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
- 1260 –Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
- 1809 –The Swiss canton of Aargau denies citizenship to Jews.
- 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.
- 1866 –Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York.
- 1925 –Scopes Trial: serving of an arrest warrant on John T. Scopes for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
- 1925 –The government of South Africa declares Afrikaans an official language
- 1940 –World War II: Norwegian refugees form a government-in-exile in London
- 1941 –Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots’ Victory Day.
- 1944 –German troops execute 216 civilians in the village of Kleisoura in Greece
- 1987 –Iran-Contra affair: start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States of America
Who were born on May 5?
- 1864 –Nellie Bly, American journalist and writer (d. 1922)
- 1890 –Christopher Morley, American writer (d. 1957)
- 1911 –Andor Lilienthal, Hungarian chess grandmaster (d. 2010)
- 1935 –Robert Rehme, American film producer
- 1940 –Michael Lindsay-Hogg, American film director
- 1959 –Johann Gajda, German footballer
- 1966 –Shawn Drover, Canadian drummer (Megadeth)
- 1967 –Takehito Koyasu, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
- 1970 –LaPhonso Ellis, American basketball player
- 1985 –Marcos Rogério, Brazilian footballer
Who died on May 5?
- 1028 –King Alfonso V of Castile, León, and Galicia (b. 994)
- 1808 –Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist (b. 1757)
- 1833 –Sophia Campbell, Australian artist (b. 1777)
- 1855 –Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (b. 1786)
- 1896 –Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
- 1921 –Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1864)
- 1985 –Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
- 1995 –Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player, grandmaster and world champion (b. 1911)
- 2003 –Walter Sisulu, South African activist (b. 1912)
- 2008 –Irv Robbins, Canadian-American entrepreneur (b. 1917)
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