Following significant Labour Party losses in the English local elections, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announces the largest Cabinet reshuffle of his tenure. The changes include sacking embattled Home Secretary Charles Clarke, the demotion of long-serving Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, and the stripping from Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott of his departmental portfolio. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4975938.stm (BBC)//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4976414.stm (BBC)
Boeing unveils a drawing of a proposed "airplane of the future" and launches a public contest to name the aircraft.
Sunday, May 5, 2002
Jacques Chirac wins the French presidential elections with 82.21% of the vote to 17.79% for Jean-Marie Le Pen, the turnout was 79.71%. Chirac appoints Jean-Pierre Raffarin as his prime minister, replacing Lionel Jospin.
A rare conjunction occurs on the New Moon including all seven of the traditional celestial bodies known from ancient times up until 1781 with the discovery of Uranus. The conjunction consists of the Sun and Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.(//nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/alignment.html NASA)
Wednesday, May 5, 1999
Microsoft releases Windows 98 (Second Edition), from 1998.
Thursday, May 5, 1994
The Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan was signed, effectively freezing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Russian leaders in Crimea declare their separation from Ukraine as a new republic. They withdraw the secession on May 10.
Sunday, May 5, 1985
U.S. President Ronald Reagan joins German Chancellor Helmut Kohl for a controversial funeral service at a cemetery in Bitburg, Germany, which includes the graves of 59 elite S.S. troops from World War II.
West Germany becomes a sovereign country recognized by important Western foreign countries, such as France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
Tuesday, May 5, 1953
Aldous Huxley first tries the psychedelic hallucinogen mescaline, inspiring his book "The Doors of Perception".
Thursday, May 5, 1949
The Council of Europe is founded by the signing of the Treaty of London.
Saturday, May 5, 1945
Admiral Karl Dönitz orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
A Japanese balloon bomb kills five children and a woman, Elsie Mitchell, near Bly, Oregon, when it explodes as they drag it from the woods. They are the only people killed by an enemy attack on the American mainland during WWII.
WWII ndash Operation Ironclad: United Kingdom forces invade the French colony of Madagascar.
Monday, May 5, 1941
WWII: Emperor Haile Selassie enters Addis Ababa, which had been liberated from Italian forces this date has been since commemorated as Liberation Day in Ethiopia.
The detection by Karl Jansky of radio waves from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is reported in the "New York Times". The discovery leads to the birth of radio astronomy.
Tuesday, May 5, 1931
İsmet İnönü forms new government in Turkey. (7th government)
American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
Monday, May 5, 1862
French intervention in Mexico ndash Battle of Puebla: Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza defeats the French Army commemorated each year as Cinco de Mayo (Spanish Fifth of May).
Thursday, May 5, 1859
Border Treaty between Brazil and Venezuela: The two countries agree their borders should be traced at the water divide between the Amazon and the Orinoco basins.//html.rincondelvago.com/venezuela_4.html Problemas Limítrofes de Venezuela (In Spanish)
Great Britain passes the Act of Union to join Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom (to take effect on 1 January 1801). The act is signed by King George III in August.
Tuesday, May 5, 1789
In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time in 175 years.
Tuesday, May 5, 1722
Pennsylvania colony enacts a statute requiring all persons importing any person previously convicted of sodomy to pay £5 for each such incoming person.
The Peace of Beaulieu or Peace of Monsieur (after Monsieur, the Duc d'Anjou, brother of the King, who negotiated it) ends the Fifth War of Religion. Once again, the Protestants are granted freedom of worship.
The Peace of Beaulieu or Peace of Monsieur (after Monsieur, the Duc d'Anjou, brother of the King, who negotiated it) ends the Fifth War of Religion. Once again, the Protestants are granted freedom of worship.
End of the short-lived principality created by El Cid. Valencia is captured by the Almoravids under Yusuf ibn Tashfin. It is later recaptured, evacuated and burned by Alfonso VI of Castile.
The Qingli Reforms, put forth by the Chinese statesmen Ouyang Xiu and Fan Zhongyan in 1043, are halted by their conservative ministerial peers, but would later influence reform efforts under Wang Anshi.
Pope Gregory VI becomes the 148th pope, following the deposition of Pope Benedict IX. There are growing allegations that simony is taking place during Gregory VI's reign.
The Lingxiao Pagoda of China is built during the Song Dynasty.
Monday, May 2, 673 (Julianian calendar)
Princess Oku is made to dwell in the Abstinence-palace of Hatsuse by the Emperor's order.
Maximinus II divides the Eastern Empire between co-emperor Licinius, and mobilished his army for a caign in Asia Minor. He recommences the persecution of Christians.
Maxentius builds the Circus of Maxentius near the Via Appia. The circus is 513 meters long and 91 meters wide, and offers an accommodation to some 10,000 people.