May 3

"The Third of May" redirects here. For the Goya painting, see The Third of May 1808.

May 3 is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 242 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 752 – Mayan king Bird Jaguar IV of Yaxchilan in modern-day Chiapas, Mexico assumes the throne.
• 1481 – The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties.
• 1491 – Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I.
• 1715 – A total solar eclipse was visible across northern Europe, and northern Asia, as predicted by Edmond Halley to within 4 minutes accuracy.
• 1791 – The Constitution of May 3 (the first modern constitution in Europe) is proclaimed by the Sejm of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1802 – Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city.
• 1808 – Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia.
• 1808 – Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose up on May 2 are executed near Príncipe Pío hill.
• 1815 – Neapolitan War: Joachim Murat, King of Naples is defeated by the Austrians at the Battle of Tolentino, the decisive engagement of the war.
• 1830 – The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway is opened. It's the first steam hauled passenger railway to issue season tickets and include a tunnel.
• 1837 – The University of Athens is founded in Athens, Greece.
• 1849 – The May Uprising in Dresden begins – the last of the German revolutions of 1848.
• 1855 – American adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with about 60 men to conquer Nicaragua.
• 1860 – Charles XV of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
• 1867 – The Hudson's Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island.
• 1877 – Labatt Park, the oldest continually operating baseball grounds in the world has its first game.
• 1901 – The Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, Florida.
• 1913 – Raja Harishchandra the first full-length Indian feature film is released, marking the beginning of the Indian film industry.
• 1915 – The poem In Flanders Fields is written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.
• 1920 – A Bolshevik coup fails in the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
• 1921 – West Virginia becomes the first state to legislate a broad sales tax, but does not implement it until a number of years later due to enforcement issues.
• 1921 – Ireland divides into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.
• 1928 – Japanese atrocities in Jinan, China.
• 1937 – Gone with the Wind, a novel by Margaret Mitchell, wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
• 1939 – The All India Forward Bloc is formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
• 1942 – World War II: Japanese naval troops invade Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands during the first part of Operation Mo that results in the Battle of the Coral Sea between Japanese forces and forces from the United States and Australia.
• 1945 – World War II: Sinking of the prison ships Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay.
• 1947 – New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.
• 1948 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Shelley v. Kraemer that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities are legally unenforceable.
• 1951 – London's Royal Festival Hall opens with the Festival of Britain.
• 1951 – The United States Senate Committee on Armed Services and United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations begin their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry Truman.
• 1952 – Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the United States land a plane at the North Pole.
• 1952 – The Kentucky Derby is televised nationally for the first time, on the CBS network.
• 1957 – Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, to Los Angeles.
• 1960 – The Off-Broadway musical comedy, The Fantasticks, opens in New York City's Greenwich Village, eventually becoming the longest-running musical of all time.
• 1960 – The Anne Frank House museum opens in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• 1960 – The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is established.
• 1963 – The police force in Birmingham, Alabama switches tactics and responds with violent force to stop the "Birmingham campaign" protesters. Images of the violent suppression are transmitted worldwide, bringing new-found attention to the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
• 1973 – The 108-story Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out at 1,451 feet as the world's tallest building.
• 1978 – The first unsolicited bulk commercial email (which would later become known as "spam") is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
• 1979 – After the general election, Margaret Thatcher forms her first government as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 1986 – Twenty-one people are killed and forty-one are injured after a bomb explodes in an airliner (Flight UL512) at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka.
• 1987 – A crash by Bobby Allison at the Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama fencing at the start-finish line would lead NASCAR to develop the restrictor plate for the following season both at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega.
• 1999 – The southwestern portion of Oklahoma City is devastated by an F5 tornado, killing forty-five people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado is one of 66 from the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. This tornado also produces the highest wind speed ever recorded, measured at 301 +/- 20 mph (484 +/- 32 km/h).
• 2000 – The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.
• 2001 – The United States loses its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.
• 2002 – A military MiG-21 aircraft crashes into the Bank of Rajasthan in India, killing eight.
• 2003 – New Hampshire's famous Old Man of the Mountain collapses.
• 2015 – Two gunmen launch an attempted attack on an anti-Islam event in Garland, Texas, which was held in response to the Charlie Hebdo shooting.

Births

• 612 – Constantine III, Byzantine emperor (d. 641)
• 1415 – Cecily Neville, Duchess of York (d. 1495)
• 1428 – Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal (d. 1495)
• 1446 – Margaret of York (d. 1503)
• 1469 – Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and philosopher (d. 1527)
• 1632 – Catherine of St. Augustine, French-Canadian nurse and saint, founded the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec (d. 1668)
• 1662 – Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect, designed the Pillnitz Castle (d. 1736)
• 1695 – Henri Pitot, French physicist and engineer, invented the Pitot tube (d. 1771)
• 1729 – Florian Leopold Gassmann, Czech composer (d. 1774)
• 1761 – August von Kotzebue, German playwright and author (d. 1819)
• 1764 – Princess Élisabeth of France (d. 1794)
• 1768 – Charles Tennant, Scottish chemist and businessman (d. 1838)
• 1814 – Adams George Archibald, Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (d. 1892)
• 1826 – Charles XV of Sweden (d. 1872)
• 1844 – Richard D'Oyly Carte, English talent agent and composer (d. 1901)
• 1849 – Jacob Riis, Danish-American journalist and photographer (d. 1914)
• 1849 – Bernhard von Bülow, German soldier and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1929)
• 1857 – George Gore, American baseball player and manager (d. 1933)
• 1859 – Andy Adams, American author (d. 1935)
• 1860 – Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1940)
• 1867 – J. T. Hearne, English cricketer (d. 1944)
• 1870 – Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1948)
• 1871 – Emmett Dalton, American criminal (d. 1937)
• 1873 – Pavlo Skoropadskyi, German-Ukrainian general and politician, Hetman of Ukraine (d. 1945)
• 1874 – François Coty, French businessman and publisher, founded Coty, Inc. (d. 1934)
• 1874 – Vagn Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer and academic (d. 1954)
• 1877 – Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst and author (d. 1925)
• 1879 – Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman and soldier, co-founded Qantas (d. 1950)
• 1886 – Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (d. 1971)
• 1887 – Marika Kotopouli, Greek actress (d. 1954)
• 1889 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (d. 1981)
• 1891 – Tadeusz Peiper, Polish poet and critic (d. 1969)
• 1891 – Eppa Rixey, American baseball pitcher (d. 1963)
• 1892 – George Paget Thomson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
• 1892 – Jacob Viner, Canadian-American economist and academic (d. 1970)
• 1893 – Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian author (d. 1975)
• 1895 – Cornelius Van Til, Dutch philosopher, theologian, and apologist (d. 1987)
• 1896 – Karl Allmenröder, German soldier and pilot (d. 1917)
• 1896 – V. K. Krishna Menon, Indian lawyer, jurist, and politician, Indian Minister of Defence (d. 1974)
• 1896 – Dodie Smith, English author and playwright (d. 1990)
• 1897 – William Joseph Browne, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Solicitor General of Canada (d. 1989)
• 1898 – Septima Poinsette Clark, American educator and activist (d. 1987)
• 1898 – Golda Meir, Ukrainian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1978)
• 1901 – Gino Cervi, Italian actor (d. 1974)
• 1902 – Alfred Kastler, German-French physicist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
• 1903 – Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (The Rhythm Boys) (d. 1977)
• 1905 – Edmund Black, American hammer thrower (d. 1996)
• 1905 – Werner Fenchel, German-Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1988)
• 1905 – Red Ruffing, American baseball pitcher and coach (d. 1986)
• 1906 – Mary Astor, American actress (d. 1987)
• 1906 – René Huyghe, French historian and author (d. 1997)
• 1906 – Anna Roosevelt Halsted, American journalist and author (d. 1975)
• 1906 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican journalist, author, and playwright (d. 2005)
• 1907 – Dorothy Young, American actress and dancer (d. 2011)
• 1910 – Norman Corwin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2011)
• 1912 – Virgil Fox, American organist and composer (d. 1980)
• 1912 – May Sarton, Belgian-American author and poet (d. 1995)
• 1913 – William Inge, American author and playwright (d. 1973)
• 1914 – Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, French journalist, author, and poet
• 1915 – Stu Hart, Canadian wrestler and trainer, founded Stampede Wrestling (d. 2003)
• 1915 – Richard Lippold, American sculptor and academic (d. 2002)
• 1916 – Léopold Simoneau, Canadian tenor and actor (d. 2006)
• 1917 – Betty Comden, American screenwriter and librettist (d. 2006)
• 1918 – Ted Bates, English footballer and manager (d. 2003)
• 1919 – John Cullen Murphy, American soldier and illustrator (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Pete Seeger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (The Weavers and Almanac Singers) (d. 2014)
• 1920 – John Lewis, American pianist and composer (Modern Jazz Quartet) (d. 2001)
• 1921 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer and actor (d. 1989)
• 1922 – Len Shackleton, English footballer and journalist (d. 2000)
• 1923 – George Hadjinikos, Greek pianist, conductor, and educator (d. 2015)
• 1923 – Ralph Hall, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician
• 1924 – Yehuda Amichai, German-Israeli author and poet (d. 2000)
• 1924 – Ken Tyrrell, English race car driver, founded Tyrrell Racing (d. 2001)
• 1925 – Jean Séguy, French sociologist and author (d. 2007)
• 1926 – Matt Baldwin, Canadian curler and engineer
• 1926 – Herbert Blau, American engineer and academic (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Dave Dudley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
• 1928 – Jacques-Louis Lions, French mathematician (d. 2001)
• 1929 – Denise Lor, American singer and actress (d. 2015)
• 1930 – Juan Gelman, Argentinian poet and author (d. 2014)
• 1930 – David Harrison, English chemist and academic
• 1931 – Vasily Rudenkov, Belarusian hammer thrower (d. 1982)
• 1932 – Robert Osborne, American actor and historian
• 1933 – James Brown, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (The Famous Flames and The J.B.'s) (d. 2006)
• 1933 – Alex Cord, American actor
• 1933 – Graham Day, Canadian lawyer and businessman
• 1933 – Brother Stair, American minister and radio host
• 1933 – Steven Weinberg, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1934 – Henry Cooper, English boxer and sportscaster (d. 2011)
• 1934 – Georges Moustaki, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Frankie Valli, American singer and actor (The Four Seasons and The Wonder Who?)
• 1935 – Ron Popeil, American businessman, founded the Ronco Company
• 1937 – Nélida Piñon, Brazilian author and academic
• 1938 – Omar Abdel-Rahman, Egyptian terrorist
• 1938 – Chris Cannizzaro, American baseball player
• 1938 – Lindsay Kemp, English actor, dancer, and choreographer
• 1939 – Jonathan Harvey, English composer and educator (d. 2012)
• 1940 – David H. Koch, American engineer, businessman, and philanthropist
• 1940 – Conny Plank, German DJ and producer (Cluster and Moebius & Plank) (d. 1987)
• 1940 – Clemens Westerhof, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1941 – Alexander Harley, English general
• 1941 – Edward Malloy, American priest and academic
• 1942 – Věra Čáslavská, Czech gymnast and coach
• 1942 – Dave Marash, American journalist and sportscaster
• 1942 – Butch Otter, American soldier and politician, 32nd Governor of Idaho
• 1943 – Jim Risch, American lawyer and politician, 31st Governor of Idaho
• 1944 – Peter Doyle, English bishop
• 1944 – Alan Rose, Australian public servant
• 1944 – Pete Staples, English bass player (The Troggs)
• 1945 – Jörg Drehmel, German triple jumper and coach
• 1945 – Davey Lopes, American baseball player, coach, and manager
• 1946 – Norm Chow, American football player and coach
• 1946 – Silvino Francisco, South African snooker player
• 1946 – Greg Gumbel, American sportscaster
• 1947 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician (d. 2000)
• 1947 – Mavis Jukes, American lawyer and author
• 1948 – Chris Mulkey, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1948 – Peter Oosterhuis, English golfer and sportscaster
• 1949 – Liam Donaldson, English physician and academic
• 1949 – Ken Hom, American chef and author
• 1949 – Ruth Lister, Baroness Lister of Burtersett, English academic and politician
• 1949 – Ron Wyden, American academic and politician
• 1950 – Mary Hopkin, Welsh singer-songwriter
• 1950 – Dag Arnesen, Norwegian pianist and composer
• 1951 – Alan Clayson, English singer-songwriter and journalist
• 1951 – Christopher Cross, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1951 – Ashok Gehlot, Indian politician, 21st Chief Minister of Rajasthan
• 1951 – Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian author and publicist
• 1952 – Chuck Baldwin, American pastor and politician
• 1952 – Caitlin Clarke. American actress (d. 2004)
• 1952 – Allan Wells, Scottish runner and coach
• 1953 – Bruce Hall, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (REO Speedwagon)
• 1953 – Jake Hooker, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (Arrows) (d. 2014)
• 1953 – Gary Young, American drummer (Pavement)
• 1954 – Angela Bofill, American singer-songwriter
• 1954 – Patti Boulaye, Nigerian-English singer and actress
• 1954 – Peter Duncan, English actor and television host
• 1954 – Jean-Marc Roberts, French author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1955 – Stephen D. M. Brown, British geneticist
• 1955 – Colin Deans, Scottish rugby player
• 1955 – David Hookes, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2004)
• 1956 – Marc Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1957 – Alain Côté, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1957 – Rod Langway, Taiwanese-American ice hockey player and coach
• 1958 – Kevin Kilner, American actor
• 1958 – Susanna Kwan, Hong Kong singer and actress
• 1958 – Bill Sienkiewicz, American author and illustrator
• 1958 – Sandi Toksvig, Danish-English comedian, author, and radio host
• 1959 – David Ball, English keyboard player and producer (Soft Cell and The Grid)
• 1959 – Uma Bharti, Indian activist and politician, 16th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
• 1959 – Ben Elton, English actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1959 – Ivari Ilja, Estonian pianist and educator
• 1960 – Geraint Davies, English businessman and politician
• 1960 – Kathy Smallwood-Cook, English sprinter and educator
• 1960 – Amy Steel, American actress
• 1961 – Steve McClaren, English footballer and manager
• 1961 – Joe Murray, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
• 1961 – David Vitter, American lawyer and politician
• 1961 – Leyla Zana, Kurdish activist and politician
• 1962 – Anders Graneheim, Swedish bodybuilder
• 1963 – Jeff Hornacek, American basketball player and coach
• 1963 – Edward Kessler, English theologian, author, and academic
• 1963 – Marco Mendoza, American guitarist (The Dead Daisies)
• 1963 – Jamie Reeves, English strongman and wrestler
• 1963 – Mona Siddiqui, Pakistani-Scottish journalist and academic
• 1964 – Sterling Campbell, American drummer and songwriter (Duran Duran and Soul Asylum)
• 1964 – Ron Hextall, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager
• 1965 – Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian patriarch
• 1965 – Rob Brydon, Welsh actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Nina García, Colombian-American journalist and critic
• 1965 – John Jensen, Danish footballer and coach
• 1965 – Mikhail Prokhorov, Russian businessman
• 1965 – Christine Schäfer, German soprano
• 1966 – Giorgos Agorogiannis, Greek footballer
• 1966 – Firdous Bamji, Indian-American actor
• 1966 – Frank Dietrich, German politician (d. 2011)
• 1966 – Darren Morgan, Welsh snooker player and coach
• 1967 – Adam Hughes, American author and illustrator
• 1967 – André Olbrich, German guitarist and songwriter (Blind Guardian)
• 1968 – Shane Minor, American singer-songwriter
• 1969 – Daryl F. Mallett, American author and actor
• 1969 – Bruce Reyes-Chow, American minister and author
• 1969 – Amy Ryan, American actress
• 1970 – Bobby Cannavale, American actor and singer
• 1970 – Suzi Perry, English model and journalist
• 1970 – Jeffrey Sebelia, American fashion designer
• 1970 – Marie-Soleil Tougas, Canadian actress (d. 1997)
• 1971 – Douglas Carswell, English politician
• 1971 – Josey Scott, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Saliva)
• 1972 – Stephen Barclay, English lawyer and politician
• 1972 – Shonie Carter, American mixed martial artist and kick-boxer
• 1973 – Jamie Baulch, English sprinter and television host
• 1973 – Rea Garvey, Irish-German singer-songwriter and guitarist (Reamonn)
• 1973 – Brad Martin, American singer-songwriter
• 1974 – Princess Haya bint Al Hussein of Jordan
• 1974 – Peter Everitt, Australian footballer and radio host
• 1975 – Willie Geist, American television journalist and host
• 1975 – Christina Hendricks, American actress
• 1975 – Dulé Hill, American actor, dancer, and producer
• 1975 – Valentino Lanús, Mexican actor and singer
• 1975 – Maksim Mrvica, Croatian pianist
• 1976 – Jeff Halpern, American ice hockey player
• 1976 – Brad Scott, Australian footballer and coach
• 1976 – Chris Scott, Australian footballer and coach
• 1977 – Eric Church, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1977 – Ryan Dempster, Canadian baseball player and sportscaster
• 1977 – Joanna Forest, English soprano
• 1977 – Tyronn Lue, American basketball player and coach
• 1977 – Hiro Mashima, Japanese illustrator
• 1978 – Christian Annan, Ghanaian-Hong Kong footballer
• 1978 – Paul Banks, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Interpol)
• 1978 – Miri Mesika, Israeli singer and actress
• 1978 – Dai Tamesue, Japanese hurdler
• 1978 – Lawrence Tynes, Scottish-American football player
• 1979 – Steve Mack, American wrestler
• 1979 – Genevieve Nnaji, Nigerian actress and singer
• 1979 – Anastasiya Shvedova, Belarusian pole vaulter
• 1980 – Chua Boon Huat, Malaysian field hockey player (d. 2013)
• 1980 – Zuzana Ondrášková, Czech tennis player
• 1980 – Marcel Vigneron, American chef
• 1981 – U;Nee, South Korean singer, dancer, and actress (d. 2007)
• 1981 – Charlie Brooks, English-Welsh actress
• 1981 – Farrah Franklin, American singer, dancer, and actress (Destiny's Child)
• 1981 – J. Tillman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Fleet Foxes and Saxon Shore)
• 1982 – Igor Olshansky, Ukrainian-American football player
• 1982 – Nick Stavinoha, American baseball player
• 1983 – Joseph Addai, American football player
• 1983 – Romeo Castelen, Dutch footballer
• 1983 – Jérôme Clavier, French pole vaulter
• 1983 – Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer (d. 2015)
• 1984 – Cheryl Burke, American dancer and model
• 1985 – Ezequiel Lavezzi, Argentinian footballer
• 1985 – Kadri Lehtla, Estonian biathlete
• 1985 – Miko Mälberg, Estonian swimmer
• 1985 – Meagan Tandy, American model and actress
• 1985 – Danila Kozlovsky, Russian actor
• 1987 – Lina Grinčikaitė, Lithuanian sprinter
• 1988 – Ben Revere, American baseball player
• 1989 – Nadia Forde, Irish model, singer, and actress
• 1989 – Mary Lambert, American singer-songwriter and poet
• 1989 – Taylor Trensch, American actor
• 1990 – Miranda Chartrand, Canadian-English singer (Miranda Chartrand and Adam Nichols)
• 1990 – Levi Johnston, American model and author
• 1990 – Maddy O'Reilly, American porn actress
• 1991 – Bela Padilla, Filipino actress
• 1994 – Lindsay Bushman, American actress
• 1995 – Zach Sobiech, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1996 – Mary Cain, American runner
• 1996 – Noah Munck, American actor
• 1996 – Domantas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1997 – Ivana Jorović, Serbian tennis player
• 2006 – Mutya Orquia, Filipina actress

Deaths

• 1152 – Matilda of Boulogne (b. 1105)
• 1270 – Béla IV of Hungary (b. 1206)
• 1294 – John I, Duke of Brabant (b. 1252)
• 1481 – Mehmed the Conqueror, Ottoman sultan (b. 1432)
• 1524 – Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Kent, English peer (b. 1481)
• 1598 – Anna Guarini, Italian singer (b. 1563)
• 1606 – Henry Garnet, English priest and author (b. 1555)
• 1679 – James Sharp, Scottish archbishop (b. 1613)
• 1693 – Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French courtier (b. 1607)
• 1704 – Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Czech-Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1644)
• 1724 – John Leverett the Younger, American lawyer, academic, and politician (b. 1662)
• 1750 – John Willison, Scottish minister and author (b. 1680)
• 1752 – Samuel Ogle, English-American captain and politician, 5th Governor of Restored Proprietary Government (b. 1692)
• 1758 – Pope Benedict XIV (b. 1675)
• 1763 – George Psalmanazar, French-English author (b. 1679)
• 1764 – Francesco Algarotti, Italian philosopher, poet, and critic (b. 1712)
• 1779 – John Winthrop, American mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1714)
• 1793 – Martin Gerbert, German historian and theologian (b. 1720)
• 1839 – Ferdinando Paer, Italian composer (b. 1771)
• 1856 – Adolphe Adam, French composer and critic (b. 1803)
• 1910 – Howard Taylor Ricketts, American pathologist (b. 1871)
• 1916 – Tom Clarke, English-Irish activist (b. 1858)
• 1916 – Thomas MacDonagh, Irish poet, playwright, and activist (b. 1878)
• 1916 – Patrick Pearse, Irish lawyer, poet, and activist (b. 1879)
• 1918 – Charlie Soong, Chinese businessman and missionary (b. 1863)
• 1921 – Théodore Pilette, Belgian race car driver (b. 1883)
• 1932 – Charles Fort, American journalist and author (b. 1874)
• 1939 – Madeleine Desroseaux, French author and poet (b. 1873)
• 1942 – Thorvald Stauning, Danish politician, 24th Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1873)
• 1943 – Harry Miller, American engineer (b. 1875)
• 1948 – Ernst Tandefelt, Finnish assassin of Heikki Ritavuori (b. 1876)
• 1948 – Gideon Wahlberg, Swedish actor, screenwriter, and film director (b. 1890)
• 1949 – Fanny Walden, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1888)
• 1958 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (b. 1889)
• 1969 – Zakir Hussain, Indian academic and politician, 3rd President of India (b. 1897)
• 1970 – Cemil Gürgen Erlertürk, Turkish footballer, coach, and pilot (b. 1918)
• 1972 – Kenneth Bailey, Australian lawyer and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to Canada (b. 1898)
• 1972 – Emil Breitkreutz, American runner and coach (b. 1883)
• 1972 – Bruce Cabot, American actor (b. 1904)
• 1972 – Leslie Harvey, Scottish guitarist (Stone the Crows) (b. 1944)
• 1978 – Bill Downs, American journalist (b. 1914)
• 1981 – Nargis, Indian actress (b. 1929)
• 1987 – Dalida, Egyptian-Italian singer and actress (b. 1933)
• 1988 – Lev Pontryagin, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1908)
• 1988 – Paul Vario, American mobster (b. 1914)
• 1989 – Christine Jorgensen, American trans woman (b. 1926)
• 1991 – Jerzy Kosiński, Polish-American author (b. 1933)
• 1992 – George Murphy, American actor, dancer, and politician (b. 1902)
• 1996 – Dimitri Fampas, Greek guitarist, composer, and educator (b. 1921)
• 1996 – Alex Kellner, American baseball player (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Jack Weston, American actor (b. 1924)
• 1997 – Sébastien Enjolras, French race car driver (b. 1976)
• 1997 – Narciso Yepes, Spanish guitarist and composer (b. 1927)
• 1998 – Gene Raymond, American actor, singer, director, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
• 1999 – Joe Adcock, American baseball player and manager (b. 1927)
• 1999 – Steve Chiasson, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1967)
• 1999 – Godfrey Evans, English cricketer (b. 1920)
• 2000 – Júlia Báthory, Hungarian glass designer (b. 1901)
• 2000 – John Joseph O'Connor, American cardinal (b. 1920)
• 2001 – Billy Higgins, American drummer and educator (b. 1936)
• 2002 – Barbara Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, English politician, First Secretary of State (b. 1910)
• 2002 – Yevgeny Svetlanov, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1928)
• 2003 – Suzy Parker, American model and actress (b. 1932)
• 2004 – Anthony Ainley, English actor (b. 1932)
• 2004 – Ken Downing, English race car driver (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Darrell Johnson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1928)
• 2006 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet (b. 1921)
• 2006 – Pramod Mahajan, Indian politician (b. 1949)
• 2006 – Earl Woods, American colonel, baseball player, and author (b. 1932)
• 2007 – Warja Honegger-Lavater, Swiss illustrator (b. 1913)
• 2007 – Wally Schirra, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Knock Yokoyama, Japanese politician (b. 1932)
• 2008 – Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, Spanish engineer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1926)
• 2009 – Ton Lutz, Dutch actor and director (b. 1919)
• 2009 – Renée Morisset, Canadian pianist (b. 1928)
• 2009 – Ram Balkrushna Shewalkar, Indian author and critic (b. 1931)
• 2010 – Roy Carrier, American accordion player (b. 1947)
• 2010 – Peter O'Donnell, English soldier and author (b. 1920)
• 2010 – Guenter Wendt, German-American engineer (b. 1923)
• 2011 – Jackie Cooper, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1922)
• 2011 – Sergo Kotrikadze, Georgian footballer and manager (b. 1936)
• 2011 – Thanasis Veggos, Greek actor and director (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Edith Bliss, Australian singer and television host (b. 1959)
• 2012 – Lloyd Brevett, Jamaican bassist and songwriter (The Skatalites) (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Jorge Illueca, Panamanian politician, 30th President of Panama (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Felix Werder, German-Australian composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Digby Wolfe, English-Australian actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Joe Astroth, American baseball player (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Herbert Blau, American engineer and academic (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Cedric Brooks, Jamaican-American saxophonist and flute player (The Skatalites and The Sound Dimensions) (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Keith Carter, American swimmer and soldier (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Brad Drewett, Australian tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1958)
• 2013 – David Morris Kern, American pharmacist, co-invented Orajel (b. 1909)
• 2013 – Curtis Rouse, American football player (b. 1960)
• 2013 – Branko Vukelić, Croatian politician, 11th Minister of Defence for Croatia (b. 1958)
• 2014 – Gary Becker, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Bobby Gregg, American drummer and producer (b. 1936)
• 2014 – Francisco Icaza, Mexican painter (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Chet Jastremski, American swimmer and physician (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Jim Oberstar, American educator and politician (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Revaz Chkheidze, Georgian director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
• 2015 – Thomas A. Constantine, American police officer (b. 1938)
• 2015 – Danny Jones, Welsh rugby player (b. 1986)
• 2015 – Warren Smith, American golfer and coach (b. 1915)
• 2015 – Abdul Basit Usman, Filipino criminal (b. 1974)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Abhai (Syriac Orthodox Church)
  • Antonia and Alexander
  • Juvenal of Narni
  • Moura (Coptic Church)
  • Philip and James the Lesser
  • Pope Alexander I
  • Sarah the Martyr (Coptic Church)
  • The Most Holy Virgin Mary Queen of Poland
  • Theodosius of Kiev (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • May 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Constitution Memorial Day (Japan)
• Constitution Day (Poland)
• Finding of the Holy Cross-related observances:
  • Fiesta de las Cruces (Spain and Hispanic America)
  • Roodmas, or Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross (Gallican Rite of the Catholic Church)
• World Press Freedom Day (International)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada