Celebrated in Mexico as Cinco de Mayo, a national holiday in remembrance of the Battle of Puebla in 1862, in which Mexican troops under General Ignacio Zaragoza, outnumbered three to one, defeated the invading French forces of Napoleon III.
EVENTS
- 1260 – Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
- 1862 – Cinco De Mayo: Mexican forces defeat the French.
- 1865 – Decoration Day was first observed in the U.S., with the tradition of decorating soldiers’ graves from the Civil War with flowers. The observance date was later moved to May 30th and included American graves from World War I and World War II, and became better known as Memorial Day. In 1971, Congress moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, thus creating a three-day holiday weekend.
- 1893 – The Wall Street Crash of 1893 began as stock prices fell dramatically. By the end of the year, 600 banks closed and several big railroads were in receivership. Another 15,000 businesses went bankrupt amid 20 percent unemployment. It was the worst economic crisis in U.S. history up to that time.
- 1904 – Cy Young of the Boston Americans threw the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
Cy Young - 1934 – The first “Three Stooges” film is released. The comedy trio soon became famous, especially in the U.S., for their short films featuring slapstick humor.
- 1944 – Mohandas Gandhi is freed from prison.
- 1949 – The Council of Europe is founded. The organization was the first to work for European integration. It has 47 member countries and is a completely separate entity from the European Union (EU).
- 1955 – West Germany regains full sovereignty after World War II. The Federal Republic of Germany had been established in 1949. Its provisional capital was Bonn. After the 1990 reunification of East and West Germany, Berlin was declared the country’s capital.
- 1961 – Alan Shepard became the first American in space. He piloted the spacecraft Freedom 7 during a 15-minute 28-second suborbital flight that reached an altitude of 116 miles (186 kilometers) above the earth. Shepard’s success occurred 23 days after the Russians had launched the first-ever human in space, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, during an era of intense technological competition between the Russians and Americans called the Space Race.
- 1978 – Pete Rose hits his 3000th major league hit.
- 1980 – The British Special Air Service (SAS) terminate the Iranian Embassy siege in London. Six gunmen had held 26 people hostage for six days, demanding the release of Iranian Arab prisoners. Two of the hostages were killed.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1813 – Søren Kierkegaard (Danish philosopher, author)
- 1818 – Karl Marx (Founder of Marxism)
- 1830 – John Batterson Stetson (American businessman, founded the John B (Stetson Company)
- 1864 – Nelly Bly (Journalist)
- 1942 – Tammy Wynette (Country Singer)
Tammy Wynette - 1943 – Michael Palin (English actor, screenwriter)
- 1959 – Brian Williams (News anchor)
- 1988 – Adele (English singer-songwriter, musician)
- 1989 – Chris Brown (Singer)
DEATHS
- 1821 – Napoleon (Corsican/French military officer, political leader)
- 1977 – Ludwig Erhard (German politician, 2nd Chancellor of West Germany)
Ludwig Erhard - 1995 – Mikhail Botvinnik (Russian chess player)
- 2000 – Gino Bartali (Italian cyclist)
- 2013 – Greg Quill (Australian/Canadian singer-songwriter, journalist)
