1941 – “Citizen Kane,” directed and starring Orson Welles, premiered in New York.
0086 BC – Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters in Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus.
0293 – Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesares, thus beginning the Tetrarchy.
0305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor
0408 – Theodosius II succeeded to the throne of Constantinople.
0743 – Slave export by Christians to heathen areas prohibited
1260 – Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis, conquerors Damascus
1308 – Albert I, King of Germany, is assassinated by his nephew John of Swabia [the Parricide], for cutting John out of his right to inherit
1328 – Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton – the Kingdom of England recognises the Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state.
1382 – French Maillotin uprises against taxes
1486 – Christopher Columbus convinced Queen Isabella to fund an expedition to the West Indies.
1562 – Over 1,000 Huguenots are massacred by Catholics in Wassy, France marking the start of the French Wars of Religion
1587 – English parliament leader Peter Wentworth confined in London Tower
1628 – Writs are issued in February by Charles I of England that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.
1692 – Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.
1707 – England, Wales and Scotland were united to form Great Britain.
1709 – Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe first opens its doors in Mexico City on the site of two apparitions of the Virgin – now a basilica and the holiest church in Mexico
1776 – Adam Weishaupt founds secret society of Illuminati
1780 – Pennsylvania becomes first US state to abolish slavery (for new-borns only)
1803 – Ohio is admitted as the 17th U.S. state.
1805 – The state of Virginia passed a law requiring all freed slaves to leave the state, or risk either imprisonment or deportation.
1811 – Egyptian king Muhammad Ali Pasha oversees ceremonial murder of 500
1836 – A Convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico
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. (May 1-4)
1867 – Reconstruction in the South began with black voter registration.
1883 – William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) had his first Wild West Show.
1884 – The construction of the first American 10-story building began in Chicago, IL.
1889 – Asa Candler published a full-page advertisement in The Atlanta Journal, proclaiming his wholesale and retail drug business as “sole proprietors of Coca-Cola … Delicious. Refreshing. Exhilarating. Invigorating.” Mr. Candler did not actually achieve sole ownership until 1891 at a cost of $2,300.
1898 – The U.S. Navy under Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in the Philippines.
1900 – Premature blast collapses mine tunnel killing 200 at Scofield, Utah
1905 – In New York, radium was tested as a cure for cancer.
1912 – In London’s Kensington Gardens, a statue of Peter Pan was erected.
1913 – Federal income tax takes effect (16th amendment)
1914 – Yuan Shikai’s cabinet replaces China’s provisional constitution with a constitutional compact granting the President dictatorial powers over China’s military, finances, foreign policy, and the rights of Chinese citizens
1921 – Sailors revolt in Kronstadt Russia
1925 – The world’s largest trade union is founded – The All-China Federation of Trade Unions has more than 300 million members.
1927 – Adolf Hitler held his first Nazi meeting in Berlin.
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.
1932 – The Bureau (FBI) initiated the international exchange of fingerprint data with friendly foreign governments. Due to the rise of tension in Europe, this program was halted in the late 1930’s. It was not re-instituted until well after World War II
1934 – The Philippine legislature accepted a U.S. proposal for independence.
1936 – Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie leaves Ethiopia as Italy invades
1937 – U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed an act of neutrality, keeping the United States out of World War II.
1941 – “Citizen Kane,” directed and starring Orson Welles, premiered in New York.
1943 – The Canadian Women’s Army Corps is founded as part of the Canadian forces; CWACs have full military titles and hold commissions.
1944 – The Messerschmitt Me 262, the first combat jet, made its first flight.
1945 – Admiral Karl Doenitz succeeded Hitler as leader of the Third Reich. This was one day after Hitler committed suicide.
1946 – British Govt takes control of Bank of England, after 252 years
1948 – The People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was proclaimed.
1950 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by giving them top secret atomic bomb data
1953 – Joseph Stalin collapses, having suffered a stroke. He dies four days later
1954 – Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.
1956 – A doctor in Japan reports an “epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system”, marking the official discovery of Minamata disease
1958 – James Van Allen reported that two radiation belts encircled Earth.
1960 – Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. Powers was taken prisoner.
1961 – Fidel Castro declares Cuba a socialist nation and bans elections
1966 – Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet’s surface.
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 – During a performance at Miami’s Dinner Key Auditorium, Jim Morrison of the Doors is arrested for exposing himself during the show.
1970 – Students at Kent State University riot in downtown Kent, OH, in protest of the American invasion of Cambodia.
1971 – The National Railroad Passenger Corp. (Amtrak) went into service. It was established by the U.S. Congress to run the nation’s intercity railroads.
1973 – Black September terrorists storm the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, Sudan resulting in the Khartoum diplomatic assassinations.
1974 – Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
1976 – The Alberta Government founds Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund with windfall oil royalties
1981 – The Japanese government announced that it would limit passenger car exports to the United States over the next three years.
1982 – Russian spacecraft Venera 14 lands on Venus, sends back data
1985 – Pentagon accepts theory that atomic war would cause a nuclear winter
1986 – The Tass News Agency reported the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.
1989 – Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins: US Supreme Court rules employers have legal burden to prove non- discriminatory reasons for not hiring or promoting
1992 – On the third day of the Los Angeles riots resulting from the Rodney King beating trial. King appeared in public to appeal for calm, he asked, “Can we all get along?”
1993 – Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa is assassinated along with 17 others by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber in Colombo
1994 – Senate rejectes a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution
1998 – Arrow Air was fined $5 million for using spare parts that lacked federal approval in the U.S.
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.
2001 – Chandra Levy was last seen in Washington, DC. Her remains were found in Rock Creek Park on May 22, 2002. California Congressman Gary Condit was questioned in the case due to his relationship with Levy.
2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.
2003 – In what becomes known as the “Mission Accomplished” speech, U.S. President George W. Bush declares that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended” on board the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California
2004 – Terry Nichols is convicted of state murder charges and being an accomplice to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
2007 – “Squatters” are evicted from Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, provoking the March 2007 Denmark Riots.
2010 – Car bomb fails to go off in Times Square, New York City
2014 – Hundreds march through Nigerian capital calling for the release of schoolgirls abducted by Islamic militants, Boko Haram, who oppose Western education
2019 – Naruhito officially succeeds his father Akihito as the Emperor of Japan after the latter abdicated due to ill health
2020 – Armed protesters against stay-at-home-orders gather at the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, as Governor Gretchen Whitmer reinstates State of Emergency
2022 – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” in interview on Italian TV, prompting outrage from Israel
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
