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 126th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 240 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is April 22, 2024 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,714,867,200 seconds 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 ‘hectaicosahexagon’ day.
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 269 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 4,153 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
Do people and celebrities interest you? Discover all the May 5 famous birthdays who share your special day. Learn some fun facts about your birthday! (Sponsored link)
May 5 Historical Events
- 1640 –King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.
- 1809 –Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
- 1835 –In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
- 1862 –Cinco de Mayo: troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico.
- 1877 –Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
- 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.
- 1940 –World War II: Norwegian Campaign – Norwegian squads in Hegra Fortress and Vinjesvingen capitulate to the Nazis after all other Norwegian forces in southern Norway had laid down their arms.
- 1987 –Iran-Contra affair: start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States of America
- 1994 –American teenager Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism, a punishment that many in the United States deemed to be excessive for a teenager committing a non-violent crime. However, significant numbers of Americans were also in favor of it.
- 1994 –The signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively freezes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Who were born on May 5?
- 1833 –Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer (d. 1905)
- 1864 –Nellie Bly, American journalist and writer (d. 1922)
- 1937 –Johnnie Taylor, American singer (d. 2000)
- 1942 –Marc Alaimo, American actor
- 1954 –Dave Spector, American television personality and commentator
- 1956 –Robert Marien, Québécois actor, singer and songwriter
- 1957 –Peter Howitt, British actor and film director
- 1959 –Brian Williams, American news anchor
- 1970 –LaPhonso Ellis, American basketball player
- 1978 –Santiago Cabrera, Chilean actor
Who died on May 5?
- 1855 –Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (b. 1786)
- 1859 –Peter Gustav Dirichlet, German mathematician (b. 1805)
- 1900 –Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian painter (b. 1817)
- 1947 –Ty LaForest, Canadian baseball player (b. 1917)
- 1959 –Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878)
- 1965 –Nikos Gounaris, Greek tenor (b. 1915)
- 1977 –Ludwig Erhard, German politician (CDU) and Chancellor of Germany from 1963 until 1966 (b. 1897)
- 1983 –Horst Schumann, Nazi physician (b. 1901)
- 2003 –Sam Bockarie, RUF Rebel commander (b. 1964)
- 2004 –Ritsuko Okazaki, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
Holy Toledo! Did you know that coffee and word games are an excellent combination to sharpen your vocabulary? Let’s give it a quick spin. Within 30 seconds, how many words can you think of from these letters SEUSSUQIS? Check your answers here: Unscramble words SEUSSUQIS. (Sponsored by WordFinder.Cafe)