Date·Lore

On This Day · The 125th day of the year

May 5

May 5 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1654 and 2023. Cromwell's Act of Grace, aimed at reconciliation with the Scots, proclaimed in Edinburgh.

♉ZodiacTaurus ◈BirthstoneEmerald ❀Birth flowerLily of the Valley

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on May 5?

May 5 is the 125th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1654 and 2023. Famous people born on May 5 include Søren Kierkegaard, Karl Marx and John Rhys-Davies.

The shape of the day

May 5's record stretches 369 years, from 1654 to 2023. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

Taurus is the sign for May 5 — read more on the Taurus page, or see May's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on May 5

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • Game Motorslice
  • Game Rune Dice

2022

  • Game Citizen Sleeper
  • Game Trek to Yomi
  • TV Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1654

    Cromwell's Act of Grace

    Cromwell's Act of Grace, aimed at reconciliation with the Scots, proclaimed in Edinburgh.

  2. 1864

    American Civil War

    American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County.

  3. 1891

    Carnegie Hall

    The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.

  4. 1904

    Pitcher

    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.

  5. 1940

    World War II

    World War II: Norwegian campaign: Norwegian squads in Hegra Fortress and Vinjesvingen capitulate to German forces after all other Norwegian forces in southern Norway had laid down their arms.

  6. 1961

    Project Mercury

    Project Mercury: Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight.

  7. 1991

    1991 Washington, D.C., riot

    A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man.

  8. 1994

    Caning of Michael Fay

    American teenager Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism.

  9. 2007

    Kenya Airways Flight 507

    Kenya Airways Flight 507 crashes after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, killing all 114 aboard, making it the deadliest aircraft disaster in Cameroon.

  10. 2023

    World Health Organization

    The World Health Organization declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency.

Famous birthday twins

Born on May 5

Søren Kierkegaard

b. 1813

Danish philosopher and author

Karl Marx

b. 1818

German philosopher, sociologist, and journalist

John Rhys-Davies

b. 1944

Welsh actor and screenwriter

Adele

b. 1988

English singer-songwriter

Delia Derbyshire

b. 1937

English musician, arranger and composer

Elsie Eaves

b. 1898

American engineer

Henryk Sienkiewicz

b. 1846

Polish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate

Rupert, King of the Romans

b. 1352

Count Palatine of the Rhine

Deaths

  • 2011Dana Wynter
  • 1977Ludwig Erhard
  • 1859Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
  • 1827Frederick Augustus I of Saxony
  • 1821Napoleon
  • 1194Casimir II the Just

Holidays & observances

  • —Children's Day (Japan, South Korea)
  • —Christian feast day: Angelus of Jerusalem
  • —Christian feast day: Aventinus of Tours
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Caterina Cittadini
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice
  • —Christian feast day: Frederick the Wise (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
  • —Christian feast day: Gotthard of Hildesheim
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Grzegorz Bolesław Frąckowiak

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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