Famous Events For May 1 – Today In History

May 1: Today in History – Historical Events

Early Centuries – May 1 Historic Events – Before the 1700s

1. 1st May 1006: Chinese and Egyptians observe a Supernova in Constellation Lupus.
2. 1st May 1048: Bishop Bernold flees St Paterskerk to Utrecht Neth.
3. 1st May 1328: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, the Kingdom of England recognizes the Kingdom of Scotland as an Independent State, ending the War of Scottish Independence.
4. 1st May 1523: Danish king Christian III arrives at Veere.
5. 1st May 1544: Turkish troops occupy Hungary today.

6. 1st May 1625: Salvador was today recaptured by Portuguese and Spanish expeditions.
7. 1st May 1625: Prince Fredrick Henry was today appointed as Viceroy of Holland.
8. 1st May 1682: Louis XIV and his court inaugurate the Paris Observatory today.

18th Century – What Happened on May 1 – The 1700s

9. 1st May 1703: The Russians were beaten by the Swedish army at the Battle of Rultusk.
10. 1st May 1704: The first newspaper advertisement was published today by the Boston Newsletter.
11. 1st May 1707: The Acts of the Union came into force today in England and Scotland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
12. 1st May 1715: Prussia declares war on Sweden.
13. 1st May 1751: The first American cricket match is played today.
14. 1st May 1753: The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature adopted the publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus and the formal start date of plant taxonomy.

15. 1st May 1756: France and Austria signed an alliance today.
16. 1st May 1759: The British fleet captures Guadeloupe from France and occupies it in the West Indies.
17. 1st May 1776: The Secret Society of Illuminati was today founded by Adam Weishaupt.
18. 1st May 1781: Emperor Jozef II decrees the protection of the population.

19th Century – May 1 This Day That Year – The 1800s

19. 1st May 1811: The first emigrant wagon train leaves Independence, Missouri, for California.
20. 1st May 1840: “Penny Blacks”, the first self-adhesive postage stamp was issued in Great Britain.
21. 1st May 1886: A general strike in the United States for an 8-hour work day begins today.
22. 1st May 1898: US Admiral George Dewey commands “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley” as the US rout the Spanish fleet in Manila.

20th Century – Important Events On This Day May 1st – The 1900s

23. 1st May 1915: The RMS Lusitania departed today on her 202nd crossing of the Atlantic. Six days later she was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland. 1198 people lost their lives.
24. 1st May 1925: Field Marshall Hindenburg, a right-wing conservative was today elected President of Germany.
25. 1st May 1931: Gangster Al Capone is being sought by detectives in Chicago for questioning over the murder of Mike De Pike Hitler, a member of a rival gang.
26. 1st May 1931: The Empire State Building opened today in New York City.
27. 1st May 1937: America today strengthens the Neutrality Act. This act was passed first in 1935 and was amended in 1936. It caters to an arms embargo on countries engaged in war, loans, or credits to countries at war. It is now amended stating “all trade with countries involved in war should be on a cash and carry basis”.
28. 1st May 1941: The first feature film acted and directed by Orson Welles “Citizen Kane” premiered today in New York.
29. 1st May 1941: The first “Code Talkers”, Navajo Indians, who can provide unbreakable combat voice communication code, are specially recruited by the Marines to serve in their standard communication units in the Pacific Theater.

30. 1st May 1942: The leader of the Free French Military Resistance Movement based in London, Charles De Gaulle is rallying troops in support to help keep up the fight for freedom of his French compatriots.
31. 1st May 1960: In India, Bombay State split into Maharashtra and Gujarat.
32. 1st May 1960: The Soviet Union today shot down an American spy plane U-2 over the Soviet Union near Sverdlovsk. Garry Powers, the pilot of the U-2 plane was captured which resulted in the continuing deterioration of relations between the US and the Soviet Union.
33. 1st May 1961: Author Harper Lee was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
34. 1st May 1961: Castro bans elections in Cuba. He told the Cubans that revolution has no time for elections and told the large gathering attending the Mayday Celebrations that Cuba is a Socialist Country.

35. 1st May 1961: The first US aircraft was hijacked in Cuba.
36. 1st May 1962: The first Kmart department store opened in Michigan today. Kmart went through a rapid expansion in the 80s. Growing competition from Walmart and Target stores and a lack of investment in technology forced the merger of Kmart with Sears Roebuck and Company.
37. 1st May 1962: The first underground nuclear experiment was conducted in the Sahara today.
38. 1st May 1965: Fierce fighting happened on the streets of Dominica between the local forces and the US paratroopers despite the ceasefire having been agreed upon and signed.
39. 1st May 1967: Film actor and singer Elvis Presley today married his long-time girlfriend Priscilla Ann Beaulieu at the Aladdin Hotel in Los Vegas.
40. 1st May 1967: Anastasio Somoza Debayle became the President of Nicaragua today.
41. 1st May 1971: Amtrak today went into service providing intercity passenger train service.
42. 1st May 1973: About 1.5 million workers responded to and joined the one-day strike call given by the TUC in the UK in protest against the government’s pay restraint policy and price rises. The transport industry was the worst hit.
43. 1st May 1977: A 100,000-strong May Day protest turned into a gunfight between rival leftist groups. About 33 people perished in the gunfight.

44. 1st May 1978: Naomi Uemura, today became the first to reach the North Pole over land.
45. 1st May 1979: Singer Eton Jones becomes the first Pop Star to perform in Israel.
46. 1st May 1979: Marshall Island in the Pacific becomes self-governing.
47. 1st May 1980: Larry Gatlin and Crystal Gayle won the 15 Academy Country Music Awards.
48. 1st May 1981: Tennis Legend Billy Jane Kind today acknowledges having a lesbian relationship with Merlyn Barnett. She was the first prominent sportsperson to come out.
49. 1st May 1982: The 1982 World Fair opened in Knoxville Tennessee, with the theme “Energy Turns the World”. During its seven months over 11 million people visited the fair.
50. 1st May 1982: As war broke out over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands after it was invaded by Argentina, British bombers bombed Argentinean positions at Port Stanley on the Islands.
51. 1st May 1984: Great Britain today performed a nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site.
52. 1st May 1984: Musician Mick Fleetwood today filed for bankruptcy.
53. 1st May 1985: US President Ronald Reagan today ended the embargo on Nicaragua.
54. 1st May 1985: Two firemen were killed in Brussels in a communist bomb attack today.
55. 1st May 1986: The expedition of Will Sager reaches the North Pole today.

56. 1st May 1986: The mishap in the Chornobyl power plant was today reported by the Russian news agency Tass.
57. 1st May 1987: Pope John Paul today beatifies Edith Stein a Jewish born Nun.
58. 1st May 1988: Three British soldiers were killed and three more were wounded in two IRA attacks near Roermond, Netherlands.
59. 1st May 1989: In the case of Price Waterhouse Vs Hopkins, the US Supreme Court ruled that employers have the legal burden to prove non-discriminatory reasons for not hiring or promoting.
60. 1st May 1991: This day marks the end of the Angolan Civil War.
61. 1st May 1991: West Indian cricketer Gordon Greenidge will retire from test cricket today,
62. 1st May 1992: Racial riots erupted over the beating of Rodney King. LA Dodgers postponed 3 games due to riots.

63. 1st May 1992: Eric Huston kills four in California High School, where he failed in history four years ago.
64. 1st May 1993: There was a bomb attack on the Sri Lankan President. 26 people died in the attack.
65. 1st May 1994: Sandra Palmer wins the LPGA Sprint Senior Challenge Golf Tournament.
66. 1st May 1994: Ayrton Senna, the Formula One driver of Argentina was killed in a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, near Bologna in Italy.
67. 1st May 1994: “My Fair Lady” closes at Virginia Theater in New York City after 165 performances.
68. 1st May 1995: Steve Waugh today has 200 runs for Australia against West Indies at Sabina Park.
69. 1st May 1995: During the Croatian War of Independence, Croatian forces launched Operation Flash today.
70. 1st May 1997: In the elections in Britain, the Labor Party led by Tony Blair won a landslide victory ending 20 years of Conservative rule.
71. 1st May 1997: Tasmania today decriminalizes homosexuality. It became the last state in Australia to do so.
72. 1st May 1999: In the 125th Kentucky Derby, Chris Antley aboard Charismatic wins in 2:03.29.

21st Century – May 1 This Day In History – The 2000s

73. 1st May 2000: After thousands of supporters of her arrested predecessor President Joseph Estrada stormed towards the Presidential Palace, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines declared the existence of a “State of Rebellion”.
74. 1st May 2000: Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli today sang for Pope John Paul II in Rome.
75. 1st May 2001: In the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing by the members of the Ku Klux Klan group, Thomas E Blanton Jr. was convicted today. He became the second member of the gang to be convicted.
76. 1st May 2003: President George Bush on board of USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California, in a speech to the Nation announced that major combat in Iraq was over.
77. 1st May 2004: Stewart Elliot astride Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby in 2:04.06.
78. 1st May 2004: Today Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined the European Union. They celebrated the occasion at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.
79. 1st May 2005: The US has been monitoring the military test being carried out by North Korea. It is reported that the North Korean military fired several short-range missiles into the sea.
80. 1st May 2006: The Puerto Rican government today closed down the Department of Education and 42 other government agencies due to a cash crunch.
81. 1st May 2006: Hispanic immigrants in the USA skipped work and took to the streets protesting against the immigration reform proposals. Schools and businesses, mostly by immigrants were closed.

82. 1st May 2006: President Evo Morales of Bolivia, today signed a decree nationalizing hydrocarbons including natural gas. He ordered the military to secure the energy installations and gave six months for the present operators to renegotiate the contract with the government.
83. 1st May 2007: Police across the United Kingdom and Europe arrested Animal Rights Extremists. Police believe that this group is planning to commit or already committed crimes such as burglary and blackmail.
84. 1st May 2008: Australia is facing extreme drought and now suffering the worst drought with people terming it as “Big Dry”. There was a 50% drop in the wheat production.
85. 1st May 2008: China today imposed a ban on smoking in public places and most public buildings. This step was taken to improve the Chinese capital city of Beijing ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
86. 1st May 2009: The Swiss bank UBS today refused to share information with the Internal Revenue Service in the United States of more than 50,000 customers who are said to be hiding billions of dollars in taxes in Swiss bank accounts.
87. 1st May 2009: Carol Ann Duffy was today appointed Poet Laureate. She was the first Scott woman Laureate.
88. 1st May 2009: Sweden today legalized same-sex marriage.
89. 1st May 2010: Expo 2010 opened in the 5.28 Sq Km site in Shanghai China, which is the largest World Fair site.
90. 1st May 2010: A car bomb that was planted in Times Square in New York City failed to go off.
91. 1st May 2010: Pope Benedict today ordered that the Legionaries of Christ, a Catholic order founded by Mexican priest Marcial Maciel, be purified.
92. 1st May 2011: Pope John Paul II today beatified his successor Pope Benedict XVI.
93. 1st May 2012: A $15 billion trade deal was signed today by Russia and China.
94. 1st May 2012: Thousands of people gathered in New York, Oakland, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Chicago to peacefully protest for International Workers Day.
95. 1st May 2013: A digital camera that can mimic insect eyes was created today.
96. 1st May 2013: There was a multiple bomb attack in Iraq which killed 15 people.
97. 1st May 2013: Heavy rains in the desert country of Saudi Arabia flooded the plains and valleys, causing flash floods. The rain was the heaviest to hit Saudi Arabia in 25 years. 16 people were killed in the floods.
98. 1st May 2014: Hundreds of people march through the streets of the Nigerian capital demanding the release of school girls who were abducted by Boko Haram, an Islamic group who are opposed to Western education.
99. 1st May 2015: Expo 2015 opened today in Milan.
100. 1st May 2017: In the world snooker championship at Crucible Theater in Sheffield, Mark Selby of Britain defends his title beating John Higgins 18-15.

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