Philippine broadcast network ABS-CBN was forced to go off-air by the National Telecommunications Commission after Congress failed to renew its franchise granted in 1995.
Aeroflot Flight 1492 was struck by lightning after leaving Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport and caught fire during the subsequent emergency landing attempt, killing 41 people on board.
Kenya Airways Flight 507 crashed immediately after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Cameroon, resulting in the deaths of all 114 people aboard.
American teenager Michael P. Fay was caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism, a punishment that the United States deemed to be excessive for a teenager committing a non-violent crime.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, 202 years after it was first proposed.
Riots broke out in Washington, D.C., after a rookie police officer shot a Salvadoran man in the chest.
After a 66-day hunger strike, Irish republican Bobby Sands died of starvation in HM Prison Maze.
The British Special Air Service recaptured the Iranian embassy in London following a six-day siege after Iranian Arab separatists had seized it.
Project Mercury: American astronaut Alan Shepard (pictured) made a sub-orbital spaceflight on board Freedom 7, becoming the second person to travel into outer space.
The Netherlands Carillon was inaugurated in Arlington, Virginia, on the 15th anniversary of Dutch Liberation Day.
World War II: American and German troops fought side-by-side at the Battle for Castle Itter, defending a prison against Waffen-SS forces.
World War II: The citizens of Prague spontaneously rose up against the city's German occupiers.
World War II: A squad of 250 Norwegian volunteers defending Hegra Fortress surrendered to a superior Nazi force after a 25-day siege.
Pitching for the Boston Americans, Cy Young threw the first perfect game in modern professional baseball.
Carnegie Hall (interior pictured) in New York City, built by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, officially opened with a concert conducted by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
American Civil War: Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign in Virginia began with the inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness in Spotsylvania County.
Led by Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi, the volunteer Expedition of the Thousand set sail from Genoa on a campaign to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, a crucial event of the unification of Italy.
Cromwell's Act of Grace, which pardoned the people of Scotland for any crimes committed during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, was proclaimed in Edinburgh.
First English Civil War: Charles I surrendered himself to Scottish Covenanter leader David Leslie near Newark, England.
The World Health Organization declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency.
Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek government-debt crisis.
Kenya Airways Flight 507 crashes after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, killing all 114 aboard, making it the deadliest aircraft disaster in Cameroon.
The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army.
The signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively freezes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
American teenager Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism.
A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man.
Iran–Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States of America
Ronald Reagan visits the military cemetery at Bitburg and the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he makes a speech.
Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27.
Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege.
Secretariat wins the 1973 Kentucky Derby in 1:59.4, an as-yet-unbeaten record.
Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 aboard, making it the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy.
The Council of Europe declares May 5 as Europe Day.
Project Mercury: Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight.
The General Treaty, by which France, Britain and the United States recognize the sovereignty of West Germany, comes into effect.
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo with twenty-eight Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
World War II: The Prague uprising begins as an attempt by the Czech resistance to free the city from German occupation.
World War II: A Fu-Go balloon bomb launched by the Japanese Army kills six people near Bly, Oregon.
World War II: Battle of Castle Itter, one of only two battles in that war in which American and German troops fought cooperatively.
Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots' Victory Day.
World War II: Norwegian Campaign: Norwegian squads in Hegra Fortress and Vinjesvingen capitulate to German forces after all other Norwegian forces in southern Norway had laid down their arms.
Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The 1930 Bago earthquake, the former of two major earthquakes in southern Burma kills as many as 7,000 in Yangon and Bago.
Authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder.
The first issue of the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda was published.
The trial in the Stratton Brothers case begins in London, England; it marks the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to gain a conviction for murder.
Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
The Peruvian Academy of Language is founded.
Workers marching for the Eight-hour day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin were shot at by Wisconsin National Guardsmen in what became known as the Bay View Massacre.
American Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York.
American Civil War: The Confederate government was declared dissolved at Washington, Georgia.
American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County.
Cinco de Mayo: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico.
The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
Emperor Napoleon dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
The first edition of The Manchester Guardian, now The Guardian, is published.
Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614.
Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg.
Cromwell's Act of Grace, aimed at reconciliation with the Scots, proclaimed in Edinburgh.
King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.
Daimyō (Lord) Shimazu Tadatsune of the Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in Okinawa.
On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica, landing at Discovery Bay and declares Jamaica the property of the Spanish crown.
Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta.
The Second Council of Constantinople begins.
Jenna Davis, American actress and YouTuber
Kirsty Muir, Scottish freestyle skier
Carlos Alcaraz, Spanish tennis player
Nathan Chen, American figure skater
Justin Kluivert, Dutch footballer
Aryna Sabalenka, Belarusian tennis player
Logan Gilbert, American baseball player
Mitch Marner, Canadian hockey player
Christopher Eubanks, American tennis player
Mayar Sherif, Egyptian tennis player
James Conner, American football player
Celeste, British singer
Raúl Jiménez, Mexican footballer
Chris Brown, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
Agnes Knochenhauer, Swedish curler
Adele, English singer-songwriter
Graham Dorrans, Scottish footballer
Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese actress and singer
Emanuele Giaccherini, Italian footballer
P. J. Tucker, American basketball player
Henry Cavill, English actor
Vanessa Bryant, American philanthropist and model
Corey Parker, Australian rugby league footballer
Craig David, English singer-songwriter, musician and producer
Danielle Fishel, American actress
Yossi Benayoun, Israeli footballer
Hank Green, American entrepreneur, educator, and vlogger
Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
Tiffany Roberts, American footballer
Dieter Brummer, Australian actor (died 2021)
Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentinian footballer and sportscaster
Meb Keflezighi, American runner
James Cracknell, English rower
Žigmund Pálffy, Slovakian ice hockey player
Mikael Renberg, Swedish ice hockey player
Harold Miner, American basketball player
Adam Hughes, American author and illustrator
Charles Nagy, American baseball player
Alexis Sinduhije, Burundian journalist and politician
Shawn Drover, Canadian drummer
Sergei Stanishev, Bulgarian politician, 46th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
Josh Weinstein, American screenwriter and producer
Jean-François Copé, French politician, French Minister of Budget
Heike Henkel, German high jumper
Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (died 2013)
Minami Takayama, Japanese voice actress and singer
James LaBrie, Canadian singer-songwriter
Simon Rimmer, English chef and author
Scott Westerfeld, American author and composer
Marg Downey, Australian actress
Hiroshi Hase, Japanese wrestler and politician
Doug Hawkins, Australian footballer and sportscaster
Bobby Ellsworth, American singer and bass player
Ian McCulloch, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
Brian Williams, American journalist
Robert DiPierdomenico, Australian footballer and sportscaster
Richard E. Grant, Swazi-English actor, director, and screenwriter
Steve Scott, American runner and coach
Jon Butcher, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and freelance multimedia producer
Ed Lee, American politician and attorney, 43rd Mayor of San Francisco (died 2017)
Maggie MacNeal, Dutch singer
Bill Ward, English drummer and songwriter
Jim Kelly, American actor, athlete, and martial artist (died 2013)
Kurt Loder, American journalist, author, and critic
Bo Larsson, Swedish footballer (died 2023)
John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor and screenwriter
Roger Rees, Welsh-American actor and director (died 2015)
Michael Palin, English actor and screenwriter
Ignacio Ramonet, Spanish journalist and author
Jean Corston, Baroness Corston, English lawyer and politician
Tammy Wynette, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1998)
Lance Henriksen, American actor
Ray Gosling, English journalist, author, and activist (died 2013)
Michael Murphy, American actor
Beryl Burton, English racing cyclist (died 1996)
Delia Derbyshire, English musician, arranger and composer (died 2001)
Sandy Baron, American actor and comedian (died 2001)
Eddie Linden, Scottish poet and magazine editor (died 2023)
Bernard Pivot, French journalist, talk show host, and producer (died 2024)
Henri Konan Bédié, Ivorian politician, 2nd President of Côte d'Ivoire (died 2023)
Victor Garland, Australian accountant and politician, 26th Australian Minister for Veterans' Affairs (died 2022)
Collie Smith, Jamaican cricketer (died 1959)
Stan Goldberg, American illustrator (died 2014)
Ilene Woods, American actress (died 2010)
Pat Carroll, American actress (died 2022)
Leo Ryan, American soldier, educator, and politician (died 1978)
William C. Campbell, American golfer (died 2013)
Cathleen Synge Morawetz, Canadian mathematician (died 2017)
Irene Gut Opdyke, Polish nurse and humanitarian (died 2003)
Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1999)
Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, 169th Prime Minister of Greece (died 1999)
Zail Singh, Indian politician, 7th President of India (died 1994)
Alice Faye, American actress and singer (died 1998)
Tyrone Power, American actor (died 1958)
Duane Carter, American race car driver (died 1993)
Andor Lilienthal, Russian-Hungarian chess player (died 2010)
Pritilata Waddedar, Indian educator and activist (died 1932)
Leo Lionni, American author and illustrator (died 1999)
Daryna Dmytrivna Polotniuk, Bukovinian (Ukrainian) journalist and author (died 1982)
Floyd Gottfredson, American author and illustrator (died 1986)
James Beard, American chef and author (died 1985)
Janne Mustonen, Finnish politician (died 1964)
Helen Redfield, American geneticist (died 1988)
Freeman Gosden, American actor and screenwriter (died 1982)
Elsie Eaves, American engineer (died 1983)
Blind Willie McTell, American Piedmont blues singer and guitar player (died 1959)
Dorothy Garrod, British archaeologist (died 1968)
Christopher Morley, American journalist and author (died 1957)
Herbie Taylor, South African cricketer and soldier (died 1973)
Mervyn S. Bennion, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1941)
Kingsley Fairbridge, South African-Australian scholar and politician (died 1924)
Chief Bender, American baseball player and coach (died 1954)
Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English general and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (died 1950)
Anna Johnson Pell Wheeler, American mathematician (died 1966)
Sylvia Pankhurst, English women's suffrage movement leader and socialist activist (died 1960)
Thomas Bavin, New Zealand-Australian politician, 24th Premier of New South Wales (died 1941)
Leon Czolgosz, American assassin of William McKinley (died 1901)
Fabián de la Rosa, Filipino painter and educator (died 1937)
Hans Pfitzner, German composer and conductor (died 1949)
Thomas B. Thrige, Danish businessman (died 1938)
Helen Maud Merrill, American litterateur and poet (died 1943)
Nellie Bly, American journalist and author (died 1922)
Charles B. Hanford, American Shakespearean actor (died 1926)
John L. Leal, American physician (died 1914)
Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1916)
William George Beers, Canadian dentist and patriot (died 1900)
Viktor Hartmann, Russian painter and architect (died 1873)
Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer and academic (died 1905)
Hubert Howe Bancroft, American ethnologist and historian (died 1918)
John Batterson Stetson, American businessman, founded the John B. Stetson Company (died 1906)
Eugénie de Montijo, French wife of Napoleon III (died 1920)
Karl Marx, German philosopher, sociologist, and journalist (died 1883)
Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher and author (died 1855)
Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (died 1864)
Robert Craufurd, Scottish general and politician (died 1812)
Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, French pianist and composer (died 1794)
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1792)
Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné, French wife of Adrien Maurice de Noailles (died 1739)
John Frederick, Duke of Württemberg (died 1628)
Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (died 1623)
Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, French nobleman (died 1574)
Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (died 1579)
Guru Amar Das, Indian 3rd Sikh Guru (died 1574)
Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (died 1410)
Preczlaw of Pogarell, Cardinal and Bishop of Wrocław (died 1376)
Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena (died 1348)
Afonso III of Portugal (died 1279)
Jeannie Epper, American stuntwoman and actress (born 1941)
Bernard Hill, English actor (born 1944)
César Luis Menotti, Argentine footballer and manager (born 1938)
Millie Small, Jamaican singer-songwriter (born 1947)
Binyamin Elon, Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician (born 1954)
Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Mauritanian politician (born 1953)
Jobst Brandt, American cyclist, engineer, and author (born 1935)
Hans Jansen, Dutch linguist, academic, and politician (born 1942)
Michael Otedola, Nigerian journalist and politician, 9th Governor of Lagos State (born 1926)
Sarah Kirsch, German poet and author (born 1935)
Robert Ressler, American FBI agent and author (born 1937)
Surendranath, Indian cricketer (born 1937)
Carl Johan Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (born 1916)
Aatos Erkko, Finnish journalist and publisher (born 1932)
George Knobel, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager (born 1922)
Roy Padayachie, South African lawyer and politician, South African Minister of Communications (born 1950)
Claude Choules, English-Australian soldier (born 1901)
Yosef Merimovich, Israeli footballer and manager (born 1924)
Dana Wynter, British actress (born 1931)
Giulietta Simionato, Italian soprano (born 1910)
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Nigerian academic and politician, 13th President of Nigeria (born 1951)
Irv Robbins, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (born 1917)
Jerry Wallace, American singer and guitarist (born 1928)
Theodore Harold Maiman, American-Canadian physicist and engineer, created the laser (born 1927)
Naushad Ali, Indian composer and producer (born 1919)
Atıf Yılmaz, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1925)
Sam Bockarie, Sierra Leonean commander (born 1964)
Walter Sisulu, South African activist and politician (born 1912)
Hugo Banzer, Bolivian general and politician, 62nd President of Bolivia (born 1926)
Paul Wilbur Klipsch, American engineer, founded Klipsch Audio Technologies (born 1904)
George Sidney, American director and producer (born 1916)
Louis C. Wyman, American lawyer and politician (born 1917)
Morris Graves, American painter and educator (born 1910)
Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, created CliffsNotes (born 1918)
Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (born 1914)
Bill Musselman, American basketball player and coach (born 1940)
Vasilis Diamantopoulos, Greek actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1920)
Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player and coach (born 1911)
Mário Quintana, Brazilian poet and translator (born 1906)
Irving Howe, American literary and social critic (born 1920)
Michael Shaara, American author and academic (born 1928)
Donald Bailey, English engineer, designed the Bailey bridge (born 1901)
Horst Schumann, German physician (born 1901)
John Williams, English-American actor (born 1903)
Bobby Sands, PIRA volunteer and hunger striker (born 1954)
Ludwig Erhard, German economist and politician, Chancellor of Germany (born 1897)
Zekai Özger, Turkish poet and academic (born 1948)
Violet Jessop, Argentinean-English nurse (born 1887)
Nikos Gounaris, Greek tenor and composer (born 1915)
John Waters, American director and screenwriter (born 1893)
Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (born 1889)
Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentinian academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1878)
Leopold Löwenheim, German mathematician and logician (born 1878)
Ty LaForest, Canadian-American baseball player (born 1917)
Qemal Stafa, Albanian politician (born 1920)
Platon of Banja Luka, Serbian Orthodox bishop (born 1874)
Glen Kidston, English pilot and race car driver (born 1899)
A. Sabapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and politician (born 1853)
Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian journalist and publicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1864)
John MacBride, Irish soldier and rebel (born 1865)
Maurice Raoul-Duval, French polo player (born 1866)
Henry Moret, French painter (born 1856)
Şeker Ahmed Pasha, Turkish soldier and painter (born 1841)
Bret Harte, American short story writer and poet (born 1836)
Mariano Ignacio Prado, Peruvian general, twice President of Peru (born 1825)
Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (born 1839)
August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic (born 1818)
John O'Shanassy, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Victoria (born 1818)
Jean-Charles Prince, Canadian bishop (born 1804)
Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician and academic (born 1805)
Sir Robert Inglis, 2nd Baronet, English politician (born 1786)
Sophia Campbell, English-Australian painter (born 1777)
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (born 1750)
Napoleon, French general and emperor (born 1769)
Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (born 1757)
Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (born 1684)
Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English politician (born 1720)
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1640)
Angelo Italia, Italian architect (born 1628)
Samuel Cooper, English painter and linguist (born 1609)
Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, English general and politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom (born 1602)
Henry Sidney, Irish politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland (born 1529)
Charlotte of Bourbon, Princess consort of Orange, married to William I of Orange (born 1547)
Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (born 1463)
Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola, Italian adventurer
Saint Philotheos, Coptic martyr
Prince Tsunenaga, son of the Japanese Emperor (born 1324)
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of King Edward I of England (born 1282)
Charles II of Naples (born 1254)
Constantine Palaiologos, Byzantine general (born 1261)
Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, English justiciar (born c. 1160)
Casimir II the Just, Polish son of Bolesław III Wrymouth (born 1138)
Gerontius, Archbishop of Milan
Children's Day (Japan, South Korea)
Christian feast day: Angelus of Jerusalem
Christian feast day: Aventinus of Tours
Christian feast day: Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice
Christian feast day: Frederick the Wise (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
Christian feast day: Gotthard of Hildesheim
Christian feast day: Hilary of Arles
Christian feast day: Jutta of Kulmsee
Christian feast day: Stanisław Kazimierczyk
Christian feast day: May 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Cinco de Mayo (Mexico, United States)
Constitution Day (Kyrgyzstan)
Europe Day (Council of Europe)
Feast of al-Khadr or Saint George (Palestinian)
Indian Arrival Day (Guyana)
International Midwives' Day (International)
Liberation Day (Denmark, Netherlands)
Lusophone Culture Day (Community of Portuguese Language Countries)
World Portuguese Language Day (International)
Martyrs' Day (Albania)
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Awareness Day (Canada and United States)
National Cartoonist Day
Patriots' Victory Day (Ethiopia)
Revenge of the Fifth (see Star Wars Day)
Senior Citizens Day (Palau)
Soviet Press Day (Soviet Union)
Tango no sekku (Japan)
Uyghur Doppa Cultural Festival (Doppa Day): 1–2