# On this day: May 1

May 1 is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years), with 244 days left until the end of the year.

## May 1 in one line

Headline entries for May 1, from Wikipedia: in 1941, Citizen Kane, a widely acclaimed film by actor and director Orson Welles, premiered; born 1769: Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Irish-English field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1852); died 1904: Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (born 1841). In 2026 it is a Friday, in 2027 a Saturday.

## Events on May 1

- 305 Diocletian and Maximian retired as co-rulers of the Roman Empire, being succeeded by Galerius and Constantius Chlorus. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian)
- 880 The Nea Ekklesia church in Constantinople, on which many later cross-in-square Eastern Orthodox churches were based, was consecrated. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nea_Ekklesia)
- 1169 Norman mercenaries landed at Bannow Bay in Leinster, beginning the Norman invasion of Ireland. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Norman_invasion_of_Ireland)
- 1576 Stephen Báthory and Anna Jagiellon were crowned as the elected rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_B%C3%A1thory)
- 1625 Dutch–Portuguese War: Portuguese and Spanish forces recaptured the Brazilian city of Bahia, which had previously been captured by the Dutch Republic. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recapture_of_Bahia)
- 1699 Francis Nicholson and James Blair organize five May Day orations given by students of the College of William & Mary, leading to the establishment of Williamsburg as Virginia's new capital. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1699_May_Day_orations)
- 1707 Under the terms of the Acts of Union, the Kingdoms of England and Scotland merged to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, with a single parliament and government based in Westminster. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707)
- 1786 The Marriage of Figaro, an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marriage_of_Figaro)
- 1794 War of the Pyrenees: France regained nearly all the land it lost to Spain the previous year with its victory in the Second Battle of Boulou. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Boulou)
- 1884 Moses Fleetwood Walker, the last African American in Major League Baseball until Jackie Robinson, played his first game for the Toledo Blue Stockings. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Fleetwood_Walker)
- 1885 The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opened for business. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Board_of_Trade_Building)
- 1897 The Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Swami Vivekananda to serve as the humanitarian counterpart to the Hindu monastic order Ramakrishna Math. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishna_Mission)
- 1900 A dust explosion at a coal mine near Scofield, Utah, U.S., killed at least 200 miners. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scofield_Mine_disaster)
- 1931 New York City's Empire State Building, at the time the tallest building in the world, opened. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building)
- 1941 Citizen Kane, a widely acclaimed film by actor and director Orson Welles, premiered. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Kane)
- 1945 Second World War: British and Indian forces conducted a successful airborne assault on a Japanese artillery battery during the advance to liberate Rangoon, Burma. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Elephant_Point)
- 1945 World War II: German radio broadcasts news of Adolf Hitler's death, falsely stating that he has "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany". The Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, by order of Stalin. Up to 2,500 people die in a mass suicide in Demmin following the advance of the Red Army. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Adolf_Hitler)
- 1947 Sicilian separatist Salvatore Giuliano and his gang fired into a crowd of May Day marchers near Piana degli Albanesi, Sicily, killing 11 and wounding 33. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portella_della_Ginestra_massacre)
- 1950 Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwendolyn_Brooks)
- 1974 Argentine president Juan Perón expelled Montoneros from a demonstration in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, forcing the group to become a clandestine organization. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_Montoneros_from_Plaza_de_Mayo)
- 1991 In Major League Baseball, Rickey Henderson broke the record for stolen bases on the same night that Nolan Ryan broke his own record for no-hitters. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickey_Henderson)
- 1994 Three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayrton_Senna)
- 2002 The Horncastle boar's head, which probably once formed part of the crest of an Anglo-Saxon helmet, was found. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horncastle_boar's_head)
- 2010 Faisal Shahzad attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, New York City, but it failed to explode. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Times_Square_car_bombing_attempt)
- 2016 The evacuation of nearly 88,000 people began when a wildfire swept through Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, and burned for another 14 months, becoming the costliest disaster in Canadian history. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Fort_McMurray_wildfire)
- 2019 Naruhito ascends to the throne of Japan succeeding his father Akihito, beginning the Reiwa period. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruhito)

## Born on May 1

- 1218 Rudolf I of Germany, King of Germany 1273–1291 (died 1291) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_I_of_Germany)
- 1672 Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician (died 1719) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Addison)
- 1769 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Irish-English field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1852) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Wellesley%2C_1st_Duke_of_Wellington)
- 1825 Johann Jakob Balmer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (died 1898) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer)
- 1852 Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish neuroscientist and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1934) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_Ram%C3%B3n_y_Cajal)
- 1881 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest, palaeontologist, and philosopher (died 1955) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Teilhard_de_Chardin)
- 1895 Nikolai Yezhov, Soviet secret police official, head of the NKVD (died 1940) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Yezhov)
- 1916 Glenn Ford, Canadian-American actor and producer (died 2006) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Ford)
- 1923 Joseph Heller, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (died 1999) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Heller)
- 1925 Scott Carpenter, American commander, pilot, and astronaut (died 2013) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Carpenter)
- 1946 John Woo, Hong Kong director, producer, and screenwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Woo)
- 1968 Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Bierhoff)
- 1969 Wes Anderson, American director, producer, and screenwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Anderson)
- 1972 Julie Benz, American actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Benz)
- 1973 Oliver Neuville, German footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Neuville)
- 1981 Alexander Hleb, Belarusian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hleb)
- 1982 Darijo Srna, Croatian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darijo_Srna)
- 1982 Jamie Dornan, Northern Irish model and actor [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Dornan)
- 1982 Beto, Portuguese footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beto_(footballer%2C_born_1982))
- 1987 Leonardo Bonucci, Italian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Bonucci)
- 1988 Anushka Sharma, Indian actress and film producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anushka_Sharma)
- 2004 Charli D'Amelio, American social media influencer and dancer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charli_D'Amelio)

## Died on May 1

- 408 Arcadius, Byzantine emperor from 383 to 408 (born 377) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadius)
- 1118 Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England from 1100 to 1118 (born 1080) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_of_Scotland)
- 1308 Albert I of Germany (born 1255) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_I_of_Germany)
- 1539 Isabella of Portugal (born 1503) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_of_Portugal)
- 1555 Pope Marcellus II (born 1501) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Marcellus_II)
- 1572 Pope Pius V (born 1504) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_V)
- 1873 David Livingstone, Scottish-English missionary and explorer (born 1813) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone)
- 1904 Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (born 1841) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k)
- 1945 Joseph Goebbels, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (born 1897) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels)
- 1945 Magda Goebbels, German wife of Joseph Goebbels (born 1901) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magda_Goebbels)
- 1978 Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer and conductor (born 1903) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aram_Khachaturian)
- 1994 Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (born 1960) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayrton_Senna)
- 2021 Olympia Dukakis, American actress (born 1931) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_Dukakis)
- 2023 Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1938) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Lightfoot)

## Holidays and observances

- Christian feast day: Aldebrandus [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldebrandus)
- Christian feast day: Amator [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amator)
- Christian feast day: Andeolus [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andeolus)
- Christian feast day: Aredius of Gap [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aredius_of_Gap)
- Christian feast day: Asaph [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Asaph)
- Christian feast day: Augustin Schoeffler, Jean-Louis Bonnard (part of Vietnamese Martyrs) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Schoeffler)
- Christian feast day: Benedict of Szkalka [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_of_Skalka)
- Christian feast day: Bertha of Val d'Or [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_of_Val_d'Or)
- Christian feast day: Brioc [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brioc)
- Christian feast day: James the Less (Anglican Communion) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James%2C_son_of_Alphaeus)
- Christian feast day: Jeremiah [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah)
- Christian feast day: Saint Joseph the Worker (Roman Catholic) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph)
- Christian feast day: Julian of Bale [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Bale)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytsky (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klymentiy_Sheptytsky)
- Christian feast day: Mafalda of Portugal [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafalda_of_Portugal)
- Christian feast day: Marcouf [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marculf)
- Christian feast day: Orientius [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientius)
- Christian feast day: Peregrine Laziosi [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_Laziosi)
- Christian feast day: Philip the Apostle (Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_the_Apostle)
- Christian feast day: Richard Pampuri [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pampuri)
- Christian feast day: Seven Apostolic Men Caecilius of Elvira [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caecilius_of_Elvira)
- Christian feast day: Seven Apostolic Men Ctesiphon of Vergium [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Apostolic_Men)
- Christian feast day: Seven Apostolic Men Euphrasius of Illiturgis [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrasius_of_Illiturgis)
- Christian feast day: Seven Apostolic Men Hesychius of Cazorla [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychius_of_Cazorla)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “May 1”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/May 1”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/May_1) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“May 1”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for May 1 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## May 1 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Friday | 2026-W18 | 🌕 Full Moon |
| 2027 | Saturday | 2027-W17 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2028 | Monday | 2028-W18 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2029 | Tuesday | 2029-W18 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2030 | Wednesday | 2030-W18 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on May 1

- [🇮🇳 India](https://whathappen.today/holidays/india/): Buddha Purnima (2026)
- [🇿🇦 South Africa](https://whathappen.today/holidays/south-africa/): Workers' Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇸🇬 Singapore](https://whathappen.today/holidays/singapore/): Labour Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇵🇭 Philippines](https://whathappen.today/holidays/philippines/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇨🇳 China](https://whathappen.today/holidays/china/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇩🇪 Germany](https://whathappen.today/holidays/germany/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇫🇷 France](https://whathappen.today/holidays/france/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇮🇹 Italy](https://whathappen.today/holidays/italy/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇧🇷 Brazil](https://whathappen.today/holidays/brazil/): Worker's Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇰🇷 South Korea](https://whathappen.today/holidays/south-korea/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇲🇽 Mexico](https://whathappen.today/holidays/mexico/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇪🇸 Spain](https://whathappen.today/holidays/spain/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇦🇷 Argentina](https://whathappen.today/holidays/argentina/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇨🇴 Colombia](https://whathappen.today/holidays/colombia/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇨🇱 Chile](https://whathappen.today/holidays/chile/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇵🇪 Peru](https://whathappen.today/holidays/peru/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇵🇹 Portugal](https://whathappen.today/holidays/portugal/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇦🇹 Austria](https://whathappen.today/holidays/austria/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇧🇪 Belgium](https://whathappen.today/holidays/belgium/): Labor Day (2026 and 2027)

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← April 30](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/april-30/) · [May 2 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/may-2/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/may-1/