May 5

May 5 is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 240 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

200 – Sun Ce, Chinese warlord (b. 175)
311 – Gallerius, Roman Emperor (b. 260)
984 – Gerberga of Saxony (b. 913)
1028 – Alfonso V of Castile (b. 994)
1194 – Casimir II of Poland (b. 1138)
1219 – Leo II, King of Armenia (b. 1150)
1257 – Haakon the Young, Junior King of Norway (b. 1232)
1306 – Constantine Palaiologus, Byzantine prince and general (b. 1261)
1309 – Charles II of Naples (b. 1254)
1525 – Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1463)
1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (b. 1533)
1700 – Angelo Italia, Sicilian Baroque architect (b. 1628)
1705 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1640)
1731 – Daniel Defoe, English writer (b. 1660)
1808 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (b. 1757)
1821 – Napoleon, French general and later Emperor of France (b. 1769)
1827 – Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1750)
1855 – Seabury Ford, 20th Governor of Ohio (b. 1801)
1859 – Peter Gustav Dirichlet, German mathematician (b. 1805)
1865 – Ben Hall, Australian bushranger shot dead by the police (b. 1837)
1881 – Ansel Briggs, 1st Governor of Iowa (b. 1806)
1883 – Eva Gonzales, French painter (b. 1847)
1892 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist (b. 1818)
1896 – Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
1900 – Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian painter (b. 1817)

1901 – 2000

1916 – John MacBride, Irish Nationalist (b. 1865)
1921 – Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian writer and pacifist (b. 1864)
1925 – Tome Jose de Barros Queiros, Portuguese politician (b. 1872)
1931 – Glen Kidston, English pilot and racing driver (b. 1899)
1941 – Natalie of Serbia (b. 1859)
1944 – Bertha Benz, German automobile pioneer (b. 1849)
1945 – Peter Van Pels, Dutch–Jewish refugee (b. 1926)
1959 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician (b. 1878)
1962 – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (b. 1889)
1977 – Ludwig Erhard, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
1981 – Bobby Sands, Northern Irish activist and hunger striker (b. 1954)
1992 – Jean-Claude Pascal, French comedian and singer (b. 1927)
1995 – Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player (b. 1911)
1999 – Candy Candido, American radio performer, bass player, singer, animator and voice actor (b. 1913)

From 2001

2002 – Hugo Banzer, President of Bolivia (b. 1926)
2003 – Walter Sisulu, South African activist (b. 1912)
2004 – Ritsuko Okazaki, Japanese singer–songwriter (b. 1959)
2005 – Edgar Ponce, Mexican actor and dancer (b. 1974)
2007 – Theodore Maiman, American physicist (b. 1927)
2008 – Irv Robbins, Canadian–American entrepreneur (b. 1917)
2010 – Giulietta Simionato, Italian mezzo–soprano (b. 1910)
2010 – Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, President of Nigeria (b. 1951)
2011 – Claude Choules, English–Australian World War I veteran (b. 1901)
2011 – Arthur Laurents, American playwright (b. 1917)
2012 – Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg, Swedish royal, uncle of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Margrethe II of Denmark (b. 1916)
2013 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet (b. 1935)
2014 – Eduardo Mac Entyre, Argentine artist (b. 1929)
2014 – Billy Frank, Jr., American activist (b. 1931)
2014 – Butler Derrick, American politician (b. 1936)
2015 – Hans Jansen, Dutch politician (b. 1942)
2015 – Oscar Holderer, German rocket scientist (b. 1919)
2015 – Craig Gruber, American musician (b. 1951)
2015 – Brian Sedgemore, British politician (b. 1937)
2015 – Jon Castañares, Spanish economist and politician (b. 1925)
2016 – Sylvia Kauders, American actress (b. 1921)
2016 – Siné, French cartoonist (b. 1928)
2016 – Isao Tomita, Japanese musician and composer (b. 1932)
2017 – Buhe, Chinese politician (b. 1926)
2017 – Benny Elon, Israeli politician (b. 1954)
2017 – Corinne Erhel, French politician (b. 1967)
2017 – Amancio Escapa Aparicio, Spanish–Dominican prelate (b. 1938)
2017 – Almir Guineto, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
2017 – Adolph Kiefer, American swimmer (b. 1918)
2017 – Leila Seth, Indian judge (b. 1930)
2017 – Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, President of Mauritania (b. 1953)
2018 – Michele Castoro, Italian Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1952)
2018 – Wilson Frost, American politician (b. 1925)
2018 – Ermanno Olmi, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
2018 – Klaus Dede, German writer and journalist (b. 1935)
2018 – Stanley Falkow, American microbiologist (b. 1934)
2018 – José María Iñigo, Spanish journalist and commentator (b. 1942)
2018 – Boyan Petrov, Bulgarian zoologist and mountaineer (b. 1973)
2019 – Barbara Perry, American actress (b. 1921)
2019 – Shih Chi-yang, Taiwanese politician (b. 1935)
2019 – Norma Miller, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1919)

Births

1901 – 1950

1901 – Blind Willie McTell, American singer (d. 1959)
1907 – Iryna Vilde, Ukrainian writer (d. 1982)
1908 – Kurt Böhme, German bass (d. 1989)
1911 – Andor Lilienthal, Hungarian chess player (d. 2010)
1911 – Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1914 – Tyrone Power, American actor (d. 1958)
1915 – Alice Faye, American actress and singer (d. 1998)
1916 – Zail Singh, 7th President of India (d. 1994)
1917 – Pío Leyva, Cuban singer (d. 2006)
1917 – Lennie Merullo, American baseball player (d. 2015)
1919 – Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek military leader (d. 1999)
1921 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist (d. 1999)
1922 – Monica Lewis, American actress (d. 2015)
1923 – Sergey Akhromeyev, Marshal of the Soviet Union (d. 1991)
1925 – Leo Ryan, American politician (d. 1978)
1927 – Charles Rosen, American pianist and music writer (d. 2012)
1928 – Richard Schaal, American actor (d. 2014)
1930 – Ezzatollah Sahabi, Iranian politician (d. 2011)
1931 – Greg, Belgian cartoonist (d. 1999)
1932 – Stan Goldberg, American comic writer (d. 2014)
1933 – Igor Kashkarov, Soviet high jumper
1934 – Ace Cannon, American saxophonist
1934 – Henri Konan Bédié, former President of Ivory Coast
1935 – Shih Chi-yang, Taiwanese politician (d. 2019)
1937 – Tran Duc Luong, former President of Vietnam
1937 – Delia Derbyshire, English composer (d. 2001)
1939 – Ray Gosling, English broadcaster, journalist and activist (d. 2013)
1940 – Lance Henriksen, American actor and painter
1941 – Alexander Ragulin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
1942 – Marc Alaimo, American actor
1942 – Tammy Wynette, American musician (d. 1998)
1943 – Michael Palin, British actor, comedian, writer and TV presenter
1943 – Ignacio Ramonet, Spanish journalist and writer
1944 – Bo Larsson, Swedish footballer
1944 – John Rhys-Davies, British actor
1944 – Roger Rees, British actor (d. 2015)
1945 – Kurt Loder, American journalist, critic, writer and columnist
1946 – Beth Carvalho, Brazilian samba singer (d. 2019)
1947 – Malam Bacai Sanhá, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2012)
1948 – Bill Ward, British musician
1950 – Morton Rhue, American writer

1951 – 1975

1952 – Willem Witteveen, Dutch legal scholar and politician (d. 2014)
1952 – Ed Lee, American politician, Mayor of San Francisco (d. 2017)
1953 – Dieter Zetschke, German businessman
1955 – Lisa Jane Persky, American actress
1957 – Richard E. Grant, British actor
1959 – Ian McCulloch, British singer
1959 – Brian Williams, American news anchor
1960 – Jorge Quiroga, former President of Bolivia
1961 – Mike J. Dunleavy, American politician, Governor of Alaska
1962 – Nicolas Vanier, Senegalese writer, explorer and director
1963 – Simon Rimmer, English chef
1964 – Heike Henkel, German high jumper
1964 – Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
1966 – Shawn Drover, Canadian musician
1966 – Sergei Stanishev, 46th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
1966 – Josh Weinstein, American writer
1967 – Takehito Koyasu, Japanese voice actor
1969 – Olav Sepp, Estonian chess player
1972 – Zigmund Palffy, Slovakian ice hockey player
1972 – James Cracknell, British rower
1972 – Brad Bombadir, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 – Devin Townsend, Canadian musician
1975 – Meb Keflezighi, Eritrean–born American runner

From 1976

1976 – Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentine footballer
1976 – Sage Stallone, American actor (d. 2012)
1977 – Jessica Schwarz, German actress
1978 – John Wilshere, Papua New Guinea rugby league player
1978 – Santiago Cabrera, Chilean actor
1979 – Vince Grella, Australian footballer
1980 – Yossi Benayoun, Israeli footballer
1981 – Danielle Fishel, American actress
1981 – Craig David, British singer
1982 – Jay Bothroyd, English footballer
1982 – Sándor Torghelle, Hungarian footballer
1983 – Henry Cavill, Jersey actor
1984 – Wade McNeil, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
1985 – Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese actress, illustrator and singer
1985 – Tsapo Masilela, South African footballer
1985 – Emanuele Giaccherini, Italian footballer
1987 – Graham Dorrans, Scottish footballer
1988 – Adele, English singer-songwriter
1988 – Brooke Hogan, American singer and television personality
1988 – Skye Sweetnam, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
1989 – Chris Brown, American singer and actor
1990 – Sophie Wells, English para-equestrian
1991 – Shubha Phutela, Indian actress (d. 2012)
1991 – Robin de Kruijf, Dutch volleyball player
1992 – Yosuke Mikami, Japanese footballer
1992 – Taisuke Miyazaki, Japanese footballer
1993 – Francine Niyonsaba, Burundian middle–distance runner
1998 – Menna Fitzpatrick, British Paralympic skier
1999 – Nathan Chen, American figure skater

Deaths

Observances

Cinco de Mayo (Mexico and United States)
Liberation Day (Denmark and Netherlands)
Children's Day (Japan)
Children's Day (South Korea)
Coronation Day (Thailand)
Patriots' Victory Day (Ethiopia)
Martyrs' Day (Albania)
Constitution Day (Kyrgyzstan)
Lusophone Culture Day in Portuguese–speaking countries
Europe Day