What happened on May 5th?
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| Year | What happened? |
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| 1260 | The Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire Learn more.. |
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| 1640 | The English Short Parliament rises, foreshadowing the English Civil War Learn more.. |
| 1646 | Charles I surrenders to the Scottish Army at Newark Learn more.. |
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| 1760 | First use of hangman's drop and the last nobleman to be executed (Laurence, Earl Ferrers) at Tyburn Learn more.. |
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| 1773 | John Harrison, when he was 80 years old, finally receives the last of his monetary award from Parliament for his naval longitude clock which solved the longitude problem Learn more.. |
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| 1789 | The French Estates General meets for the first time in 175 years - it is generally considered to be the start of the French Revolution Learn more.. |
| 1792 | Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre is commissioned to measure the meridian between Dunkerque to Rodez to calculate the accurate length of the metre Learn more.. |
| 1795 | Great Britain passes a tax on hair powder - a fee of 1 guinea a year, leading to a decline in its use Learn more.. |
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| 1809 | Mary Kies is the first woman too be issued a US patent - for the process of weaving straw with silk in the hat-making industry Learn more.. |
| 1813 | Danish religious philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, regarded as the founder of existentialist philosophy, is born in Copenhagen Learn more.. |
| 1818 | Communism founder Karl Marx was born in Treves, Germany. Learn more.. |
| 1821 | Napoleon Bonaparte dies on St Helena Learn more.. |
| 1830 | John Batterson Stetson, inventor of the cowboy hat, is born in City of Orange, New Jersey Learn more.. |
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| 1862 | The Battle of Puebla May in which Mexico defeated the invading French forces of Napoleon III. Learn more.. |
| 1870 | The British and Foreign Society for Improving the Embossed Literature of the Blind adopts Braille as best format for blind people Learn more.. |
| 1877 | Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army Learn more.. |
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| 1891 | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky conducts the New York Music Society Orchestra at the opening of the New York City Music Hall (now Carnegie Hall) Learn more.. |
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| 1908 | The Great White Fleet (16 battleships, all painted white) arrives in San Francisco after 14 months of sailing around the world to help establish a global presence for the U.S. Navy Learn more.. |
| 1912 | The Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda is first published Learn more.. |
| 1920 | US President Woodrow Wilson makes the Communist Labor Party illegal Learn more.. |
| 1921 | Perfume Chanel No. 5 is released by fashion designer Coco Chanel Learn more.. |
| 1925 | Afrikaans is established as an official language in South Africa Learn more.. |
| Dayton teacher John T. Scopes is arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee Learn more.. | |
| 1927 | English author Virginia Woolf publishes To the Lighthouse, one of her most successful and accessible experiments in the stream-of-consciousness style Learn more.. |
| Dmitri Shostakovich's 1st Symphony premieres in Berlin Learn more.. | |
| 1934 | The first Three Stooges film is released Learn more.. |
| 1936 | First flight of the Supermarine Spitfire Learn more.. |
| 1940 | The Norwegian government-in-exile forms in London Learn more.. |
| 1941 | Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie returns triumphantly to Addis Ababa marking the re-establishment of the Solomonic Dynasty and an independent Ethiopia Learn more.. |
| 1943 | Michael Palin, famous as 'the nice one' in the Monty Python team, is born in Ranmoor, Sheffield Learn more.. |
| 1945 | While on a picnic on Gearhart Mountain, Oregon, six people are killed after a Japanese balloon bomb explodes Learn more.. |
| The Battle for Castle Itter takes place in Tirol, Austria - U.S. soldiers and renegade German troops fighting side by side against a Waffen-SS assault Learn more.. | |
| 1949 | The first organisation to work for European integration, the Council of Europe, is founded with 47 members Learn more.. |
| 1952 | The Americans, British, and French issued a proclamation declaring an end to the nearly 10-year military occupation of West Germany Learn more.. |
| 1955 | The Federal Republic of Germany gains full sovereignty - its provisional capital is Bonn Learn more.. |
| 1961 | Alan Shepard became the first American in space. Learn more.. |
| 1962 | The West Side Story soundtrack album goes to number one on the Billboard album charts for 54 weeks - 20 weeks longer than any other album Learn more.. |
| 1967 | The first all-British satellite 'Ariel 3’ is launched Learn more.. |
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| 1980 | 8 SAS troops storm Iranian Embassy in London to free hostages Learn more.. |
| 1981 | After 66 days on hunger strike, 26-year-old Provisional IRA member and British MP Bobby Sands dies in Prison Maze Learn more.. |
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| 2018 | An electric cigarette explodes killing a man in St. Petersburg, Florida, the first recorded death from a vaping product Learn more.. |
| 2025 | Today |
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