General events on May 5th

In 1888, five machinists form the United Machinists and Mechanical Engineers (National Association of Machinists) in Atlanta, Ga.
In 1893, the "Panic of 1893" hit the New York Stock Exchange. Various factors were blamed for the panic, including the bankruptcy of a major railroad and shrinking national gold reserves. By the end of 1893, the country was in the throes of a severe depression.
In 1913, the American College of Surgeons is organized.
In 1923, Bernice Goldstein, a Phi Beta Kappa at Syracuse University, is not allowed to graduate because she cannot learn to swim.
In 1924, Unions terminate Twentse textile strike.
In 1925, John T. Scopes, a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, was arrested in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in violation of state statute. His trial became the play and movie "Inherit The Wind"
In 1978, The Prime Interest Rate went to 8.25 percent
In 1981, Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland in his 66th day without food.
In 1987, 15 years ago, A joint tribunal orders the U.S. to return $451.4 million in frozen assets to Iran.
In 1991, New York City's Carnegie Hall celebrated its centennial with an all-day, all-star concert.
In 1997, 5 years ago, a jury in Jacksonville, Florida, found R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was not responsible for the death of Jean Connor, a lifelong smoker.
In 1997, 5 years ago, American Airlines' pilots ratified a contract, ending nearly three years of negotiations.
In 1999, the first Kosovo refugees brought to the United States, 453 of them, arrived at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

Government and Politics on May 5th

In 1892, Congress passed the Geary Chinese Exclusion Act, which required Chinese in the United States to be registered or face deportation.
In 1912, the first issue of the Soviet Communist Party newspaper "Pravda" was published.
In 1920, US pres Wilson makes Communist Labor Party illegal.
In 1942, 60 years ago, sales of sugar resumed in the United States under a rationing program. Sweet!
In 1943, the Postal Zone System was inaugurated in 178 cities by Postmaster General Frank C. Walker.
In 1955, West Germany was granted full sovereignty by the three occupying powers.
In 1985, President Reagan kept a promise to West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl by leading a wreath-laying ceremony at the military cemetery in Bitburg. President Reagan caused a controversy when he lays a wreath in a military cemetary in Bitburg, West Germany (49 members of the Nazi Waffen SS were also buried there).
In 1986, Leaders of the seven major industrial democracies, meeting in Tokyo, adopted a joint statement condemning terrorism.
In 1987, 15 years ago, the congressional Iran-Contra hearings opened with former Air Force Maj. General Richard V. Secord as the lead-off witness. The federal government began a yearlong amnesty program, offering citizenship to illegal immigrants who met certain conditions.
In 1989, a federal judge ordered sweeping changes in the FBI's promotion system, months after the judge found that the bureau had systematically discriminated against its Hispanic employees in advancements and assignments.
In 1991, President Bush continued to experience an irregular heartbeat, one day after he was taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital because of fatigue and shortness of breath.
In 1992, 10 years ago, H. Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire, announces his presidential candidacy as an independent (quits July 16, then reannounces his candidacy October 1).
In 1992, 10 years ago, President Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton picked up primary victories in Indiana, North Carolina and the District of Columbia.
In 1994, Singapore caned American teen-ager Michael Fay for vandalism, a day after the sentence was reduced from six lashes to four in response to an appeal by President Clinton, who considered the punishment too harsh. "Weird Al" Yankovic sang a verse of that in Headline News.
In 1995, talks collapsed between the United States and Japan on averting a bitter trade fight over automobiles.
In 1996, King Juan Carlos swore in conservative leader Jose Maria Aznar as Spanish prime minister, opening a new era in Spanish politics after 13 years of Socialist rule.
In 1996, the FBI released preliminary figures showing that serious crimes reported to police fell for the fourth straight year in 1995.
In 1996, Israel and the Palestinians began the final stage of their peace talks in Taba, Egypt.
In 1997, 5 years ago, President Clinton arrived in Mexico for his first Latin American trip while in office.
In 1998, an exasperated Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called on Israel to agree to hand over an additional 13 percent of the West Bank to the Palestinians, on top of the 27 percent already relinquished. (Israel, however, continued to balk at the proposal.)
In 1999, President Clinton began a morale-boosting trip to Europe that included a visit to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he met the three American soldiers just released by Yugoslavia.
In 2000, 2 years ago, President Clinton met at the White House with Japan's new prime minister, Yoshiro Mori.
In 2000, 2 years ago, Reformers swept Iran's run-off elections, winning control of the legislature from conservatives for the first time since 1979 Islamic revolution.
In 2000, 2 years ago, Unemployment rate hits 30-year low of 3.9 percent.
In 2000, 2 years ago, Blacks and Hispanics record lowest jobless rates in history.
In 2000, 2 years ago, Leftist ''Red Ken'' Livingstone becomes London's first elected mayor.

War, Crime and Disaster events on May 5th

In 1646, Following his defeat at the battle of Naseby in the English Civil War, Charles I surrendered to a Scottish army at Newark.
In 1814, the British attack Ft. Ontario, Oswego, N.Y.
In 1862, Mexican forces loyal to Benito Juarez defeated French troops sent by Napoleon III in the Battle of Puebla: Cinco de Mayo. General Ignacio Zaragoza's troops were outnumbered three to one as they battled the invading French army. They may have been outnumbered but they had the will to win.
In 1864, Battle between Confederate & Union ships at mouth of Roanoke.
In 1864, The battle of the Wilderness started in the American Civil War. General Lee had just over 60,000 men against Grant's 100,000 but the Confederates heavily defeated the Federal troops who lost over 17,000 men.
In 1865, the first train robbery occurs at North Bend, Ohio when a locomotive overturns and is looted.
In 1866, the first Memorial Day Observance is held in Waterloo, N.Y. to honor Civil War dead.
In 1920, German-Latvian peace treaty signed.
In 1936, Italian troops under Field Marshal Badoglio took Addis Ababa in Ethiopia (Abyssinia). On the same date in 1941, Emperor Haile Selassie reentered the capital after the country had been liberated.
In 1939, Flash floods kill 75 in Northeast Kentucky.
In 1942, 60 years ago, a combined British military and naval force landed on Madagascar and by the afternoon the town of Diego Suarez was captured.
In 1945, in the only fatal attack of its kind during World War II, a Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon, killing Elsie Mitchell, the pregnant wife of a minister, and five children who were on a picnic.
In 1945, Netherlands & Denmark liberated from Nazi control; Premier Gerbrandy on Radio Orange tells Dutch they are liberated.
In 1945, during World War Two, Japanese forces landed on the Philippine island of Corregidor.
In 1948, the first air squadron of jets is stationed aboard a carrier.
In 1949, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's book "Crusade in Europe" becomes an ABC World War II documentary series of the same name.
In 1965, a cease-fire was signed between rebels and the military junta in the Dominican Republic civil war.
In 1965, the first large-scale U.S. Army ground units arrived in South Vietnam.
In 1976, Train collision at Schiedam Neth, kills 24.
In 1979, terrorists in El Salvador stormed the French, Venezuelan and Costa Rican embassies demanding the release of political prisoners.
In 1980, a siege at the Iranian Embassy in London ended as British commandos, the troops of the SAS, and police stormed the building killing four of the five gunmen who took over the building.
In 1983, an Eastern Airlines L-1011 carrying 172 people lost power in all three engines after takeoff from Miami on a flight to the Bahamas. The pilot managed to restart the tail engine and return to Miami.
In 1991, a safe zone is created in northern Iraq by the U.S. to protect the Kurd refugees.
In 1992, 10 years ago, two courtroom shootings in one day: in Clayton, Mo, a man involved in a divorce proceeding opened fire, killing his wife and wounding four people before being shot and wounded by police; and in Grand Forks, N.D., a state district judge was critically wounded by a former city councilman who apparently was in court on a child support case.
In 1993, the Bosnian Serb parliament began debating a UN peace plan for Bosnia (it rejected the plan the following day). UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali recommended creation of a tribunal to try those responsible for war crimes in former Yugoslavia.
In 1994, Yemen plunged into civil war as northern and southern army units battled in the streets and jets pound rival capitals.
In 1995, as rescue workers ended their search for bodies in the Oklahoma City bombing, President Clinton denounced self-styled anti-government militias, saying, "How dare you call yourselves patriots and heroes."
In 1995, powerful thunderstorms began tearing through North Texas, claiming two-dozen lives.

Royalty and Religious events on May 5th

In 614, Persians capture Jerusalem and seize the True Cross
In 1292, Adolph of Nassau becomes King of Germany
In 1705, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, died. Emperor since 1658, he sought to regain political institutions and organize the army.
In 1816, American Bible Society organized (NY).
In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St. Helena.
In 1950, the coronation of King Phumiphon of Siam took place and he assumed the title of Rama IX.
In 1970, The first nun to join the Air Force Reserves is Sister Nancy Ann Eagan.
In 1988, the Most (as opposed to the Least?) Rev. Eugene Antonio Marino became the nation's first black Roman Catholic archbishop during a Mass in the Atlantic City Civic Center. However, he stepped down in July 1990 due to a two-year affair.
In 1996, King Juan Carlos swore in conservative leader Jose Maria Aznar as Spanish prime minister, opening a new era in Spanish politics after 13 years of Socialist rule.

Human Achievement and Science events on May 5th

In 1494, during his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere, the "New World," Christopher Columbus sighted Jamaica.
In 1809, Mary Kies is the first U.S woman to receive a patent for a new and useful improvement of weaving straw with silk or thread.
In 1847, The American Medical Association was organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 1930, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia takes-off (Amy Johnson).
In 1936, Edward Ravenscroft of Glencoe, Illinois, received a patent for the screw-on bottle cap with the pour lip.
In 1958, COVER STORY OF LIFE New Hope On Cancer
In 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America's first space traveler as he made a 15-minute sub-orbital flight in a Freedom 7 capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida (suborbital flight at 116.5 miles for 15 minutes, 22 seconds).
In 1979, Voyager 1 passes Jupiter.
In 1989, the Venus orbiter, Magellan, is launched to map the second planet.
In 1999, The Swiss-British team who became the first to circle the Earth nonstop in a balloon has set an official record, the international aeronautics body FAI confirmed. Spokesman Mathieu Fouvy said the study of the technical recording equipment that was sealed aboard the Breitling Orbiter 3 during the March flight confirmed that it was the first balloon to go around the world without refueling or stopping. It also showed that pilots Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard had traveled farther, faster and longer by balloon than anyone.
In 2000, 2 years ago, Conjunction of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn & Moon.

Arts and Prose events on May 5th

In 1921, Miniature newspaper published (Brighton Gazette 10 x 13 cm).
In 1926, Sinclair Lewis declines the Pulitzer Prize for his novel "Arrowsmith," declaring that prizes tend to make writers "safe, polite, obedient and sterile."
In 1947, Pulitzer prize awarded to Robert Penn Warren (All the King's Men).
In 1952, 50 years ago, Pulitzer prize awarded to Herman Wouk (Caine Mutiny).
In 1969, Pulitzer prize awarded to Norman Mailer (Armies of the Night).
In 1930, The first Mickey Mouse comic strip drawn and inked by Floyd Gottfredson is published.