Events

Pre-1600

• 351 The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.

• 558 In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt.

• 1104 The Seljuk emirs of Mosul and Mardin defeat the Crusader States of Antioch and Edessa.

• 1190 The Crusader army of emperor Frederick Barbarossa defeats an army of the Rum Seljuks in the battle of Philomelion.

• 1274 In France, the Second Council of Lyon opens; it ratified a decree to regulate the election of the Pope.

• 1342 In Avignon, France, Cardinal Pierre Roger is elected Pope and takes the name Clement VI.

• 1487 The Siege of Málaga commences during the Spanish Reconquista.

• 1544 The Burning of Edinburgh by an English army is the first action of the Rough Wooing.

1601–1900

• 1625 State funeral of James VI and I (1566–1625) is held at Westminster Abbey.

• 1664 Inaugural celebrations begin at Louis XIV's new Palace of Versailles.

• 1685 Battle of Vrtijeljka between rebels and Ottoman forces.

• 1697 Stockholm's medieval castle Tre Kronor is destroyed by fire. It is replaced in the 18th century by the current Royal Palace.

• 1718 The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.

• 1763 Pontiac's War begins with Pontiac's attempt to seize Fort Detroit from the British.

• 1765 HMS Victory is launched at Chatham Dockyard, Kent. She is not commissioned until 1778.

• 1775 The Ottoman Empire cedes Bukovina to the Habsburg monarchy.

• 1794 French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.

• 1798 French Revolutionary Wars: A French force attempting to dislodge a small British garrison on the Îles Saint-Marcouf is repulsed with heavy losses.

• 1824 World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer's supervision.

• 1832 Greece's independence is recognized by the Treaty of London.

• 1840 The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.

• 1864 American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.

• 1864 The world's oldest surviving clipper ship, the City of Adelaide is launched by William Pile, Hay and Co. in Sunderland, England, for transporting passengers and goods between Britain and Australia.

• 1895 In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector—a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.

1901–present

• 1915 World War I: German submarine sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,199 people, including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many former pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.

• 1915 The Republic of China accedes to 13 of the 21 Demands, extending the Empire of Japan control over Manchuria and the Chinese economy.

• 1920 Polish–Soviet War: Kyiv offensive: Polish troops led by Józef Piłsudski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły and assisted by a symbolic Ukrainian force capture Kyiv only to be driven out by the Red Army counter-offensive a month later.

• 1920 Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.

• 1930 The 7.1 Salmas earthquake shakes northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Up to three-thousand people were killed.

• 1931 The stand-off between criminal Francis Crowley and 300 members of the New York Police Department takes place in his fifth-floor apartment on West 91st Street, New York City.

• 1937 Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces.

• 1940 World War II: The Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.

• 1942 World War II: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Imperial Japanese Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō; the battle marks the first time in naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.

• 1945 World War II: Last German U-boat attack of the war, two freighters are sunk off the Firth of Forth, Scotland.

• 1946 Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded.

• 1948 The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.

• 1952 The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer.

• 1954 Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat and a Viet Minh victory (the battle began on March 13).

• 1960 Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.

• 1964 Pacific Airlines Flight 773 is hijacked by Francisco Gonzales and crashes in Contra Costa County, California, killing 44.

• 1986 Canadian Patrick Morrow becomes the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits.

• 1991 A fire and explosion occurs at a fireworks factory at Sungai Buloh, Malaysia, killing 26.

• 1992 Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.

• 1992 Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission, STS-49.

• 1992 Three employees at a McDonald's Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, are brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery. It is the first "fast-food murder" in Canada.

• 1994 Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.

• 1998 Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.

• 1999 Pope John Paul II travels to Romania, becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.

• 1999 Kosovo War: Three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft inadvertently bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.

• 1999 In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.

• 2000 Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.

• 2002 An EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 crashes on approach to Tunis–Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people.

• 2002 A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.

• 2004 American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamist militants. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.

• 2023 Tanur boat disaster: At least 22 people are killed when a boat carrying tourists capsizes in Tanur, Malappuram, Kerala, India.

• 2025 The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force conduct surgical strikes code-named Operation SINDOOR on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam Attack that killed 26 people.

Births

Pre-1600

• Before 160 Julia Maesa, Roman noblewoman (died 224)

• 1488 John III of the Palatinate, archbishop of Regensburg (died 1538)

• 1530 Louis, Prince of Condé (died 1569)

• 1553 Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (died 1618)

1601–1900

• 1605 Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (died 1681)

• 1643 Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American politician, 10th Mayor of New York City (died 1700)

• 1700 Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian physician (died 1772)

• 1701 Carl Heinrich Graun, German tenor and composer (died 1759)

• 1711 David Hume, Scottish economist, historian, and philosopher (died 1776)

• 1724 Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, French-Austrian field marshal (died 1797)

• 1740 Nikolai Arkharov, Russian police officer and general (died 1814)

• 1748 Olympe de Gouges, French playwright and philosopher (died 1793)

• 1751 Stephen Badlam, American artisan and military officer (died 1815)

• 1763 Józef Poniatowski, Polish general (died 1813)

• 1767 Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (died 1820)

• 1774 William Bainbridge, American commodore (died 1833)

• 1787 Jacques Viger, Canadian archaeologist and politician, 1st mayor of Montreal (died 1858)

• 1812 Robert Browning, English poet and playwright (died 1889)

• 1833 Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer (died 1897)

• 1836 Joseph Gurney Cannon, American lawyer and politician, 40th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 1926)

• 1837 Karl Mauch, German geographer and explorer (died 1875)

• 1840 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer and educator (died 1893)

• 1845 Mary Eliza Mahoney, American nurse and activist (died 1926)

• 1847 Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1929)

• 1857 William A. MacCorkle, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of West Virginia (died 1930)

• 1860 Tom Norman, English businessman (died 1930)

• 1861 Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1941)

• 1867 Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1925)

• 1875 Bill Hoyt, American pole vaulter (died 1951)

• 1880 Pandurang Vaman Kane, Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Bharat Ratna awardee (died 1972)

• 1881 George E. Wiley, American cyclist (died 1954)

• 1882 Willem Elsschot, Belgian author and poet (died 1960)

• 1885 George "Gabby" Hayes, American actor (died 1969)

• 1889 Viktor Puskar, Estonian colonel (died 1943)

• 1891 Harry McShane, Scottish engineer and activist (died 1988)

• 1892 Archibald MacLeish, American poet, playwright, and lawyer (died 1982)

• 1892 Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (died 1980)

• 1893 Frank J. Selke, Canadian ice hockey coach and manager (died 1985)

• 1896 Kathleen McKane Godfree, English tennis and badminton player (died 1992)

• 1899 Alfred Gerrard, English sculptor and academic (died 1998)

1901–present

• 1901 Gary Cooper, American actor (died 1961)

• 1903 Nikolay Zabolotsky, Russian-Soviet poet and translator (died 1958)

• 1905 Philip Baxter, Welsh-Australian chemical engineer (died 1989)

• 1909 Edwin H. Land, American scientist and inventor, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (died 1991)

• 1909 Dorothy Sunrise Lorentino, Native American teacher (died 2005)

• 1911 Ishirō Honda, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1993)

• 1913 Simon Ramo, American physicist and engineer (died 2016)

• 1917 Domenico Bartolucci, Italian cardinal and composer (died 2013)

• 1917 Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (died 2020)

• 1917 David Tomlinson, English actor (died 2000)

• 1919 Eva Perón, Argentinian actress, 25th First Lady of Argentina (died 1952)

• 1920 Rendra Karno, Indonesian actor (died 1985)

• 1922 Darren McGavin, American actor and director (died 2006)

• 1923 Anne Baxter, American actress (died 1985)

• 1927 Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German-American author and screenwriter (died 2013)

• 1929 Dick Williams, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 2011)

• 1930 Babe Parilli, American football player and coach (died 2017)

• 1931 Teresa Brewer, American singer (died 2007)

• 1931 Gene Wolfe, American author (died 2019)

• 1932 Pete Domenici, American lawyer and politician, 37th Mayor of Albuquerque (died 2017)

• 1932 Derek Taylor, English journalist and author (died 1997)

• 1933 Johnny Unitas, American football player and sportscaster (died 2002)

• 1935 Michael Hopkins, English architect (died 2023)

• 1936 Tony O'Reilly, Irish rugby player and businessman (died 2024)

• 1939 Sidney Altman, Canadian-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2022)

• 1939 Ruggero Deodato, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2022)

• 1939 Ruud Lubbers, Dutch economist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 2018)

• 1939 Johnny Maestro, American pop/doo-wop singer (died 2010)

• 1940 Angela Carter, English novelist and short story writer (died 1992)

• 1943 Terry Allen, American singer and painter

• 1943 John Bannon, Australian academic and politician, 39th Premier of South Australia (died 2015)

• 1943 Peter Carey, Australian novelist and short story writer

• 1945 Christy Moore, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1945 Robin Strasser, American actress

• 1946 Thelma Houston, American R&B/disco singer and actress

• 1946 Marv Hubbard, American football player (died 2015)

• 1946 Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer

• 1946 Michael Rosen, English author and poet

• 1950 John Dowling Coates, Australian lawyer, sports administrator and businessman

• 1950 Randall "Tex" Cobb, American boxer and actor

• 1950 Tim Russert, American television journalist and lawyer (died 2008)

• 1954 Amy Heckerling, American director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1956 Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch jurist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

• 1956 Anne Dudley, English pianist and composer

• 1956 Nicholas Hytner, English director and producer

• 1956 Jean Lapierre, Canadian talk show host and politician (died 2016)

• 1958 Anne Marie Rafferty, English nurse and academic

• 1958 William Ridenour, American politician

• 1960 Ara Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham, Iraqi-English surgeon and academic

• 1960 Almudena Grandes, Spanish author (died 2021)

• 1961 Sue Black, Scottish anthropologist and academic

• 1962 Tony Campbell, American basketball player and coach

• 1964 Ronnie Harmon, American football player

• 1964 Leslie O'Neal, American football player

• 1965 Reuben Davis, American football player

• 1965 Owen Hart, Canadian wrestler (died 1999)

• 1965 Norman Whiteside, Northern Irish footballer and manager

• 1967 Roberto d'Amico, Belgian politician

• 1967 Martin Bryant, Australian mass murderer

• 1967 Joe Rice, American colonel and politician

• 1968 Traci Lords, American actress and singer

• 1968 Lisa Raitt, Canadian lawyer and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Transport

• 1969 Eagle-Eye Cherry, Swedish singer-songwriter

• 1971 Dave Karpa, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1971 Billy Moore, Australian rugby league player

• 1971 Thomas Piketty, French economist

• 1972 Frank Trigg, American mixed martial artist and wrestler

• 1974 Breckin Meyer, American actor, writer, and producer

• 1975 Martina Topley-Bird, English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist

• 1976 Calvin Booth, American basketball player and executive

• 1976 Stacey Jones, New Zealand rugby league player and coach

• 1976 Michael P. Murphy, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (died 2005)

• 1976 Ayelet Shaked, former Israeli Minister of Justice

• 1977 Elton Flatley, Australian rugby player

• 1978 Dette Escudero, Filipino politician

• 1978 Shawn Marion, American basketball player

• 1979 Katie Douglas, American basketball player

• 1984 James Loney, American baseball player

• 1984 Kevin Owens, Canadian wrestler

• 1984 Alex Smith, American football player

• 1985 J Balvin, Colombian singer-songwriter and producer

• 1986 Matt Helders, English drummer

• 1987 Aidy Bryant, American actress and comedian

• 1987 Mark Reynolds, Scottish footballer

• 1989 Earl Thomas, American football player

• 1990 Sydney Leroux, Canadian-American footballer

• 1992 Alexander Ludwig, Canadian actor and musician

• 1993 Will Ospreay, English wrestler

• 1993 Ajla Tomljanovic, Australian tennis player

• 1995 Seko Fofana, Ivorian international footballer

• 1996 Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, South Korean League of Legends pro gamer

• 1997 Daria Kasatkina, Russian tennis player

• 1997 Youri Tielemans, Belgian footballer

• 1997 Cameron Young, American golfer

• 1998 MrBeast, American YouTuber

• 1998 Dani Olmo, Spanish footballer

• 1998 Jesse Puljujärvi, Finnish ice hockey player

• 1999 Tommy Fury, English boxer

• 1999 Cody Gakpo, Dutch footballer

• 2002 Jake Bongiovi, American model and actor

• 2002 Andrew Barth Feldman, American actor and singer

• 2004 Ashlyn Krueger, American tennis player

• 2004 Minji, South Korean singer

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 721 John of Beverley, bishop of York

• 833 Ibn Hisham, Egyptian Muslim historian

• 973 Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 912)

• 1014 Bagrat III, 1st King of Georgia (born 960)

• 1092 Remigius de Fécamp, English monk and bishop

• 1166 William I of Sicily

• 1202 Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey

• 1205 Ladislaus III of Hungary (born 1201)

• 1234 Otto I, Duke of Merania (born c. 1180)

• 1243 Hugh d'Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel

• 1427 Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr, English priest (born 1352)

• 1494 Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (born 1471)

• 1523 Franz von Sickingen, German knight (born 1481)

• 1539 Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (born 1466)

1601–1900

• 1617 David Fabricius, German astronomer and theologian (born 1564)

• 1667 Johann Jakob Froberger, German organist and composer (born 1616)

• 1682 Feodor III of Russia (born 1661)

• 1685 Bajo Pivljanin (born 1630)

• 1718 Mary of Modena, Queen Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland (born 1658)

• 1793 Pietro Nardini, Italian violinist and composer (born 1722)

• 1800 Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (born 1728)

• 1805 William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1737)

• 1815 Jabez Bowen, American colonel and politician, 45th Deputy Governor of Rhode Island (born 1739)

• 1825 Antonio Salieri, Italian composer and conductor (born 1750)

• 1840 Caspar David Friedrich, German painter and educator (born 1774)

• 1868 Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1778)

• 1872 Alexander Loyd, American carpenter and politician, 4th Mayor of Chicago (born 1805)

• 1876 William Buell Sprague, American clergyman, historian, and author (born 1795)

• 1880 Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias, Brazilian general and statesman (born 1803)

• 1887 C. F. W. Walther, German-American religious leader and theologian (born 1811)

• 1896 H. H. Holmes, American serial killer (born 1861)

1901–present

• 1902 Agostino Roscelli, Italian priest and saint (born 1818)

• 1917 Albert Ball, English fighter pilot (born 1896)

• 1919 Eva Schiroky, Czech anarchist and cook (born 1840)

• 1922 Max Wagenknecht, German pianist and composer (born 1857)

• 1924 Alluri Sitarama Raju, Indian activist (born 1897/1898)

• 1925 William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, English businessman and politician (born 1851)

• 1937 Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain and author (born 1886)

• 1938 Octavian Goga, Romanian politician, former Prime Minister (born 1881)

• 1940 George Lansbury, English journalist and politician (born 1859)

• 1941 James George Frazer, Scottish-English anthropologist and academic (born 1854)

• 1942 Felix Weingartner, Croatian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1863)

• 1943 Fethi Okyar, Turkish colonel and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1880)

• 1946 Herbert Macaulay, Nigerian journalist and politician (born 1864)

• 1951 Warner Baxter, American actor (born 1889)

• 1967 Margaret Larkin, American writer and poet (born 1899)

• 1958 Mihkel Lüdig, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (born 1880)

• 1976 Alison Uttley, English children's book writer (born 1884)

• 1978 Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (born 1915)

• 1986 Haldun Taner, Turkish playwright and author (born 1915)

• 1987 Colin Blakely, Northern Irish actor (born 1930)

• 1987 Paul Popham, American soldier and activist, co-founded Gay Men's Health Crisis (born 1941)

• 1990 Sam Tambimuttu, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (born 1932)

• 1994 Clement Greenberg, American art critic (born 1909)

• 1995 Ray McKinley, American drummer, singer, and bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra) (born 1910)

• 1998 Allan McLeod Cormack, South African-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1924)

• 1998 Eddie Rabbitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941)

• 2000 Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American captain, actor, and producer (born 1909)

• 2001 Jacques de Bourbon-Busset, French author and politician (born 1912)

• 2004 Waldemar Milewicz, Polish journalist (born 1956)

• 2005 Tristan Egolf, American author and activist (born 1971)

• 2005 Peter Rodino, American captain and politician (born 1909)

• 2005 Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (born 1980)

• 2006 Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (born 1943)

• 2006 Joan C. Edwards, American singer and philanthropist (born 1918)

• 2007 Isabella Blow, English magazine editor (born 1958)

• 2007 Diego Corrales, American boxer (born 1977)

• 2007 Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (born 1926)

• 2007 Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader, founded the Nation of Yahweh (born 1935)

• 2009 David Mellor, English designer (born 1930)

• 2009 Danny Ozark, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1923)

• 2010 Adele Mara, American actress, singer and dancer (born 1923)

• 2010 Wally Hickel, American politician, Governor of Alaska and Secretary of the Interior (born 1919)

• 2011 Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (born 1957)

• 2011 Willard Boyle, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1924)

• 2011 Big George, English songwriter, producer, and radio host (born 1957)

• 2011 Victor Nosach, Soviet historian (born 1929)

• 2012 Sammy Barr, Scottish trade union leader (born 1931)

• 2012 Ferenc Bartha, Hungarian economist and politician (born 1943)

• 2012 Dennis E. Fitch, American captain and pilot (born 1942)

• 2013 Ferruccio Mazzola, Italian footballer and manager (born 1948)

• 2013 George Sauer, Jr., American football player (born 1943)

• 2014 Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (born 1923)

• 2014 Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (born 1943)

• 2014 Dick Welteroth, American baseball player (born 1927)

• 2015 Frank DiPascali, American businessman (born 1956)

• 2015 John Dixon, Australian-American author and illustrator (born 1929)

• 2023 Aase Foss Abrahamsen, Norwegian writer (born 1930)

• 2024 Steve Albini, American musician, record producer, audio engineer, and music journalist (born 1962)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

• Agathius of Byzantium

• Agostino Roscelli

• Anthony of Kiev

• Pope Benedict II

• Flavia Domitilla

• Gisela of Hungary

• Harriet Starr Cannon (Episcopal Church (USA))

• John of Beverley

• Rose Venerini

• May 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Defender of the Fatherland Day (Kazakhstan)

• Dien Bien Phu Victory Day (Vietnam)

• Radio Day, commemorating the work of Alexander Popov (Russia, Bulgaria)

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on May 7