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

1045 - Gregory VI is appointed Pope.

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

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

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

1751 - The first cricket match is played in America.

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

1786 - Opening night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna.

1834 - The British colonies abolish slavery.

1851 - The Great Exhibition is opened in London by Queen Victoria.

1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.

1869 - The Folies Bergères open in Paris.

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

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.

1893 - The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.

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

1898 - Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manila Bay - 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.

1915 - RMS Lusitania departs New York City on her 202nd & final crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later she'll be torpedoed off the Irish coast with the loss of 1,198 lives.

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.

1927 - The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.

1930 - The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.

1931 - The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.

1940 - The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war.

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.

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

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

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

1950 - Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth.

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

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.

1971 - Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service.

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

1978 - The first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (which would later become known as "spam") was sent by a DEC marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.

1978 - May Day Bank Holiday introduced across England.

1982 - The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.

1989 - The coat of arms of Greenland is adopted.

1994 - Racing driver Ayrton Senna dies after a high-speed crash at Imola, San Marino.

1999 - The hit show SpongeBob SquarePants premiers with its first out of three Pilot shows (seven episodes total) which include Help Wanted,Reef Blower, and Tea at the Treedome.

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 - Immigrants and their supporters across the United States carry out the Great American Boycott, a one day national protest against the enforcement of pending immigration laws criminalizing illegal immigrants and those who aid them, and calling for amnesty to be given to those in the U.S..

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

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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)

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

1830 - Mother Jones, American labor activist (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 histologist and neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1934)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1907 - Oliver Hill, Civil Rights Attorney

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

1909 - Kate Smith, American singer (d. 1986)

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)

1925 - Chuck Bednarik, American football player

1925 - Scott Carpenter, American astronaut

1928 - Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racecar driver (d. 2002)

1929 - Ralf Dahrendorf, German-born sociologist and politician

1930 - Richard Riordan, Mayor of Los Angeles, California

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

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

1944 - Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician

1945 - Rita Coolidge, American singer

1946 - Joanna Lumley, British actress

1946 - John Woo, Hong Kong director, producer, writer, and actor

1950 - Dann Florek, American actor

1954 - Ray Parker Jr., American singer and songwriter

1960 - Steve Cauthen, American jockey

1962 - Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress

1964 - Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater

1967 - Tim McGraw, American musician

1968 - Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer

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

1969 - Wes Anderson, American director, writer, and producer

1970 - Gregg Groothuis, American professional wrestler

1971 - Ajith Kumar, Indian film actor

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)

1981 - Aleksander Hleb, Belarusian footballer

1984 - Alexander Farnerud, Swedish footballer

1986 - Cristian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer

1987 - Shahar Pe'er, Israeli tennis player

1988 - Jacobo León, Mexican film director, animator, writer and producer

1990 - Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress

1997 - Ariel Gade, American actress

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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

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)

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)

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

1976 - Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek politician and poet (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)

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

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

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

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

1994 - Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver; 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)

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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.

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

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

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

Malta - L-Ewwel ta Mejju, Malta, Jum il-haddiem (Worker's Day).

Festival of Matsu in Taiwan and various locales along the southern coast of China (2005).

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.

May crowning - Unofficial ritual ceremony usually happening in the Roman Catholic Church.

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Saint Joseph the Worker (also known as Saint Joseph's Day).

Saint James the Less.

Saint Philip the Apostle.

Saint Andeol.

Saint Brieuc.

Saint Evermaar of Rutten (died 700)

Saint Jeremiah.

Saint Sigismund of Burgundy.

Saint Theodulf.

Saint Augustin Schoeffer

Saint Florine