✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 125th day of the year

May 5

A look at May 5 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Søren Kierkegaard and Karl Marx, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♉ZodiacTaurus ◈BirthstoneEmerald ❀Birth flowerLily of the Valley
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2023

    World Health Organization

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

    Specialized agency of the
  2. 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.

    2007 aviation accident in
  3. 1994

    Caning of Michael Fay

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

    1993–1994 Singaporean judicial sentence
  4. 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.

    Protests against police killings
  5. 1961

    Project Mercury

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

    Initial American crewed spaceflight
  6. 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.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  7. 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.

    Player who pitches the
  8. 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.

    Concert venue in Manhattan,
  9. 1864

    American Civil War

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

    1861–1865 conflict in the
  10. 1654

    Cromwell's Act of Grace

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

    1654 act of the
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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, British actress
  • 1977Ludwig Erhard, German economist and politician, Chancellor of Germany
  • 1859Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician and academic
  • 1827Frederick Augustus I of Saxony, Ruler of Saxony from 1763 to 1827
  • 1821Napoleon, French general and emperor
  • 1194Casimir II the Just, Polish son of Bolesław III Wrymouth

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

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