Events

• 1499 – Catherine of Aragon, is married by proxy to Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales. Catherine is 13 and Arthur is 12.

• 1535 – French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).

• 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest.

• 1568 – Queen Elizabeth I of England orders the arrest of Mary Queen of Scots.

• 1643 – Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.

• 1649 – An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.

• 1749 – King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.

• 1780 – New England's Dark Day: A combination of thick smoke and heavy cloud cover causes complete darkness to fall on Eastern Canada and the New England area of the United States at 10:30 A.M.

• 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Légion d'Honneur.

• 1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.

• 1848 – Mexican-American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for $15 million USD.

• 1864 – American Civil War: the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.

• 1897 – Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol.

• 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence. The anniversary of this event is also regarded as a date of remembrance for Pontic Greeks.

• 1921 – The U.S. Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration.

• 1922 – The Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union is established.

• 1943 – World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set Monday, May 1, 1944 as the date for the cross-English Channel landing (D-Day). It would later be delayed over a month due to bad weather.

• 1961 – Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).

• 1962 – A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's rendition of Happy Birthday.

• 1971 – Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.

• 1991 – Croatians vote for independence at their independence referendum.

• 2009 – Sri Lanka announces victory in its 27 year war against the terrorist organisation, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Births

• 1593 – Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (d. 1678)

• 1700 – José de Escandón, Spanish colonial governor (d. 1770)

• 1724 – Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral and politician (d. 1779)

• 1744 – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1818)

• 1762 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (d. 1814)

• 1773 – Arthur Aikin, English mineralogist (d. 1854)

• 1795 – Johns Hopkins, American philanthropist (d. 1873)

• 1797 – Maria Isabel of Portugal, queen of Spain (d. 1818)

• 1827 – Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French statesman (d. 1896)

• 1861 – Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera singer (d. 1931)

• 1862 – Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (d. 1942)

• 1870 – Albert Fish, American serial killer (d. 1936)

• 1874 – Gilbert Laird Jessop, English cricketer (d. 1955)

• 1879 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-born politician (d. 1964)

• 1880 – Sir Albert Richardson, English architect (d. 1964)

• 1881 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1st President of Turkey (d. 1938)

• 1882 – Mohammed Mosaddeq, Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1967)

• 1890 – Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese leader (d. 1969)

• 1891 – Oswald Boelcke, German World War I pilot (d. 1916)

• 1897 – Frank Luke, American World War I pilot (d. 1918)

• 1898 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher (d. 1974)

• 1906 – Bruce Bennett, American athlete and actor (d. 2007)

• 1908 – Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (d. 1982)

• 1908 – Merriam Modell, American author (d. 1994)

• 1909 – Nicholas Winton, British Humanitarian

• 1910 – Alan Melville, South African cricketer, Wisden COY 1948, (d. 1983)

• 1910 – Nathuram Godse, Indian assassin of Mahatma Gandhi (d. 1949)

• 1914 – Max Perutz, Austrian-born molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2002)

• 1914 – Go Seigen, Japanese Go player

• 1914 – Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)

• 1918 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-born American physicist (d. 2000)

• 1919 – Mitja Ribičič, Slovenian Communist politician, Prime Minister of Yugoslavia

• 1921 – Yuri Kochiyama, American civil rights activist

• 1921 – Karel van het Reve, Dutch writer (d. 1999)

• 1921 – Daniel Gélin, French actor (d. 2002)

• 1922 – Joe Gilmore, Irish, longest running Head Barmen at The Savoy Hotel's American Bar.

• 1924 – Sandy Wilson, British composer

• 1925 – Malcolm X, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)

• 1925 – Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (d. 1998)

• 1925 – Guy Provost, French Canadian actor (d. 2004)

• 1926 – Swami Kriyananda, Indian teacher and author

• 1926 – Peter Zadek, German theatre director (d. 2009)

• 1928 – Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Cars (d. 1982)

• 1928 – Dolph Schayes, American basketball player and coach

• 1929 – John Stroger Chicago politician

• 1930 – Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright (d. 1965)

• 1931 – Eric Tappy, Swiss tenor

• 1931 – Bob Anderson, British racing driver (d. 1967)

• 1932 – Alma Cogan, English singer (d. 1966)

• 1932 – Paul Erdman, American economist and author (d. 2007)

• 1932 – Claude Blanchard, French Canadian comedian and actor (d. 2006)

• 1934 – Jim Lehrer, American television journalist

• 1934 – Ruskin Bond, Indian author

• 1935 – David Hartman, American actor and television personality

• 1937 – Pat Roach, English actor and wrestler (d. 2004)

• 1938 – Madge Hindle, English actress

• 1938 – Moisés da Costa Amaral, East Timorese leader (d. 1989)

• 1939 – Livio Berruti, Italian athlete

• 1939 – James Fox, English actor

• 1939 – Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong actress

• 1939 – Dick Scobee, American astronaut (d. 1986)

• 1940 – Mickey Newbury, American musician (d. 2002)

• 1940 – Jan Janssen, Dutch cyclist

• 1941 – Nora Ephron, American screenwriter

• 1942 – Gary Kildall, American computer programmer (d. 1994)

• 1942 – Robert Kilroy-Silk, British politician and television presenter

• 1944 – Peter Mayhew, British-American actor

• 1945 – Pete Townshend, English musician (The Who)

• 1946 – André the Giant, French professional wrestler (d. 1993)

• 1946 – Claude Lelièvre, Belgian commissioner for children's rights

• 1947 – Michele Placido, Italian actor and director

• 1947 – Paul Brady, Northern Ireland singer/songwriter

• 1947 – David Helfgott, Australian pianist

• 1948 – Grace Jones, Jamaican singer and actress

• 1949 – Dusty Hill, American singer and bassist (ZZ Top)

• 1949 – Archie Manning, American football player

• 1951 – Joey Ramone, American musician (The Ramones) (d. 2001)

• 1951 – Dick Slater, American professional wrestler

• 1952 – Bert van Marwijk, Dutch footballer and coach

• 1953 – Shavarsh Karapetyan, Armenian finswimmer

• 1953 – Dawud M. Mu'Min, American convicted murderer (d. 1997)

• 1953 – Victoria Wood, English comedian and actress

• 1954 – Phil Rudd, Australian drummer (AC/DC)

• 1955 – James Gosling, Canadian computer programmer

• 1956 – Steven Ford, American actor

• 1957 – Bill Laimbeer, American basketball player and coach

• 1959 – Nicole Brown Simpson, American murder victim. (d. 1994)

• 1961 – Gregory Poirier, American screenwriter and director

• 1963 – Filippo Galli, Italian footballer

• 1963 – Yazz, English singer

• 1964 – Miloslav Mečíř, Slovakian tennis player

• 1964 – Sean Whalen, American actor

• 1965 – Boris, French singer

• 1965 – Maile Flanagan, American actress

• 1966 – Marc Bureau, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1966 – Sophia Crawford, English actress and martial artist

• 1966 – Jodi Picoult, American writer

• 1966 – Polly Walker, English actress

• 1967 – Massimo Taccon, Italian painter and sculptor

• 1968 – Kyle Eastwood, American jazz musician

• 1970 – Choi Kyung-Ju, South Korean golfer

• 1970 – Mario Dumont, Canadian politician

• 1970 – Jason Gray-Stanford, Canadian actor

• 1971 – Ross Katz, American film producer

• 1971 – Psicosis, Mexican professional wrestler

• 1972 – Jenny Berggren, Swedish singer (Ace of Base)

• 1972 – Claudia Karvan, Australian actress

• 1974 – Andrew Johns, Australian rugby league footballer

• 1975 – Masanobu Ando, Japanese actor

• 1975 – London Fletcher, American football player

• 1975 – Delma Gonçalves, Brazilian footballer

• 1975 – Josh Paul, American baseball player

• 1976 – Ed Cota, American basketball player

• 1976 – Kevin Garnett, American basketball player

• 1977 – Manuel Almunia, Spanish footballer

• 1977 – Brandon Inge, American baseball player

• 1977 – Kelly Sheridan, Canadian voice actress

• 1978 – Marcus Bent, English footballer

• 1979 – Diego Forlán, Uruguayan footballer

• 1979 – Barbara Nedeljakova, Slovak actress

• 1979 – Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer

• 1980 – Drew Fuller, American actor and model

• 1980 – Tony Hackworth, English footballer

• 1981 – Bong Tae-gyu, South Korean actor

• 1981 – Luciano Figueroa, Argentine footballer

• 1981 – Georges St. Pierre, Canadian mixed martial artist

• 1981 – Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer

• 1982 – Kevin Amankwaah, English footballer

• 1982 – Pål Steffen Andresen, Norwegian footballer

• 1983 – Eve Angel, Hungarian pornographic actress

• 1983 – Jessica Fox, English actress

• 1984 – Marcedes Lewis, American football player

• 1986 – Mario Chalmers, American basketball player

• 1986 – Eric Lloyd, American actor

• 1987 – David Edgar, Canadian footballer

• 1987 – Mariano Torres, Argentine footballer

Deaths

• 804 – Alcuin, English monk (b. c.735)

• 988 – Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 909)

• 1102 – Stephen, Count of Blois (b. c.1045)

• 1125 – Vladimir Monomakh, Russian prince (b. 1053)

• 1296 – Pope Celestine V (b. 1215)

• 1319 – Louis d'Évreux, son of Philip III of France (b. 1276)

• 1389 – Dmitri Donskoi, Grand Prince of Muscovy (b. 1350)

• 1526 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)

• 1531 – Jan Łaski, Polish statesman and diplomat (b. 1456)

• 1536 – Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII of England

• 1601 – Costanzo Porta, Italian composer

• 1610 – Thomas Sanchez, Spanish theologian (b. 1550)

• 1637 – Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (b. 1588)

• 1715 – Charles Montagu, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)

• 1786 – John Stanley, English composer (b. 1712)

• 1795 – Josiah Bartlett, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1729)

• 1795 – James Boswell, Scottish biographer (b. 1740)

• 1798 – William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English dueler (b. 1722)

• 1821 – Camille Jordan, French politician (b. 1771)

• 1825 – Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, French political philosopher (b. 1760)

• 1864 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (b. 1804)

• 1865 – Sengge Rinchen, Qing Dynasty field Marshal KIA (b. 1811)

• 1876 – Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch politician (b. 1801)

• 1885 – Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)

• 1895 – José Martí, Cuban independence leader (b. 1853)

• 1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809)

• 1904 – Auguste Molinier, French historian (b. 1851)

• 1907 – Benjamin Baker, English engineer (b. 1840)

• 1912 – Bolesław Prus, Polish writer (b. 1847)

• 1915 – John Simpson Kirkpatrick stretcher bearer with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli during World War I (b. 1892)

• 1918 – Raoul Lufbery, French-American World War I fighter pilot and flying ace (b. 1885)

• 1935 – T. E. Lawrence, English soldier known as Lawrence of Arabia (b. 1888)

• 1940 – Diego Mazquiarán, Spanish matador (b. 1895)

• 1943 – Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter (b. 1865)

• 1945 – Philipp Bouhler, German nazi leader (b. 1889)

• 1946 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist (b. 1869)

• 1954 – Charles Ives, American composer (b. 1874)

• 1958 – Archie Scott-Brown, English race car driver (b. 1927)

• 1958 – Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)

• 1965 – Tui Malila, world's oldest tortoise

• 1969 – Coleman Hawkins, American musician (b. 1901)

• 1971 – Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)

• 1983 – Jean Rey, President of the European Commission (b. 1902)

• 1984 – John Betjeman, English poet and Poet Laureate (b. 1906)

• 1986 – Jimmy Lyons, American musician (b. 1931)

• 1987 – James Tiptree, Jr, American author (b. 1915)

• 1989 – CLR James, West Indian writer and journalist (b. 1901)

• 1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, First Lady of the United States (b. 1929)

• 1994 – Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (b. 1945)

• 1998 – Sōsuke Uno, Japanese prime minister (b. 1922)

• 1999 – James Blades, English percussionist (b. 1901)

• 1999 – Candy Candido, American actor (b. 1913)

• 2000 – Yevgeny Khrunov, cosmonaut (b. 1933)

• 2001 – Susannah McCorkle, American singer (b. 1946)

• 2002 – John Gorton, 19th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)

• 2002 – Walter Lord, American writer (b. 1917)

• 2003 – Camoflauge, American rapper (b. 1981)

• 2004 – Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress (b. 1907)

• 2005 – Henry Corden, American actor and voice artist (b. 1921)

• 2006 – Freddie Garrity, English lead singer from the band Freddie and the Dreamers (b. 1940)

• 2007 – Dean Eyre, New Zealand politician (b. 1914)

• 2008 – Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright (b. 1928)

• 2009 – Velupillai Prabhakaran,Sri Lankan founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (b. 1954)

• 2009 – Robert F. Furchgott, American chemist, Nobel Laureate (b. 1916)

• 2009 – Herbert York, American physicist (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

• World Hepatitis Day

• Greece: Greek genocide remembrance day

• Turkey, Northern Cyprus: Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day

• Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh's Birthday

• Canada: Victoria Day

• Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:

• *Dunstan

• *Peter Celestine

• *Ives

• *Pudentiana

• *Maria Bernarda Bütler

• *Joaquina Vedruna de Mas

• *Calocerus