What are the important events that happened on May 5? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
May 5: Facts & Myths About This Day
May 5 is the 125th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 240 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is April 22, 2025 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 29,106,720 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectaicosapentagon’ day.
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Taurus is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Emerald is the modern birthstone for this month. Sapphire is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 288 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,518 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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May 5 Historical Events
- 553 –The Second Council of Constantinople begins.
- 1640 –King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.
- 1789 –In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614.
- 1860 –Giuseppe Garibaldi sets sail from Genoa, leading the expedition of the Thousand to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and giving birth to the Kingdom of Italy.
- 1864 –American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
- 1904 –Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
- 1936 –Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- 1941 –Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots’ Victory Day.
- 2006 –The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army.
- 2010 –Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek debt crisis.
Who were born on May 5?
- 1747 –Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1792)
- 1901 –Blind Willie McTell, American singer (d. 1959)
- 1931 –Michel Regnier, Belgian comic-book writer (Achille Talon) (d. 1999)
- 1934 –Ace Cannon, American saxophonist
- 1937 –Delia Derbyshire, British electronic music composer (d. 2001)
- 1959 –Johann Gajda, German footballer
- 1965 –Glenn Seton, Australian racing driver
- 1971 –Mike Redmond, American baseball player
- 1983 –Scott Ware, American football player
- 1984 –Wade MacNeil, Canadian guitarist (Alexisonfire)
Who died on May 5?
- 311 –Galerius, Roman Emperor
- 1896 –Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
- 1945 –Peter Van Pels, Jewish Refugee (b. 1926)
- 1965 –Nikos Gounaris, Greek tenor (b. 1915)
- 1971 –Violet Jessop, Titanic survivor (b. 1887)
- 1977 –Ludwig Erhard, German politician (CDU) and Chancellor of Germany from 1963 until 1966 (b. 1897)
- 1994 –Mario Quintana, Brazilian poet (b. 1906)
- 2001 –Raymond Kessler, American midget wrestler
- 2005 –Edgar Ponce, Mexican actor and dancer (b. 1974)
- 2008 –Irv Robbins, Canadian-American entrepreneur (b. 1917)
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