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1

• Every year - Since 1886, May Day (or International Workers' Day) is celebrated.

• Every year - the Rochester Sweeps Festival is held.

• 1916 - English footballer and cricketer William 'Fatty' Foulke dies of pneumonia in Blackpool.

• 1931 - the Empire State Building in New York City, USA, opens.

• 1939 - Batman the Superhero first appears in print, in Detective Comics.

• 1941 - The film Citizen Kane enjoys its world premiere.

• 1946 - In Kashmir, India, national treasure Joanna Lumley OBE makes her world debut.

• 1967 - Priscilla Beaulieu marries singer Elvis Presley.

• 1994 - Formula 1 racing legend Ayrton Senna dies in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.

• 1999 - Designed by Bryan Avery, the glass-covered circular London IMAX Theatre opens to the general public.

• 2008 - The London Agreement on the translation of European patents, concluded in 2000, enters into force in 14 of the 34 Contracting States to the European Patent Convention.

2

• 1519 - Leonardo Da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, architect and scientist - the archetypal Renaissance man - departed the earth.

• 1652 - John Milton's daughter Deborah is born.

• 1803 - The state of Louisiana is purchased from France, doubling the size of the USA and paving the way for further expansion.

• 1936 - Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is born. He later achieves success in the UK singles chart with a string of number ones in the 1960s.

• 1975 - Captain of the England football team, David Beckham is born.

• 1997 - Tony Blair becomes prime minister of the UK.

• 2008 - Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Myanmar, killing more than 130,000 people and leaving millions homeless.

3

• The people of Bolivia celebrate the Feast Day of Achakana (their name for the constellation Crux 'the Southern Cross') on 3 May.

• 1446 - Margaret of York.

• 1770 - The first recorded European sighting of Lilli Pilli in Australia, by Sir Joseph Banks.

• 1886 - How May Day Became a Workers' Holiday. Rallying strikers in the USA are shot dead.

• 1903 - Harry Lillis Crosby, better known as Bing Crosby, is born in Tacoma, Washington State.

• 1965 - Great Sporting Achievements. Racing legend Red Rum is born.

• 1979 - Margaret Thatcher enjoys her first general election victory, becoming the UK's first female Prime Minister.

• Constitution Day in Poland, Lithuania and Japan.

4

• 1886 - How May Day Became a Workers' Holiday. A rally takes place at Haymarket Square.

• 1949 - The whole team of the Italian football club Torino, save one player who stayed at home due to some injury, die in an air crash while approaching Turin.

• 1972 - Mike Dirnt, bassist and founding member of Green Day is born.

• 1989 - Margaret Thatcher reaches ten years in office.

• 2007 - The Scottish National Party wins the Scottish general election and becomes the largest party in the Scottish Parliament for the first time.

5

• 1494 - Christopher Columbus - Explorer - Part Two. Columbus discovers Jamaica.

• 1652 - Poet John Milton's wife dies.

• 1930 - Mahatma Gandhi is arrested.

• 1937 - The woman who realised the terrifying theme music for Doctor Who, Delia Derbyshire is born.

• 1980 - After a six-day siege at the hands of Arab terrorists, the Iranian Embassy is stormed by the SAS.

• 2000 - The film Gladiator has its world premiere.

• 2007 - Kenya Airways Flight KQ 507 crashes in Cameroon, West Africa.

6

• 1895 - Austin's Moonlight Towers are switched on for the first time.

• 1913 - The Women's Suffrage Bill is rejected by the House of Commons, infuriating 'suffragettes' like Emmeline Pankhurst..

• 1915 - Maverick filmmaker Orson Welles is born.

• 1931 - Willie Mays - Baseball Legend is born.

• 1937 - The airship Hindenburg explodes.

• 1953 - Tony Blair is born.

• 2006 - Lillian Asplund, last US survivor from the Titanic, dies (born 1906).

7

• 1840 - Peter Tchaikovsky - Composer is born.

• 1999 - Lewis Research Center is officially rededicated as John H Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field.

• 1999 - Domenico Chiocchetti, who as a POW had built the Italian Chapel, Lambholm, Orkney dies in Moena, Italy, aged 89.

• Russia - Radio Day, commemorating the work of Alexander Popov.

8

• 1428 - Joan of Arc's military reputation is established with the raising of the Siege of Orléans.

• 1886 - Dr John Pemberton's secret elixir - aka Coca Cola - goes on sale. A century later, this simple drink is the cause of one of the hardest-fought battles in commercial history - the cola wars.

• 1919 - A letter by Edward George Honey is published in the London Evening News proposing a period of silence in remembrance of those who died. The result is Remembrance Sunday, every 11 November from then on.

• 1926 - British Naturalist and TV presenter Sir David Attenborough is born in London.

• 1932 - Boxer Charles Sonny Liston is born.

• 1972 - Darren Hayes, founding member of the band Savage Garden is born on this day.

• 2001 - The Wicker Man, south-west England's answer to the Angel of the North, is destroyed by arsonists.

• 2007 - A new Northern Ireland Executive is formed under the leadership of Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party, as First Minister, and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, as Deputy First Minister.

9

• 1503 - Christopher Columbus 'discovers' the Cayman Islands.

• 1904 - The steam locomotive City of Truro breaks the 100mph speed barrier on its way to London, although this is never officially authenticated.

• 1927 - Canberra, Australia is inaugurated as the new national capital.

• 1928 - Founder of the Lotus Engineering Co Ltd, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman is born in London.

• 1945 - The Channel Islands - including Jersey and Guernsey - are liberated from Nazi occupation.

• 1949 - Singer/songwriter Billy Joel is born.

• 1962 - EMI Parlophone signs the Beatles for their first big recording contract.

• 1962 - Vocalist/songwriter Paul Heaton of The Beautiful South is born.

• 1974 - Impeachment hearings are opened against Richard Milhous Nixon - 37th President of the United States.

10

• 1508 - Michelangelo begins work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

• 1914 - Founder of the Boys Brigade Sir William Smith dies.

• 1915 - Margaret Thatcher's future husband, Denis Thatcher, is born.

• 1957 - Sid Vicious, prominent figure in the Punk Music movement, is born.

• 2002 - Five people are killed and 76 are injured in a London rail disaster at Potters Bar Station when the service from King's Cross to King's Lynn derails.

11

• 330 - The city of Byzantium is founded by Emperor Constantine.

• 1502 - Christopher Columbus sets off on his fourth and final voyage.

• 1904 - Salvador Dali is born.

• 1963 - Birth of actress Natasha Richardson in London.

• 1981 - Bob Marley, godfather of Reggae, dies.

• 1981 - One of the most successful musicals ever, Cats, opens at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane.

• 2001 - Douglas Adams, creator of both The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and h2g2, dies in LA.

12

• 1797 - Venice, Italy loses its independence.

• 1803 - Baron Justus von Liebig, German chemist and founder of agricultural chemistry, is born.

• 1845 - Gabriel Urbane Fauré - the Composer is born.

• 1937 - After the abdication of King Edward VIII, King George VI is crowned.

• 1942 - Ian Dury is born, the man behind the hits 'Hit Me with your Rhythm Stick' and 'Reasons to Be Cheerful'.

• 1949 - The USSR lifts the blockade on West Berlin, as it had failed, and the Berlin Airlift ends.

• 2002 - Formula One Driver Michael Schumacher wins the Austrian Grand Prix.

13

• 1842 - Composer Sir Arthur Sullivan is born.

• 1926 - Charlie Chaplin's wife, Oona Chaplin, is born.

• 1950 - The first race in the inaugural Formula One world championship takes place.

• 1950 - Motown legend Stevie Wonder is born in Michigan.

14

• 1894 - Blackpool's famous tower is opened.

• 1944 - Director of THX 1138 and Star Wars George Lucas is born.

• 1952 - Director of Contact Robert Zemeckis is born.

• 1961 - Actor Tim Roth, a regular collaborator with filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, is born.

• 1971 - A London Underground train driver is killed when he accelerates through the sand drag and into the buffers at the Tooting Broadway station.

• 1973 - Skylab is carried into space.

• 1997 - The Spice Girls make history by becoming the first British group to enter the US charts at No 1.

15

• Every year - Feast day of Saint Dymphna, the Patron Saint of the Mentally Ill, Runaways, and Rape Victims.

• 1464 - Henry Beaufort, leader of the Lancastrians in the War Of The Roses, was surprised and killed at Hexham, Northumberland.

• 1776 - The Commonwealth of Virginia declares itself independent.

• 1857 - Williamina Fleming, Astronomy pioneer, and discoverer of the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, is born in Dundee, Scotland.

• 1859 - Scientist Pierre Curie is born. He later invents Radioactivity... or something.

• 1905 - Bidders gathered for an auction of 110 acres of land that became Las Vegas.

16

• 1920 - Joan of Arc is canonised by Pope Benedict XV.

• 1929 - The first ever Academy Awards are held. The winners already know who they are.

• 1948 - Judy Finnegan, one half of husband-and-wife television team Richard and Judy is born.

• 1953 - The James Bond that took us into the 2000s, actor Pierce Brosnan is born.

17

• 1749 - Vaccine pioneer Edward Jenner is born, a notable day for modern medicine.

• 1814 - Norway wins independence from Denmark.

• 1938 - Six people die in a crash on the London Underground when a Circle line train runs into the back of a District line train at Charing Cross, due to a wrongly-wired signal.

• 1973 - The investigation into the Watergate affair is launched.

• 1995 - Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet, becomes the world's youngest political prisoner.

• 2000 - The number of the famous Mojave Phone Booth is quietly disconnected and the box itself disappears a short time after.

18

• 1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned Emperor of France.

• 1949 - Rick Wakeman of the band Yes is born.

• 1980 - Vocalist/lyricist with Joy Division Ian Curtis commits suicide.

• 2004 - Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter Sonia Gandhi declines to lead India.

19

• 1897 - Oscar Wilde is released from prison.

• 1914 - John Simpson Kirkpatrick is killed during the battle of Gallipoli.

• 1925 - Malcolm X - Spiritual Leader is born.

• 1935 - Thomas Edward Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, dies.

• 1999 - Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace opens in America. Many 30-something males begin openly weeping in the streets: 'Why?! Whyyyy!?'

20

• 1897 - Bram Stoker gives the first public reading of his novel Dracula.

• 1927 - The child of celebrity aviator Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped.

• 1996 - Actor Jon Pertwee dies. Pertwee played both the scarecrow Worzel Gummidge and the Time Lord Doctor Who.

• 2000 - Leo Blair, son of Tony Blair, is born.

21

• Every year - The feast days of St. Helena of Constantine and her son, the Emperor Constantine, are celebrated in the East.

• 1980 - Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back goes on general release.

• 1982 - The iconic Hacienda nightclub in Manchester opens its doors and suddenly Britain goes baggy to the sounds of The Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays.

• 2001 - Margaret Thatcher unveils a statue of herself at London's Guildhall Art Gallery.

22

• 337 - Emperor Constantine, founder of the city of Byzantium and the Byzantine Empire, dies.

• 1455 - The Yorkists are victorious over the Lancastrians at the First Battle of St Albans, heralding the start of the War of the Roses.

• 1813 - Composer Richard Wagner is born.

• 1915 - The worst train crash ever to occur in the UK takes place at Quintinshill in Scotland - the accident involves five different trains, with a death toll of 227.

• 1959 - Lead singer of The Smiths, Morrissey is born.

• 1969 - Lundy Island, UK is bought by the National Trust.

• 2006 - At 1pm, thousands of GCSE students across the United Kingdom sit down to their first Humanities paper - little do they know that they are victims of the 2006 GCSE Humanities Paper Debacle.

23

• 1430 - Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians.

• 1912 - Gustav Hamel dies in an air crash during a cross-channel flight from Paris in his new Morane-Saulnier monoplane - no trace of him is ever found.

• 1918 - Denis Compton is born, one of England's best-loved sportsmen, playing brilliant first class cricket for Middlesex and football for Arsenal and England.

• 1957 - Singer Thereza Louise Bazar of Dollar is born.

• 2002 - Former star of Neighbours Kylie Minogue becomes a triple award winner at the Ivor Novello Awards.

24

• 1686 - Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit is born.

• 1819 - Queen Victoria is born.

• 1941 - Musician Bob Dylan is born.

• 1945 - The wife of Elvis Presley, Priscilla Beaulieu, is born.

• 1966 - The Controversial Footballer Eric Cantona is born.

• 1981 - Jaime Roldós, President of Ecuador dies in an air crash on his way from Quito to Macara near the Peruvian border.

• 1988 - Liverpool's Tate Gallery is opened.

• 1989 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, so far the last of the The Indiana Jones Trilogy, goes on general release.

25

• 1895 - Oscar Wilde is convicted of sodomy.

• 1934 - Composer Gustav Holst dies.

• 1939 - British actor Sir Ian McKellen is born in Burnley General Hospital.

• 1977 - The original Star Wars film goes on general release.

• 1979 - Alien is released.

• 1999 - Pakistani forces shoot down two Indian jets in the disputed territory of Kashmir.

26

• 1650 - John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough, considered to be one of the greatest military geniuses England has ever produced, is born at Ashe in Devon.

• 1904 - Entertainer George Formby is born.

• 1946 - Guitarist Mick Ronson, famed for his collaboration with David Bowie, is born in Hull, Yorkshire.

• 1994 - Michael Jackson marries Lisa Marie Presley.

27

• 1906 - Mahler's 6th Symphony, initially subtitled The Tragic, premieres in the industrial town of Essen, Germany.

• 1943 - Cilla Black, one-time chart-topper and queen of Blind Date, is born.

• 1948 - Mahatma Gandhi's assassins go on trial.

• 1995 - Actor Christopher Reeve has a horseriding accident, which leads to spinal and neck injuries and makes him a quadriplegic.

28

• 1494 - The official birthdate of Scotch Whisky, when the rolls of the Scottish Exchequer record that a Friar called John Cor, at an abbey in Fife, purchased malt to make 'aqua vitae'.

• 1908 - Ian Fleming, author and creator of James Bond - is born.

• 1968 - Kylie Minogue is born.

• 1984 - Comedian Eric Morecambe dies.

29

• 1453 - The Byzantine Empire ends.

• 1829 - Sir Humphry Davy FRS, one of the founding fathers of general anaesthesiology, dies in Geneva, Switzerland, from a heart attack.

• 1917 - The 35th President of the United States John Fitzgerald Kennedy is born.

• 1950 - The Archers - the Radio Soap is first broadcast - as a trial programme in the Midlands region only.

• 1967 - Guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher of Oasis is born.

• 1990 - Boris Yeltsin is elected President of the Russian Federation.

30

• 1381 - The Peasant's Revolt starts as a local rising in Brentwood Essex, when the first attack on a tax collector takes place.

• 1393 - Official documents report the death of dramatist and poet Christopher Marlowe.

• 1431 - Joan of Arc is burned at the stake.

• 1498 - Christopher Columbus leaves Spain on his third voyage.

• 1842 - Queen Victoria is the target of an assassination attempt by John Francis.

31

• 1910 - The country of South Africa is created.

• 1911 - The Titanic is launched.

• 1930 - Bristol Airport is officially opened.

• 1948 - Led Zeppelin's drummer John Bonham is born.

• 1975 - Jim'll Fix It - the TV Series is first broadcast.

• 1985 - Many passengers are injured in a London rail disaster at Battersea Park when the northbound Gatwick Express fails to stop at a red signal and crashes into the back of a departing train.

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