May 1......

May 1 is the 121st (122nd in leap years) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 244 days remaining in the year on this date.

Best Liberal Quote of the Day: On Diversity and Pluralism "Diversity...is not polite accommodation. Instead, diversity is, in action, the sometimes painful awareness that other people, other races, other voices, other habits of mind, have as much integrity of being, as much claim on the world as you do." — William Chase

Stupidest Quote from the Right for the Day: On Meanness "If you've seen one city slum, you've seen them all." — Spiro T. Agnew, Richard Nixon's vice president

Thought for the day: "Do not clog intellect's sluices with knowledge of questionable uses."

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}

EVENTS

● 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.

● 408 - Theodosius II succeeded to the throne of Constantinople.

● 1006 - Supernova observed by Chinese & Egyptians in constellation Lupus

● 1045 - Gregory VI is appointed Pope.

● 1048 - Bishop Bernold flees St Pieterskerk for Utrecht Netherlands

● 1308 - King Albert was murdered by his nephew John, because he refused his share of the Habsburg lands.

● 1328 - Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton – England recognizes Scotland as an independent nation.

● 1394 - Ekiho, exorcised the Zen temple & its surroundings from an old badger

● 1486 - Christopher Columbus convinced Queen Isabella to fund an expedition to the West Indies.

● 1501 - In his encyclical "Ad ea quae circa decorem," Pope Alexander VI sanctioned the Minim Friars, a religious order founded by Francis of Paola (1416-1507) in 1435.

● 1523 - Danish king Christian III arrives in Veere

● 1528 - Pánfilo the Narvaéz begins exploration to with 350 men to Florida

● 1544 - Turkish troops occupy Hungary

● 1551 - Council of Trente resumes

● 1576 - Stefan Batory, the reigning Prince of Transylvania, marries Anna Jagiellon and they become the co-rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

● 1598 - Jacob van Necks merchant fleet departs for Java

● 1625 - Portuguese & Spanish expedition recaptures Salvador (Bahia)

● 1625 - Prince Frederik Henry appointed viceroy of Holland

● 1654 - "Under penalty of death, no Irish man, woman, or child, is to let himself, herself, itself be found east of the River Shannon." An Order from the Parliament of England.

● 1682 - Louis XIV & his court inaugurate Paris Observatory

● 1703 - Battle at Rultusk: Swedish army beats Russians

● 1707 - The Act of Union joins England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

● 1711 - Arch duke Karel of Austria/Hungarian rebellion sign Peace of Szatmar

● 1715 - Prussia declares war on Sweden

● 1725 - Spain & Austria sign trade treaty

● 1740 - English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in his journal: 'Lord, show that Thou dost love me, by humbling and keeping me humble as long as I live. The means I leave to Thee.'

● 1751 - America’s first cricket tournament was held in New York City.

● 1753 - Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.

● 1757 - Austria & France divide Prussia

● 1759 - British fleet occupies Guadeloupe, West-Indies, on France

● 1776 - Adam Weishaupt founds the secret society of Illuminati

● 1778 - American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.

● 1781 - Emperor Jozef II decrees protection of population

● 1805 - The state of Virginia passed a law requiring all freed slaves to leave the state, or risk either imprisonment or deportation.

● 1822 - John Phillips becomes 1st mayor of Boston

● 1830 - Birth of Irish-American anti-war activist and labor organizer Mary Harris, better known as Mother Jones. Cork, Ireland.

● 1834 - Belgian parliament accept railway laws

● 1834 - The British colonies abolish slavery.

● 1840 - 1st adhesive postage stamps ("Penny Blacks" from England) issued

● 1841 - 1st emigrant wagon train leaves Independence MO for California

● 1844 - Samuel Morse sends 1st telegraphic message

● 1844 - Whig convention nominates Henry Clay as presidential candidate

● 1845 - At a convention in Louisville, KY, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South was organized as a new denomination, separate from its parent, the Methodist Episcopal Church.

● 1846 - Ida Pfeiffer (48) begins trip around world

● 1849 - Chief Patkanim and the Snoqualmie tribe attack Hudson's Bay Co.'s Fort Nisqually, Wash.

● 1850 - John Geary becomes 1st San Fransisco mayor

● 1853 - Argentina adopts its constitution

● 1854 - Amsterdam begins transferring drinking water out of the dunes

● 1857 - William Walker, conqueror of Nicaragua, surrenders to US Navy

● 1860 - Wrong place, wrong time - A colt is killed by a meteorite, New Concord, Ohio.

● 1861 - Lee orders Confederate troops under T J Jackson to Harper's Ferry

● 1862 - Union captain David Farragut conquers New Orleans

● 1863 - In Virginia, the Battle of Chancellorsville began. General Robert E. Lee's forces began fighting with Union troops under General Joseph Hooker. Confederate General Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by his own soldiers in this battle. A total of 29,000 injured or dead. (May 1-4)

● 1863 - Battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi

● 1863 - Confederate "National Flag" replaces "Stars & Bars"

● 1863 - Confederate congress passed resolution to kill black soldiers

● 1864 - Atlanta campaign, Georgia

● 1864 - Battle at Alexandria LA (Red River Campaign)

● 1864 - Wilderness campaign

● 1866 - Beginning this day for three days, white Democrats and police attack freedmen and white allies in Memphis; 48 are killed.

● 1866 - American Equal Rights Association forms

● 1867 - Howard University chartered

● 1867 - Reconstruction of South begins, black voter registration

● 1869 - A colt is reported killed by a meteorite near New Concord OH

● 1873 - 1st US postal card issued

● 1875 - 238 members of "Whiskey Ring" accused of anti-US activities

● 1877 - U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes withdrew all Federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction.

● 1884 - Construction begins on Chicago's 1st skyscraper (10 stories)

● 1884 - Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States

● 1885 - Maria "Goeie Mie" Swanenburg sentence to life for killing 27 in Netherlands

● 1886 - International Workers' Day (May Day) begins in Chicago. 340,000 U.S. workers in Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities strike for the eight-hour workday. Four demonstrators are killed and over 200 wounded when police attack the Chicago rally. U.S. later sets another day as Labor Day to undercut world solidarity.

● 1886 - The start of the general strike which eventually wins the eight-hour workday in the United States. These events are today commemorated as May Day or Labor Day in most industrialized countries.

● 1889 - 1st International Workers Day, according to the 2nd International

● 1889 - Bayer introduces aspirin in powder form (Germany)

● 1890 - May Day labor demonstrations spread to thirteen other countries; 30,000 march in Chicago as the newly prominent American Federation of Labor throws its weight behind the eight-hour day campaign.

● 1892 - US Quarantine Station opens on Angel Island, San Fransisco Bay

● 1894 - Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington D.C..

● 1898 - Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manila Bay - George Dewey commands, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley" as the United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war.

● 1900 - The Scofield mine disaster kills 200 in Scofield, Utah in the now fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.

● 1901 - The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York.

● 1905 - In New York, radium was tested as a cure for cancer.

● 1907 - Kate Smith, the American singer who was considered the "first lady of radio," was born.

● 1907 - Belgian Government of De Trooz forms

● 1907 - Indian Mine Laws passes (concessions from Netherlands-Indies)

● 1908 - World's most intense rain shower (2.47" in 3 minutes) at Portobelo Panamá

● 1909 - Netherlands begins unity with Belgium

● 1912 - In London's Kensington Gardens, a statue of Peter Pan was erected.

● 1914 - China's 1st president Yuan Shikai wins dictatorial qualification

● 1915 - German submarine sinks US ship Gulflight

● 1915 - RMS Lusitania departs New York City on her two hundred and second and final crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later the ship was torpedoed off the Irish coast with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, rousing American sentiment against Germany.

● 1919 - Germany - "Red Bavaria" suppressed, 600 die.

● 1919 - Mount Kelud (Indonesia) erupts, boiling crater lake which broke through crater wall killing 5,000 people in 104 small villages

● 1920 - Belgian-Luxembourg toll tunnel opens

● 1921 - Drusian sultan Pasja al-Atrasj elected Governor of Suwayda

● 1924 - Admiral Paul Koundouriótis becomes President of Greece

● 1925 - Cyprus becomes a British Crown Colony

● 1925 - The All-China Federation of Trade Unions is officially founded. Today it is the largest trade union in the world, with 134 million members.

● 1926 - British coal-miners go on strike

● 1927 - Adolf Hitler held his first Nazi meeting in Berlin.

● 1927 - 1st British airliner to serve cooked meals (Imperial Airways)

● 1927 - The Union Labor Life Insurance Company is founded by the American Federation of Labor.

● 1928 - 6 children die & 10 injured by hailstones in Klausenburg, Romania

● 1928 - Drunken fascist Erich Wichman attacks VARA-radio transmitter

● 1928 - Lei Day begun (a Hawaiian celebration)

● 1929 - Farm workers strike begins in East-Groningen

● 1929 - Police kill 19 Mayday demonstrators in Berlin

● 1930 - The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.

● 1931 - The Empire State Building in New York was dedicated and opened. It was 102 stories tall and was the tallest building in the world at the time.

● 1931 - Norway claims Peter I Island

● 1932 - 1st Suriname union congress at Paramaribo

● 1933 - The first issue of "The Catholic Worker" was published. Founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, the monthly newspaper promoted social reconstruction through shared farming and housing for the urban poor.

● 1934 - Austria signs pact with Vatican

● 1934 - Philippine legislature accepts US proposal for independence

● 1934 - Water state kingdom dismisses NSB-leader Anton Mussert

● 1935 - Boulder Dam completed

● 1935 - Canada's 1st silver dollar is circulated

● 1936 - Emperor Haile Selassie leaves Ethiopia as Italian invades

● 1936 - FBI's J Edgar Hoover arrests Alvin Karpis

● 1937 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed an act of neutrality, keeping the United States out of World War II. {At least officially and for a while.}

● 1939 - "Back to the Bible Broadcast" was launched by founder Theodore Epp, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Today, over 600 radio stations nationwide carry the program.

● 1940 - The Lodz ghetto, containing 160,000 Jews, is sealed off.

● 1940 - 140 Palestinian Jews die as German planes bomb their ship

● 1941 - Orson Welles's Citizen Kane premieres in New York City

● 1941 - World War II: German forces launch Operation Mercury the largest airborne invasion to date in their bid to capture Crete.

● 1941 - World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk.

● 1942 - Radio Orange calls to defy order to wear "Jewish star"

● 1943 - 1st edition of illegal "The Free Artist" appears in Amsterdam

● 1943 - Food rationing begins in US

● 1943 - German plane sinks boat loaded with Palestinian Jews bound for Malta

● 1943 - German Wehrmacht deployed in order to break Dutch strikes

● 1943 - Rauter signs unofficial death sentence

● 1944 - Messerschmitt Me-262 Sturmvogel, first operational jet aircraft (twin-jet fighter), makes 1st flight

● 1944 - Surprise attack on Weteringschans Amsterdam, fails

● 1945 - 900 occupiers of Demmin Vorpommeren commit suicide

● 1945 - Admiral Karl Doenitz succeeded Hitler as leader of the Third Reich. This was one day after Hitler committed suicide.

● 1945 - Australian & Dutch troops lands on Tarakan

● 1945 - General Belgian Labor Union (ABVV) party forms

● 1945 - Martin Bormann, private secretary to Adolf Hitler, escaped from the Fuehrerbunker as the Red Army advanced on Berlin.

● 1945 - Radio Budapest, Hungary re-enters shortwave broadcasting after WWII

● 1945 - Seys-Inquart flees to Flensburg

● 1945 - Soviet army reach Rostock

● 1945 - Soviet troops raise the Soviet Flag over the Reichstag, in Berlin

● 1946 - Start of 3 year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians.

● 1946 - The Paris Peace Conference decides that the islands of the Dodecanese are returned to Greece by the Italians.

● 1946 - Fieldmarshal Montgomery appointed British supreme commander

● 1947 - Lieutenant General Hoyt S Vandenberg, USA, ends term as 2nd head of CIA

● 1947 - Radar for commercial & private planes 1st demonstrated

● 1947 - Rear Admiral Roscoe H Hillenkoetter, USN, becomes 3th director of the CIA

● 1948 - Glenn Taylor, Idaho Senator, arrested in Birmingham AL for trying to enter a meeting through a door marked "for Negroes"

● 1948 - Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Auspicia quaedam

● 1948 - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il Sung as president.

● 1949 - Gerard Kuiper discovers Nereid, (2nd satellite of Neptune)

● 1950 - General strike against South African repression.

● 1950 - Mayor of Brussels reluctantly bans May Day parade

● 1950 - New marriage laws enforced in People's Republic China

● 1950 - Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth.

● 1951 - 600,000 march for peace & freedom in Germany

● 1951 - Dutch Reformed Church introduces new church choir

● 1952 - Marines take part in an atomic explosion training in Nevada

● 1954 - Bishops publish Mandement (member socialist organization forbidden)

● 1954 - HSA-UWC Established (Unification Church) (The Moonies)

● 1956 - The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.

● 1956 - A doctor in Japan reports an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease

● 1957 - US give Poland credit of $95 million

● 1957 - Vanguard TV-1 booster test reaches 195 km

● 1958 - Ambonese rebellion bombed Ambon/conquer Morotai

● 1958 - Crew of protest ship "Golden Rule" is arrested by U.S. Navy in nuclear test zone, South Pacific.

● 1958 - Arturo Frondizi sworn in as President of Argentina

● 1958 - James Van Allen reported that two radiation belts encircled Earth.

● 1959 - West Germany introduces 5 day work week

● 1960 - India's Bombay state split into Gujarat & Maharashtra states

● 1960 - Cold War: U-2 Crisis – Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union, sparking off a diplomatic crisis.

● 1961 - 1st US airplane hijacked to Cuba

● 1961 - Fidel Castro announces there will be no more elections in Cuba saying, "The revolution has no time for elections."

● 1961 - Tanganyika granted full internal self-government by Britain

● 1962 - Local council meeting disrupted by protest over civil defense, Dartford, Kent, Britain.

● 1962 - 1st French underground nuclear experiment in the Sahara

● 1962 - France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria

● 1962 - JFK authorizes Area Redevelopment Act (ARA)

● 1963 - 1st American (James Whittaker) conquers Mount Everest

● 1963 - Indonesia takes control of Irian Jaya (west New Guinea) from Netherlands

● 1964 - 1st BASIC program runs on a computer (Dartmouth)

● 1965 - USSR launches Luna 5; later impacts on Moon

● 1965 - Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between ROC and PRC.

● 1966 - Five hundred thousand Vietnamese march for end of war.

● 1966 - Last British concert by the Beatles (Empire Pool in Wembley)

● 1966 - Radio RSA, South Africa begins shortwave transmitting

● 1966 - US troops shooting targets in Cambodia

● 1967 - Anastasio Somoza Debayle becomes President of Nicaragua

● 1967 - Jelle Zijlstra becomes president of Netherlands Bank

● 1968 - In the second day of battle, U.S. Marines, with the support of naval fire, continue their attack on a North Vietnamese Division at Dai Do.

● 1969 - One hundred sixty-nine protesters are convicted of trespass in the aftermath of a student occupation at Harvard University. Cambridge, Mass.

● 1969 - 43 Unification church couples wed in NYC

● 1970 - Protests erupt in Seattle, Washington, United States following the announcement of President Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country.

● 1970 - Students at Kent State University riot in downtown Kent, OH, in protest of the American invasion of Cambodia.

● 1970 - Strike at McAlester Prison, Oklahoma.

● 1971 - Beginning of five days of anti-war May Day protests in Washington, D.C., resulting in over 14,000 arrests--the largest mass civil disobedience in U.S. history.

● 1971 - The National Railroad Passenger Copr. (Amtrak) went into service. It was established by the U.S. Congress to run the nation's intercity railroads.

● 1972 - North Vietnamese troops occupy Quang Tri Activities Committee

● 1973 - Thousands strike over pay and prices; More than a million workers join a one-day strike in protest at the government's pay restraint policy and price rises.

● 1974 - The Fair Labor Standards Act becomes applicable.

● 1977 - Twenty-four hour occupation of Seabrook (NH) nuclear power site results in 1,415 arrests. The action, sponsored by Clamshell Alliance, becomes a model for anti-nuclear direct actions across the country.

● 1977 - State-sponsored paramilitary groups open fire on tens of thousands of May Day demonstrators in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 37.

● 1978 - 1st black mayor of New Orleans (Ernest Morial) inaugurated

● 1978 - Naomi Uemura became 1st to reach North Pole overland alone

● 1978 - Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.

● 1978 - May Day Bank Holiday introduced across England.

● 1979 - Elton John becomes 1st pop star to perform in Israel

● 1979 - Home rule introduced to Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland)

● 1979 - Marshall Islands (in the Pacific) become self-governing

● 1981 - Harrison Williams (Senator-D-NJ) convicted on FBI Abscam charges

● 1981 - Radio Shack releases Model III TRSDOS 1.3

● 1982 - Day of resistance and protest against Falklands War, Britain.

● 1982 - RAF bombs Port Stanley; British planes attack two airstrips near the capital of the Falkland Islands in the war to rid the islands of Argentine forces

● 1983 - Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis is awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.

● 1984 - Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1985 - "Communist" bomb attack kills 2 firemen in Brussels

● 1985 - US President Reagan ends embargo against Nicaragua

● 1986 - One and a half million take part in South African general strike.

● 1986 - Tass reports Chernobyl nuclear power plant mishap

● 1986 - Will Stegers expedition reaches North Pole

● 1987 - Pope John Paul II beatified Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.

● 1988 - IRA attack in Roermond, kills 3

● 1989 - US Supreme Court rules employees have legal burden to prove non-discriminatory reasons for not hiring or promoting

● 1989 - The coat of arms of Greenland is adopted.

● 1991 - Angola's civil war ends

● 1992 - Eric Houston kills 4 in a California HS where he failed history 4 years prior

● 1992 - On the third day of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, African American Rodney King appeared in public before television news cameras to appeal for calm and plead for peace, asking, "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?".

● 1993 - Marchers in Quito protest "disappeared people" in Ecuador.

● 1993 - Bomb attack on Sri Lankan President (26 die)

● 1994 - Tornado & hail storms hit Jiangxi China, 95 killed

● 1996 - Riots with Berlin police erupt after two separate May Day marches, one of 20,000 workers protesting government social spending cuts and one of 10,000 "radical leftists" protesting anti-squatting raids. Ten police are injured. East Berlin, Germany.

● 1996 - Three are killed and 69 injured when Turkish police attack banned leftist demonstrators in a 100,000 person May Day rally. Istanbul, Turkey.

● 1996 - A Board of Directors meeting of British Aerospace, sellers of the Hawk jet fighter to Indonesia for use in its illegal occupation of East Timor, is interrupted by protesters pelting board members with eggs.

● 1997 - Toni Blair elected PM of UK

● 1998 - Eldridge Cleaver, the Black Panther leader who later renounced his past and became a Republican, died at age 62.

● 1998 - Arrow Air was fined $5 million for using spare parts that lacked federal approval in the U.S.

● 1999 - The Mercury space capsule Liberty Bell 7 that Gus Grissom flew in 1961 was found in the Atlantic Ocean 300 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla.

● 1999 - On Mount Everest, a group of U.S. mountain climbers discovered the body of George Mallory. Mallory had died in June of 1924 while trying to become the first person to reach the summit of Everest. At the time of the discovery it was unclear whether or not Mallory had actually reached the summit.

● 2000 - May Day violence on London streets; Hundreds of anti-capitalist demonstrators fight running battles with police - the Cenotaph and statue of Winston Churchill are defaced with graffiti

● 2001 - In Washington, DC, Chandra Levy disappeared. She was an intern at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. California Representative Gary Condit was named in the investigation. Her body was found on May 22, 2002 in Rock Creek Park.

● 2001 - Thomas Blanton Jr. became the second ex-Ku Klux Klansman to be convicted in the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, that claimed the lives of four little girls. (He was later sentenced to life in prison.)

● 2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, President George W. Bush declares "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" on board USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California.

● 2004 - Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.

● 2006 - Hundreds of thousands of mostly Hispanic immigrants in the United States skipped work and took to the streets, flexing their economic muscle in a nationwide boycott.

● 2006 - The Puerto Rican government runs out of money, forcing the closure of schools and all other government agencies.

BIRTHS

● 1218 - John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257)

● 1218 - Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1291)

● 1285 - Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1326)

● 1582 - Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643)

● 1594 - John Haynes, Massachusetts colonial magistrate

● 1672 - Joseph Addison, English politician and writer (d. 1719)

● 1764 - Benjamin Latrobe, British-born American architect and civil engineer (d. 1820)

● 1769 - Arthur Wellesley, English general; defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo (1815) (d. 1852)

● 1804 - Aleksey Khomyakov, Russian poet (d. 1860)

● 1829 - Jose Alencar, Brazilian journalist, novelist and playwright (d. 1877)

● 1830 - Mary Harris Jones, American labor organizer known as "Mother Jones" (d. 1930)

● 1831 - Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and suffragist (b.1903)

● 1852 - Calamity Jane, American Wild West performer (d. 1903)

● 1852 - Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish neuroscientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1934)

● 1855 - Cecilia Beaux, American portrait painter (d. 1942)

● 1872 - Sidónio Pais, Portuguese military and politician (d. 1918)

● 1881 - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French paleontologist and philosopher (d. 1955)

● 1887 - Alan Gordon Cunningham, British army officer (d. 1983)

● 1896 - Mark Wayne Clark, American general (d. 1984)

● 1898 - Eugene Black, American financier; president of the World Bank (1949-62) (d. 1992)

● 1901 - Heinz Eric Roemheld, American film composer (d. 1985)

● 1901 - Antal Szerb, Hungarian author and historian (d. 1945)

● 1905 - Henry Koster, German film director (d. 1988)

● 1905 - Paul Desruisseaux, French Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician (d. 1982)

● 1907 - Oliver Hill, civil rights attorney

● 1908 - Giovanni Guareschi, Italian journalist (d. 1968)

● 1909(07? NYT) - Kate Smith, American singer (d. 1986)

● 1909 - Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet, winner of the Lenin Peace Prize, 9 times candidate for the Nobel Prize (d. 1990)

● 1912 - Winthrop Rockefeller, American philanthropist and governor of Arkansas (1967-71) (d. 1973)

● 1913 - Louis Nye, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)

● 1913 - Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (d. 1980)

● 1915 - Archie Williams, American athlete (d. 1993)

● 1916 - Glenn Ford, Canadian actor (d. 2006)

● 1917 - John Beradino, American actor and baseball player (d. 1996)

● 1917 - Danielle Darrieux, French singer and actress

● 1918 - Jack Paar, American television host (d. 2004)

● 1918 - Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (d. 1977)

● 1919 - Dan O'Herlihy, Irish film actor (d. 2005)

● 1923 - Joseph Heller, American novelist (d. 1999)

● 1924 - Art Fleming, American game show host (d. 1995)

● 1924 - Karel Kachyňa, Czech film director (d. 2004)

● 1924 - Terry Southern, American screenwriter (d. 1995)

● 1925 - Chuck Bednarik, American football player and Hall of Fame member

● 1925 - Scott Carpenter, American astronaut

● 1928 - Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racer (d. 2002)

● 1929 - Ralf Dahrendorf, German-born sociologist and politician

● 1929 - Sonny James, American country music singer and songwriter

● 1930 - Richard Riordan, former mayor of Los Angeles

● 1934 - Joan Hackett, American actress (d. 1983)

● 1934 - Shirley Horn, American jazz singer and pianist (d. 2005)

● 1935 - Ann Robinson, American actress

● 1937 - Una Stubbs, English actress

● 1939 - Judy Collins, American folk singer

● 1939 - Max Robinson, American broadcast journalist (d. 1988)

● 1940 - Elsa Peretti, Italian jewelry designer

● 1942 - Stephen Macht, Actor

● 1944 - Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician

● 1945 - Rita Coolidge, American singer

● 1946 - Joanna Lumley, British actress

● 1946 - John Woo, Hong Kong director

● 1949 - Douglas Barr, Actor, director

● 1950 - Danny McGrain, Scottish footballer

● 1950(51? NYT) - Dann Florek, American actor ("Law and Order: Special Victims Unit")

● 1954 - Ray Parker Jr., American singer and songwriter

● 1954 - Joel Rosenberg, science fiction author

● 1957 - Catherine Frot, French actress

● 1960 - Steve Cauthen, American jockey

● 1961 - Marilyn Milian, current judge on The People's Court

● 1962 - Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress

● 1962 - Ted Sundquist, General Manager of the Denver Broncos

● 1964 - Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater

● 1965 - Wayne Hancock, Country singer

● 1966 - Charlie Schlatter, Actor

● 1966 - Johnny Colt, Rock musician

● 1967 - Tim McGraw, American musician

● 1968 - Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer

● 1968 - Sol Kyung-gu, South Korean actor

● 1968 - D'arcy Wretzky, American musician (The Smashing Pumpkins)

● 1969 - Wes Anderson, American director and writer

● 1971 - Ajith Kumar, Indian film actor

● 1972 - Cory Morrow, Country singer

● 1973 - Curtis Martin, American football player

● 1973 - Oliver Neuville, German footballer

● 1975 - Alexei Smertin, Russian footballer

● 1975 - Jodhi May, British actress

● 1975 - Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003)

● 1976 - Darius McCrary, Actor

● 1977 - Vera Lischka, Austrian swimmer

● 1981 - Aleksander Hleb, Belarusian footballer

● 1982 - Tommy Robredo, Spanish tennis player

● 1984 - Alexander Farnerud, Swedish footballer

● 1984 - Farah Fath, American actress

● 1985 - Drew Sidora, American actress

● 1986 - Cristian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer

● 1986 - Adam Casey, Australian footballer

● 1987 - Shahar Pe'er, Israeli tennis player

● 1990 - Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress

● 1997 - Ariel Gade, American actress

DEATHS

● 408 - Arcadius, Roman emperor

● 1118 - Edith of Scotland, first wife of Henry I of England (b. c. 1080)

● 1308 - Albert I of Habsburg (murdered) (b. 1255)

● 1555 - Pope Marcellus II (b. 1501)

● 1572 - Pope Pius V (b. 1504)

● 1731 - Johann Ludwig Bach, German composer (b. 1677)

● 1738 - Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, English statesman (b. c. 1669)

● 1772 - Gottfried Achenwall, German statistician (b. 1719)

● 1813 - Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French marshal (killed in combat) (b. 1768)

● 1873 - David Livingstone, Scottish missionary (b. 1813)

● 1899 - Ludwig Büchner, German philosopher and physician (b. 1824)

● 1904 - Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (b. 1841)

● 1935 - Henri Pélissier, French cyclist (b. 1889)

● 1937 - Snitz Edwards, American actor (b. 1868)

● 1943 - Johan Oscar Smith, Norweigian Christian leader and founder of Smith's Friends (b.1871)

● 1945 - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda (suicide) (b. 1897)

● 1965 - Spike Jones, American band leader, musician, and comedian (b. 1911)

● 1968 - Harold Nicolson, British diplomat, author and politician (b. 1886)

● 1968 - Jack Adams, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager (b.1895)

● 1970 - Yi Un, Crown Prince Korea (b. 1897)

● 1976 - Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet who fought the military junta in Greece (b. 1939)

● 1976 - T.R.M. Howard, civil rights leader, entrepreneur, surgeon (b. 1908)

● 1978 - Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (b. 1903)

● 1982 - William Primrose, Scottish violist (b. 1903)

● 1986 - Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and record producer (b. 1916)

● 1989 - Sally Kirkland, fashion editor at LIFE (b. 1912)

● 1989 - Douglass Watson, American actor (b. 1921)

● 1990 - Sergio Franchi, Italian tenor (b. 1926)

● 1993 - Pierre Bérégovoy, French Prime Minister (suicide) (b. 1925)

● 1993 - Ranasinghe Premadasa, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1924)

● 1994 - Ayrton Senna, Brazilian three-time Formula One champion (b. 1960)

● 1998 - Eldridge Cleaver, American activist (b. 1935)

● 2000 - Steve Reeves, American actor (b. 1926)

● 2003 - Miss Elizabeth, American wrestler (b. 1960)

● 2006 - Big Hawk, American rapper (b.1969)

● 2006 - Johnny Paris, American saxophonist (Johnny and the Hurricanes) (b. 1940)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Abban
● St. Abdas
● St. Aceolus
● St. Achillas
● St. Acius
● St. Adam
● St. Adrio
● St. Agnes of Poitiers
● St. Aldebrandus
● St. Alphius
● St. Amator
● St. Anastasius VI
● St. Anastasius VII
● St. Andeol
● St. Andrew Bobola
● St. Andrew
● St. Annobert
● St. Anthimus
● St. Arigius
● St. Asaph
● St. Augustin Schoeffer
● St. Aurelian
● St. Benedict of Szkalka
● St. Bertha
● St. Boniface
● St. Brendan
● St. Brieuc
● St. Britwin
● St. Caesarea
● St. Caesarn
● St. Calepodius
● Sts. Calocerus & Parthenius
● St. Carantac
● St. Carantoc
● St. Carthach the Younger
● St. Cassius
● St. Cataldus
● St. Cathan
● St. Ceallach
● St. Celestine
● St. Comgall
● St. Cominus
● St. Cyriaca & Companions
● St. Diomma
● St. Dionysia
● St. Dionysius
● St. Dioscorides
● St. Dioscorus
● St. Dominic de la Calzada
● St. Domnolus
● St. Dunstan
● St. Dymphna
● St. Elgiva
● St. Engelmer
● St. Engelmund
● St. Epimachus
● St. Epiphanius Of Salamis
● St. Erembert
● St. Eric IX of Sweden
● St. Etheihard
● St. Euthymius
● St. Evellius
● St. Evermaar of Rutten (died 700)
● St. Felix of Cantalice
● Sts. Felix & Gennadius
● St. Felix of Spoleto
● St. Feredarius
● St. Fidouls
● St. Flavia Domitilla
● St. Florine
● St. Forannan
● St. Francis Jerome
● St. Gangulphus
● St. Gerebrand
● St. Germerius
● St. Glyceria
● Sts. Gordian and Epimachus
● St. Grata
● St. Hadulph
● St. Hallvard
● St. Heradius
● St. Hilary
● St. Honoratus of Amiens
● St. Isidore, the Farmer
● St. James the Less
● St. Jeremiah.
● St. John Nepomucene
● St. John of Avila
● St. John the Silent
● St. John-Louis Bonnard
● St. Joseph the Worker (Also known as St. Joseph's Day, this is the second observation of St. Joseph in the year, the other occurs on March 19 when he is honored as the foster father of Jesus and protector patron saint of the world.)
● St. Juliana of Norwich
● St. Just
● St. Madern
● St. Mael
● St. Maiduif
● St. Majolus
● St. Mamertius
● St. Marculf
● St. Maria Dominic Mazzarello
● St. Matthias
● St. Maximus
● St. Merewenna
● St. Merililaun
● St. Michael Garicoits
● St. Modoaldus
● St. Mucius
● St. Natalis
● Sts. Nereus & Achilleus
● St. Nicholas the Mystic
● St. Odilo of Cluny
● St. Onesimus
● Sts. Orentius & Patientia
● St. Panacea
● St. Pancras
● St. Paschal Baylon
● St. Peregrinus
● St. Peter
● St. Peter Van
● St. Philip of Agirone
● St. Philip the Apostle
● St. Philoterus
● St. Pope John I
● St. Quaratus and Quintus
● St. Restituta
● St. Richrudis
● St. Servatus
● St. Sigismund of Burgundy
● St. Simon Stock
● St. Solange
● St. Theodard
● St. Theodore of Tabenna
● St. Theodotus
● St. Theophilus of Corte
● St. Thethmar
● St. Torquatus
● St. Tudy
● St. Ubald Baldassini
● St. Valerian
● St. Venantius
● Sts. Victor & Corona
● St. Vincent of Lerins
● St. Walbert
● St. Waldalenus
● St. Walter
● St. William of Pontoise
● Bl. Albert of Bergamo
● Bl. Alcuin
● Bl. Damien de Veuster
● Bl. Francis Patrizzi
● Bl. Imelda
● Bl. John of Rochester
● Bl. Matthew Gam
● Bl. Peter de Duenas
● Bl. Peter the Venerable
● Bl. Peter Wright

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for April 18 (Civil Date: May 1)
● St. John, disciple of St. Gregory of the Decapolis.
● St. Cosmas, Bishop of Chalcedon, and his fellow ascetic St. Auxentius.
● Martyrs Victor, Zoticus, Zeno, Acindynus, and Severian of Nicomedia.
● St. Euthymius the Enlightener of Karelia, and Saints Anthony and Felix of St. Nicholas Monastery in Karelia.
● New-Martyr John the New of Epirus.
● New-Martyr John Kulika.

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for April 19 (Civil Date: May 1)
● St. John of the Ancient Caves in Palestine.
● St. George the Confessor, Bishop of Antioch in Pisidia.
● St. Tryphon, Patriarch of Constantinople.
● Martyrs Christopher, Theonas and Antoninus at Rome.
● St. Nicephorus, abbot of Katabad.
● Hieromartyr Paphnutius of Jerusalem.
● St. Symeon the Barefoot of Philotheou Monastery (Mt. Athos.
● St. Joachim, abbot of Opochka (Pskov).
● Martyr Agathangelus of Esphigmenou Monastery (Mt. Athos. .
● Repose of fool-for-Christ Asenatha of Goritsky (1892)
● Repose of Schema-hieromonk Alexis of Valaam (1900).

● Anglican, Lutheran:
● Sts. Philip & James, apostles

● Roman Empire - all-female festival in honour of Bona Dea.

● Roman Empire - fourth and last day of the Floralia in honour of Flora.

● May Day, Labour Day, Workers' Day, Day of the International Solidarity of Workers.

● Italy - national holiday (Giorno dei Lavoratori).

● Switzerland - official feast of Spring.

● Czech Republic - "National Love Day" – couples tend to flock to the memorial of the poet Karel Hynek Mácha in Prague and kiss.

● Lei Day - Hawaiian holiday for the Lei.

● Beltane, Lá Bealtaine, the first day of Summer in modern Ireland was celebrated by the Celts, and is now also celebrated by Neopagans and Wiccans.

● Northern Europe - Walpurgis Night.

● United States - Law Day, U.S.A., Loyalty Day.

● Malta - public holiday (L-Ewwel ta' Mejju (1st May Day), or Jum il-Ħaddiem (Worker's Day)).

● Maharashtra Divas (Maharashtra Day) in the state of Maharastra, India. On May 1, 1960, Maharashtra came into existence when Bombay State was split into the new linguistic states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

● Gujarat Divas (Gujarat Day) in the state of Gujarat, India. On May 1, 1960, Gujarat came into existence when Bombay State was split into the new linguistic states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

● 66 nations : Labor Day

● Finland : Vappu Day

● Massachusetts : Senior Citizens' Day (1963)

● US : Child Health Day

● US : Dewey Day (Battle of Manila Bay) (1898)

● Turkey : Commemoration of Yunus Emre

● These Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
● Zambia: Labour Day - (Monday)
● New Orleans: McDonogh Day (1850) - (Friday)


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

Quotes of the Day taken from The Best Liberal Quotes Ever: Why the Left Is Right Compiled by William P. Martin ©2004

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