Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer
• 1968 – Sol Kyung-gu, South Korean actor
• 1968 – Denise Masino, American Female Bodybuilder
• 1968 – D'arcy Wretzky, American musician (The Smashing Pumpkins)
• 1969 – Wes Anderson, American director and writer
• 1969 – Billy Owens, American basketball player
• 1971 – Ethan Albright, American football player
• 1971 – Ajith Kumar, Indian film actor
• 1972 – Julie Benz, American actress
• 1973 – Curtis Martin, American football player
• 1973 – Oliver Neuville, German footballer
• 1974 – Kellie Crawford, Australian singer (Hi-5)
• 1975 – Austin Croshere, American basketball player
• 1975 – Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003)
• 1975 – Jodhi May, British actress
• 1975 – Alexei Smertin, Russian footballer
• 1976 – Darius McCrary, American actor
• 1977 – Vera Lischka, Austrian swimmer, politician
• 1978 – Sachie Hara, Japanese actress
• 1978 – Nick Traina, American singer, Link 80 (d. 1997)
• 1979 – Mauro Bergamasco, Italian rugby player
• 1979 – Ben Easter, American actor
• 1979 – Michael Harvey, British musical artist
• 1980 – Jan Heylen, Belgian racing driver
• 1980 – Jay Reatard, American musician
• 1980 – Ana Claudia Talancón, Mexican actress
• 1981 – Derek Asamoah, Ghanaian Footballer
• 1981 – Aliaksandr Hleb, Belarusian footballer
• 1981 – Wes Welker, American football player
• 1982 – Tommy Robredo, Spanish tennis player
• 1982 – Darijo Srna, Croatian football player
• 1983 – The Human Tornado (Craig Williams), American professional wrestler
• 1984 – David Backes, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Patrick Eaves, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Alexander Farnerud, Swedish footballer
• 1984 – Farah Fath, American actress
• 1984 – Keiichiro Koyama, Japanese musician (NEWS)
• 1984 – Mark Seaby, Australian Rules footballer
• 1985 – Drew Sidora, American actress
• 1986 – Adam Casey, Australian footballer
• 1986 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1987 – Marcus Drum, Australian Rules Football
• 1987 – Matt Di Angelo, English Actor
• 1987 – Shahar Pe'er, Israeli tennis player
• 1987 – Glen Coffee, American football player
• 1988 – Anushka Sharma, Indian Actress and Model
• 1988 – Nicholas Braun, American actor
• 1991 – Katie Griffin, Amazing friend and musician
• 1991 – Creagen Dow, American actor
• 1997 – Ariel Gade, American actress

Deaths

• 408 – Arcadius, Eastern Roman emperor (b. 337/338)
• 1118 – Edith of Scotland, first wife of Henry I of England (b. c.1080)
• 1308 – Albert I of Habsburg (murdered) (b. 1255)
• 1539 – Isabella of Portugal, queen of Spain and empress of Germany (b. 1503)
• 1555 – Pope Marcellus II (b. 1501)
• 1572 – Pope Pius V (b. 1504)
• 1731 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German composer (b. 1677)
• 1738 – Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, English statesman (b. c.1669)
• 1772 – Gottfried Achenwall, German statistician (b. 1719)
• 1813 – Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French marshal (killed in combat) (b. 1768)
• 1873 – David Livingstone, Scottish missionary (b. 1813)
• 1899 – Ludwig Büchner, German philosopher and physician (b. 1824)
• 1904 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (b. 1841)
• 1913 – John Barclay Armstrong, Texas Ranger and U.S. Marshal (b. 1850)
• 1920 – Princess Margaret of Connaught (b. 1882)
• 1935 – Henri Pélissier, French cyclist (b. 1889)
• 1937 – Snitz Edwards, American actor (b. 1868)
• 1943 – Johan Oscar Smith, Norweigian Christian leader and founder of Brunstad Christian Church (b. 1871)
• 1945 – Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda (suicide with his wife Magda Goebbels) (b. 1897)
• 1963 – Lope K. Santos, Filipino writer, Father of the Philippine National Language and Grammar (b. 1879)
• 1965 – Spike Jones, American band leader, musician, and comedian (b. 1911)
• 1968 – Harold Nicolson, British diplomat, author and politician (b. 1886)
• 1968 – Jack Adams, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager (b. 1895)
• 1970 – Crown Prince Euimin, Crown Prince Korea (b. 1897)
• 1976 – Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet who fought the military junta in Greece (b. 1939)
• 1976 – T.R.M. Howard, civil rights leader, entrepreneur, surgeon (b. 1908)
• 1978 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (b. 1903)
• 1982 – William Primrose, Scottish violist (b. 1903)
• 1985 – Denise Robins (aka Francesca Wright, Ashley French, Harriet Gray, Julia Kane) British romance novelist (b. 1897)
• 1986 – Hylda Baker, English comedy actress (b. 1905)
• 1986 – Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and record producer (b. 1916)
• 1989 – Sally Kirkland, fashion editor at LIFE (b. 1912)
• 1989 – Douglass Watson, American actor (b. 1921)
• 1990 – Sergio Franchi, Italian tenor (b. 1926)
• 1992 – Sharon Redd, American house music and urban contemporary singer (b. 1945)
• 1993 – Pierre Bérégovoy, French Prime Minister (b. 1925)
• 1993 – Ranasinghe Premadasa, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1924)
• 1994 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver and three-time F1 world champion (b. 1960)
• 1996 – Luana Patten, American Actress (b. 1938)
• 1998 – Eldridge Cleaver, American activist (b. 1935)
• 2000 – Steve Reeves, American actor (b. 1926)
• 2003 – Miss Elizabeth, American wrestler (b. 1960)
• 2006 – Big Hawk, American rapper (b. 1969)
• 2006 – Johnny Paris, American saxophonist (Johnny and the Hurricanes) (b. 1940)
• 2006 – Rob Lacey, Christian Author. (b. 1962)
• 2008 – Anthony Mamo, Malta's first President (b. 1909)
• 2008 – Deborah Jeane Palfrey, Washington, D.C. prostitution service owner (b. 1956)
• 2008 – Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, last surviving member of the July 20 Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944 (b. 1917)
• 2009 – Danny Gans, Canadian-born Las Vegas entertainer (b. 1956)

Holidays and observances

• May Day, Labour Day, International Workers' Day, Day of the International Solidarity of Workers.
• Czech Republic – "National Love Day" – couples tend to flock to the memorial of the poet Karel Hynek Mácha in Prague and kiss.
• Lei Day – Hawaiian holiday for the Lei.
• Beltane, Lá Bealtaine, the first day of Summer in modern Ireland is celebrated by the Celts, and is now also celebrated by Neopagans and Wiccans in the Northern Hemisphere.
• Samhain, is celebrated from sunset on April 30 until sunset on May first by Neopagans and Wiccans in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Kazakhstan – Unity Day.
• Maharashtra Day (Maharashtra Divas) – Maharastra, India.
• Marshall Islands – Constitution Day.
• Northern Europe – Walpurgis Night.
• Roman Empire – all-female festival in honour of Bona Dea.
• Roman Empire – fourth and last day of the Floralia in honour of Flora.
• United States – Law Day, U.S.A., Loyalty Day.
• Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker
• Saint James the Less.
• Saint Philip the Apostle.
• Saint Andeol.
• Saint Asaph
• Saint Brieuc.
• Saint Sigismund of Burgundy.
• Saint Theodulf.
• Saint Augustin Schoeffer
• Maharashtra Day and Gujarat Day in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat respectively to commemorate the formation of the two states.

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On this day in Canada

From Wikiquote

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

The month of May was come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit; for like as herbs and trees bring forth fruit and flourish in May, in likewise every lusty heart that is in any manner a lover, springeth and flourisheth in lusty deeds. For it giveth unto all lovers courage, that lusty month of May. ~ Sir Thomas Malory

• selected by Kalki

2005

"DON'T PANIC"
~ Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

• selected by Kalki

2006

I react pragmatically. Where the market works, I'm for that. Where the government is necessary, I'm for that. I'm deeply suspicious of somebody who says, "I'm in favor of privatization," or, "I'm deeply in favor of public ownership." I'm in favor of whatever works in the particular case. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith (recent death)

• selected by Kalki

2007

A man must be excessively stupid, as well as uncharitable, who believes that there is no virtue but on his own side, and that there are not men as honest as himself who may differ from him in political principles. ~ Joseph Addison

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2008

What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul. ~ Joseph Addison

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2009

When an angel by divine command
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land,
Such as of late o'er pale Britannia past,
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast;
And, pleas'd th' Almighty's orders to perform,
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm.
~ Joseph Addison ~

• proposed by Kalki

2010

Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:

• The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
  • used 15 December 2003, selected by Kalki
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:57, 30 April 2009 (UTC) -->

• Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won. ~ Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
  • used 18 June 2008, proposed on that date as the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815) by Kalki

• The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance. ~ Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
  • used 18 June 2009, proposed on that date by Kalki

Suggestions

Good nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit, and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty. ~ Joseph Addison (born May 1, 1672)

• 3 InvisibleSun 03:59, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 13:12, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 04:50, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

The man who will live above his present circumstances is in great danger of living in a little time much beneath them; or as the Italian proverb runs, "The man who lives by hope, will die by hunger." ~ Joseph Addison

• 3 InvisibleSun 03:59, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 13:12, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 because hope alone is not enough to live, especially under difficult circumstances. Zarbon 04:50, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Nature does nothing without purpose or uselessly. ~ Joseph Addison

• 1 Kalki 20:38, 30 April 2009 (UTC) 3 Kalki 14:00, 30 April 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward an eventual 3 or even a 4, but much prefer a couple other options suggested far above this one, for now.
• 3 InvisibleSun 18:22, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
• 4 Aphaia 19:24, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 because what happens, happens for reason. Zarbon 04:50, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men. ~ Joseph Addison Anonymous

• 3 Kalki 14:00, 30 April 2007 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4. but this seems to be an anonymous proverb, and thus not attributed to Addison.
• 3 InvisibleSun 18:22, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 Aphaia 19:24, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
• 2 Zarbon 04:50, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

A man's first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart, his next to escape the censures of the world. ~ Joseph Addison

• 3 Kalki 14:00, 30 April 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
• 3 InvisibleSun 18:22, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 Aphaia 19:24, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 04:50, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

On you, my lord, with anxious fear I wait,
And from your judgment must expect my fate.
~ Joseph Addison (born May 1, 1672)

• 3 because as the main agenda of Greek philosophy has always been, one can not escape from one's own fate, especially when one does not know one's own fate to begin with. Beautiful. Zarbon 15:08, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 20:03, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 20:38, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

Arguments out of a pretty mouth are unanswerable. ~ Joseph Addison (born May 1, 1672)

• 2 because sometimes it is truly hard to reply to a woman of sheer beauty. Zarbon 15:08, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 20:03, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 20:38, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

Better to die ten thousand deaths,
Than wound my honour.
~ Joseph Addison (born May 1, 1672)

• 4 because dying is nothing compared to destroying or tainting one's honor, and moreso reputation. Zarbon 15:08, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 20:03, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 20:38, 30 April 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 3 — but this can be interpreted with both noble and ignoble senses of the word "honour"

How beautiful is death, when earn'd by virtue!
Who would not be that youth? What pity is it
That we can die but once to serve our country!
~ Joseph Addison (born May 1, 1672)

• 3 because true virtue and loyalty comes from service to one's country. Zarbon 15:08, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 20:03, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 20:38, 30 April 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.

In doing what we ought we deserve no praise,
Because it is our duty.
~ Joseph Addison (born May 1, 1672)

• 3 because this is very true. It is a gift in itself to do one's duty, and rightly so. Zarbon 15:08, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 20:03, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 20:38, 30 April 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.

My death and life,
My bane and antidote, are both before me.
~ Joseph Addison (born May 1, 1672)

• 3 because in some instances, everything flashes before one's eyes, life and death alike, before the end. The comparison of bane and suffering to that of life and the antidote expressed in the form of death is also magnificent. Zarbon 15:08, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 20:03, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 20:38, 30 April 2009 (UTC) but could use more context.

I shall endeavor to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality. ~ Joseph Addison (born May 1, 1672)

• 3 because there is a healthy balance expressed here. I'd go along moreso with tempering the wit with morality though. Zarbon 15:08, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 20:03, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 20:38, 30 April 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.

Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. All we need is to imagine our ability to love developing until it embraces the totality of men and the earth. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

• 1 Zarbon 05:42, 7 April 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 20:38, 30 April 2009 (UTC) though most of this was already used, on 9 December 2004.
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:57, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

We only have to look around us to see how complexity and psychic temperature are still rising: and rising no longer on the scale of the individual but now on that of the planet. This indication is so familiar to us that we cannot but recognize the objective, experiential, reality of a transformation of the planet as a whole. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

• 1 Zarbon 05:42, 7 April 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 20:38, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:57, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

My heart is broken by the terrible loss I have sustained in my old friends and companions and my poor soldiers. Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won. ~ Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

• 3 and lean toward 4. Zarbon 22:55, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 23:02, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 23:53, 30 April 2009 (UTC) I would rank this higher, but the last part of it was already used, on 18 June 2008

I believe I forgot to tell you I was made a Duke. ~ Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

• 2 Zarbon 22:55, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 23:02, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 23:53, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake. ~ Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

• 3 and lean toward 4. Zarbon 22:55, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 23:02, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 23:53, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called "guessing what was at the other side of the hill." ~ Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

• 2 Zarbon 22:55, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 23:02, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 23:53, 30 April 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22. ~Joseph Heller (born May 1, 1923)

• Lyle 13:53, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 08:29, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

• 3 Kalki 08:28, 24 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

Articles detailing events that are related to May 1. This may include the release of games or systems, the founding of a video game related company or some other important event.

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

Game releases

• 2000
  • Daikatana for the Nintendo 64 in Europe

• 1995
  • Knuckles' Chaotix for the Sega 32X in Europe

From Familypedia

May 1 is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 244 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
• 1045 - Gregory VI is appointed Pope.
• 1328 - Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton – England recognises Scotland as an independent nation.
• 1576 - Stefan Batory, the reigning Prince of Transylvania, marries Anna Jagiellon and they become the co-rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1707 - The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• 1751 - The first cricket match is played in America.
• 1753 - Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
• 1776 - Establishment of the Illuminati in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria), by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt.
• 1778 - American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro.
• 1786 - Opening night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna, Italy.
• 1834 - The British colonies abolish slavery.
• 1840 - The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, was issued in the United Kingdom.
• 1848 - The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
• 1851 - The Great Exhibition opens in London by Queen Victoria.
• 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.
• 1869 - The Folies Bergère opens in Paris.
• 1884 - Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States.
• 1886 - The start of the general strike which eventually wins the eight-hour workday in the United States. These events are today commemorated as May Day or Labor Day in most industrialized countries.
• 1893 - The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.
• 1894 - Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manila Bay - The United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war.
• 1900 - The Scofield mine disaster kills 200 in Scofield in the now fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.
• 1901 - The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo.
• 1915 - RMS Lusitania departs New York City on her two hundred and second and final crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, rousing American sentiment against Germany.
• 1925 - The All-China Federation of Trade Unions is officially founded. Today it is the largest trade union in the world, with 134 million members.
• 1927 - The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.
• 1927 - The Union Labor Life Insurance Company is founded by the American Federation of Labor.
• 1930 - The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.
• 1931 - The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.
• 1940 - The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war.
• 1941 - Orson Welles's Citizen Kane premieres in New York City.
• 1941 - World War II: German forces launch Operation Mercury the largest airborne invasion to date in their bid to capture Crete.
• 1941 - World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk.
• 1945 - Soviet troops raise the Soviet Flag over the Reichstag, in Berlin.
• 1945 - A German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany".
• 1946 - Start of 3 year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians.
• 1946 - The Paris Peace Conference decided that the islands of the Dodecanese are to return to Greece by the Italians.
• 1948 - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il-sung as president.
• 1950 - Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth.
• 1956 - The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
• 1956 - A doctor in Japan reports an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease.
• 1960 - Formation of western Indian state,Maharashtra.
• 1960 - Cold War: U-2 Crisis – Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union, sparking off a diplomatic crisis.
• 1961 - The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.
• 1965 - Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between ROC and PRC.
• 1967 - Singer Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas.
• 1970 - Protests erupt in Seattle, following the announcement of President Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country.
• 1971 - Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service.
• 1977 - 36 people was killed in Istanbul, Taksim Square during the Labour Day celebrations.
• 1978 - Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
• 1978 - The first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (which would later become known as "spam") was sent by a DEC marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
• 1982 - The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville.
• 1982 - Baptism by fire of Argentine Air Force during Falklands War.
• 1983 - Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis is awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.
• 1987 - Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
• 1989 - The coat of arms of Greenland is adopted.
• 1989 - Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, United States.
• 1991 - Rickey Henderson would steal his 939th base, making him the all-time leader in this category. However, his accomplishment would be overshadowed later that evening by Nolan Ryan, who would pitch his seventh career no-hitter (breaking his own record).
• 1992 - On the third day of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, African American criminal Rodney King appeared in public before television news cameras to appeal for calm and plead for peace, asking, "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?".
• 1994 - Last day of the standing Spion Kop Grandstand for Liverpool F.C., perhaps the most famous stand in English Football; Three time F1 Drivers' World Champion Ayrton Senna was killed in an accident at the San Marino Grand Prix.
• 1995 - Croatian forces launch Operation Flash during the Croatian War of Independence
• 1997 - Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality.
• 1997 - Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister as the Labour Party wins the British General Election
• 2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, President George W. Bush declares "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" on board USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California.
• 2004 - Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.
• 2006 - The Puerto Rican government closes the Department of Education and 42 other government agencies due to significant shortages in cash flows.
• 2007 - The Los Angeles May Day mêlée occurred, in which the police response to a May Day pro-immigration rally became a matter of controversy.

Births

• 1218 - John I (d. 1257)
• 1218 - Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1291)
• 1285 - Edmund FitzAlan, English politician (d. 1326)
• 1582 - Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643)
• 1594 - John Haynes, Massachusetts colonial magistrate
• 1672 - Joseph Addison, English politician and writer (d. 1719)
• 1769 - Arthur Wellesley, English statesman (d. 1852)
• 1804 - Aleksey Khomyakov, Russian poet (d. 1860)
• 1829 - José de Alencar, Brazilian novelist (d. 1877)
• 1831 - Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and suffragist (d. 1903)
• 1851 - Laza Lazarević, Serbian writer and psychiatrist (d. 1891)
• 1852 - Calamity Jane, American Wild West performer (d. 1903)
• 1852 - Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish neuroscientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1934)
• 1872 - Sidónio Pais, Portuguese military and politician (d. 1918)
• 1881 - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French palaeontologist and philosopher (d. 1955)
• 1884 - Francis Curzon, British politician, naval officer and racing driver (d. 1964)
• 1887 - Alan Gordon Cunningham, British army officer (d. 1983)
• 1896 - Mark Wayne Clark, American general (d. 1984)
• 1896 - J. Lawton Collins, American general (d. 1987)
• 1901 - Heinz Eric Roemheld, American film composer (d. 1985)
• 1901 - Antal Szerb, Hungarian author and historian (d. 1945)
• 1905 - Henry Koster, German film director (d. 1988)
• 1905 - Paul Desruisseaux, French Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician (d. 1982)
• 1906 - Horst Schumann, Nazi physician (d. 1983)
• 1907 - Oliver Hill, civil rights attorney
• 1908 - Giovanni Guareschi, Italian journalist (d. 1968)
• 1909 - Kate Smith, American singer (d. 1986)
• 1909 - Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet, winner of the Lenin Peace Prize, 9 times candidate for the Nobel Prize (d. 1990)
• 1913 - Louis Nye, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)
• 1913 - Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (d. 1980)
• 1915 - Archie Williams, American athlete (d. 1993)
• 1916 - Glenn Ford, Canadian actor (d. 2006)
• 1917 - John Beradino, American actor and baseball player (d. 1996)
• 1917 - Danielle Darrieux, French singer and actress
• 1918 - Jack Paar, American television host (d. 2004)
• 1918 - Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (d. 1977)
• 1919 - Dan O'Herlihy, Irish film actor (d. 2005)
• 1923 - Joseph Heller, American novelist (d. 1999)
• 1924 - Art Fleming, American game show host (d. 1995)
• 1924 - Karel Kachyňa, Czech film director (d. 2004)
• 1924 - Terry Southern, American screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1925 - Chuck Bednarik, American football player
• 1925 - Scott Carpenter, American astronaut
• 1926 - Peter Lax, Hungarian Mathematician
• 1928 - Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racer (d. 2002)
• 1929 - Ralf Dahrendorf, German-born sociologist and politician
• 1929 - Sonny James, American country music singer and songwriter
• 1930 - Richard Riordan, former mayor of Los Angeles
• 1930 - Little Walter, American blues singer (d. 1995)
• 1934 - Joan Hackett, American actress (d. 1983)
• 1934 - Shirley Horn, American jazz singer and pianist (d. 2005)
• 1934 - Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, Mexican politician
• 1935 - Ann Robinson, American actress
• 1937 - Una Stubbs, English actress
• 1939 - Judy Collins, American folk singer
• 1939 - Max Robinson, American broadcast journalist (d. 1988)
• 1940 - Elsa Peretti, Italian jewelry designer
• 1944 - Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician
• 1945 - Rita Coolidge, American singer
• 1946 - Joanna Lumley, English actress
• 1946 - John Woo, Hong Kong director
• 1949 - Tim Hodgkinson, English composer and musician (Henry Cow)
• 1949 - Paul Teutul, founder of Orange County Choppers
• 1950 - Dann Florek, American actor
• 1950 - Danny McGrain, Scottish footballer
• 1951 - Antony Worrall Thompson, English celebrity chef
• 1954 - Ray Parker Jr., American singer and songwriter
• 1954 - Joel Rosenberg, science fiction author
• 1957 - Catherine Frot, French actress
• 1957 - Ko Otani, Japanese composer
• 1960 - Steve Cauthen, American jockey
• 1961 - Marilyn Milian, current judge on The People's Court
• 1962 - Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress
• 1962 - Ted Sundquist, General Manager of the Denver Broncos
• 1964 - Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater
• 1967 - Tim McGraw, American musician
• 1968 - Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer
• 1968 - Sol Kyung-gu, South Korean actor
• 1968 - D'arcy Wretzky, American musician (The Smashing Pumpkins)
• 1969 - Wes Anderson, American director and writer
• 1971 - Ajith Kumar, Indian film actor
• 1973 - Curtis Martin, American football player
• 1973 - Oliver Neuville, German footballer
• 1975 - Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003)
• 1975 - Jodhi May, British actress
• 1975 - Alexei Smertin, Russian footballer
• 1976 - Darius McCrary, American actor
• 1977 - Vera Lischka, Austrian swimmer
• 1977 - Dan Regan, American musician (Reel Big Fish)
• 1979 - Mauro Bergamasco, Italian rugby player
• 1979 - MC Harvey (Michael Harvey), British musical artist
• 1980 - Jan Heylen, Belgian racing driver
• 1981 - Aliaksandr Hleb, Belarusian footballer
• 1981 - Derek Asamoah, Ghanaian Footballer
• 1982 - Tommy Robredo, Spanish tennis player
• 1983 - The Human Tornado (Craig Williams), American professional wrestler
• 1984 - Alexander Farnerud, Swedish footballer
• 1984 - Farah Fath, American actress
• 1985 - Drew Sidora, American actress
• 1986 - Cristian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1986 - Adam Casey, Australian footballer
• 1987 - Shahar Pe'er, Israeli tennis player
• 1988 - Graeme Owens, English footballer
• 1990 - Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress
• 1997 - Ariel Gade, American actress

Deaths

• 408 - Arcadius, Eastern Roman emperor (b. 337/338)
• 1118 - Edith of Scotland, first wife of Henry I of England (b. c. 1080)
• 1308 - Albert I of Habsburg (murdered) (b. 1255)
• 1539 - Isabella of Portugal, queen of Spain and empress of Germany (b. 1503)
• 1555 - Pope Marcellus II (b. 1501)
• 1572 - Pope Pius V (b. 1504)
• 1731 - Johann Ludwig Bach, German composer (b. 1677)
• 1738 - Charles Howard, English statesman (b. c. 1669)
• 1772 - Gottfried Achenwall, German statistician (b. 1719)
• 1813 - Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French marshal (killed in combat) (b. 1768)
• 1873 - David Livingstone, Scottish missionary (b. 1813)
• 1899 - Ludwig Büchner, German philosopher and physician (b. 1824)
• 1904 - Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (b. 1841)
• 1913 - John Barclay Armstrong, Texas Ranger and U.S. Marshal (b. 1850)
• 1935 - Henri Pélissier, French cyclist (b. 1889)
• 1937 - Snitz Edwards, American actor (b. 1868)
• 1943 - Johan Oscar Smith, Norweigian Christian leader and founder of Smith's Friends (b.1871)
• 1945 - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda (suicide with his wife Magda Goebbels) (b. 1897)
• 1965 - Spike Jones, American band leader, musician, and comedian (b. 1911)
• 1968 - Harold Nicolson, British diplomat, author and politician (b. 1886)
• 1968 - Jack Adams, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager (b.1895)
• 1970 - Crown Prince Euimin, Crown Prince Korea (b. 1897)
• 1976 - Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet who fought the military junta in Greece (b. 1939)
• 1976 - T.R.M. Howard, civil rights leader, entrepreneur, surgeon (b. 1908)
• 1978 - Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (b. 1903)
• 1982 - William Primrose, Scottish violist (b. 1903)
• 1986 - Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and record producer (b. 1916)
• 1989 - Sally Kirkland, fashion editor at LIFE (b. 1912)
• 1989 - Douglass Watson, American actor (b. 1921)
• 1990 - Sergio Franchi, Italian tenor (b. 1926)
• 1993 - Pierre Bérégovoy, French Prime Minister (suicide) (b. 1925)
• 1993 - Ranasinghe Premadasa, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1924)
• 1994 - Ayrton Senna, Brazilian three-time Formula One champion (b. 1960)
• 1998 - Eldridge Cleaver, American activist (b. 1935)
• 2000 - Steve Reeves, American actor (b. 1926)
• 2003 - Miss Elizabeth, American wrestler (b. 1960)
• 2006 - Big Hawk, American rapper (b.1969)
• 2006 - Johnny Paris, American saxophonist (Johnny and the Hurricanes) (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances

• May Day, Labour Day, Workers' Day, Day of the International Solidarity of Workers.
• Italy - national holiday (Giorno dei Lavoratori).
• Brazil - national holiday (Dia do Trabalho).
• Switzerland - official feast of Spring.
• Czech Republic - "National Love Day" – couples tend to flock to the memorial of the poet Karel Hynek Mácha in Prague and kiss.
• Lei Day - Hawaiian holiday for the Lei.
• Beltane, Lá Bealtaine, the first day of Summer in modern Ireland was celebrated by the Celts, and is now also celebrated by Neopagans and Wiccans.
• Northern Europe - Walpurgis Night.
• Roman Empire - all-female festival in honour of Bona Dea.
• Roman Empire - fourth and last day of the Floralia in honour of Flora.
• United States - Law Day, Loyalty Day.
• Malta - public holiday (L-Ewwel ta' Mejju (1st May Day), or Jum il-Ħaddiem (Worker's Day)).
• Maharashtra Day (Maharashtra Divas) - Maharastra, India.

Liturgical Feast days

• Saint Joseph the Worker (also known as Saint Joseph's Day).
• Saint James the Less.
• Saint Philip the Apostle.
• Saint Andeol.
• Saint Asaph
• Saint Brieuc.
• Saint Evermaar of Rutten (died 700)
• Saint Jeremiah.
• Saint Sigismund of Burgundy.
• Saint Theodulf.
• Saint Augustin Schoeffer
• Saint Florine

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day

• On this day in Canada