| 1805 |
|
The
state of Virginia passes a law
requiring all freed slaves to leave
the state, or risk either
imprisonment or deportation. |
| 1863 |
|
The
Battle of Chancellorsville begins as
Union Gen. Joe Hooker starts his
three-pronged attack against
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. |
| 1867 |
|
Reconstruction
in the South begins with black voter
registration. |
| 1877 |
|
President
Ruthoford B. Hayes withdraws all
Federal troops from the South,
ending Reconstruction. |
| 1898 |
|
The
U.S. Navy under Dewey defeats the
Spanish fleet at the Battle of
Manila Bay in the Philippines. |
| 1915 |
|
The
luxury liner Lusitania leaves
New York Harbor for a voyage to
Europe. |
| 1927 |
|
Adolf
Hitler holds his first Nazi meeting
in Berlin. |
| 1931 |
|
The
Empire State Building opens in New
York. |
| 1934 |
|
The
Philippine legislature accepts a
U.S. proposal for independence. |
| 1937 |
|
President
Franklin Roosevelt signs an act of
neutrality, keeping the United
States out of World War II. |
| 1941 |
|
The
film Citizen Kane--directed
and starring Orson Welles--opens in
New York. |
| 1944 |
|
The
Messerschmitt Me 262, the first
combat jet, makes its first flight. |
| 1945 |
|
Martin
Bormann, private secretary to Adolf
Hitler, escapes the Fuehrerbunker as
the Red Army advances on Berlin. |
| 1948 |
|
North
Korea is established. |
| 1950 |
|
Gwendolyn
Brooks becomes the first African
American to win the Pulitzer Prize
for her book of poetry called Annie
Allen. |
| 1960 |
|
Francis
Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane is shot
down over Russia. |
| 1961 |
|
Fidel
Castro announces there will be no
more elections in Cuba. |
| 1968 |
|
In
the second day of battle, U.S.
Marines, with the support of naval
fire, continue their attack on a
North Vietnamese Division at Dai Do. |
| 1970 |
|
Students
from Kent State University riot in
downtown Kent, Ohio, in protest of
the American invasion of Cambodia. |
| 1986 |
|
The
Tass News Agency reports the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant
accident. |
Born on May 1 |
| 1493 |
|
Phillippus
Paracelsus, physician and alchemist. |
| 1764 |
|
Benjamin
Henry Latrobe, architect of the U.S.
Capitol. |
| 1769 |
|
Arthur
Wellsley, Duke of Wellington. |
| 1830 |
|
Mother
(Mary Harris) Jones, reformer and
labor organizer. |
| 1839 |
|
Louis-Maire-Hilaire
Bernigaud, French chemist, inventor
of rayon. |
| 1878 |
|
James
Graham, inventor of the first naval
aircraft-carrying ship and first man
to film a total eclipse of the Sun. |
| 1896 |
|
Mark
Clark, American general during World
War II. |
| 1909 |
|
Kate
Smith, singer. |
| 1916 |
|
Glenn
Ford, actor (The Blackboard
Jungle). |
| 1923 |
|
Joseph
Heller, American author (Catch 22). |
| 1924 |
|
Terry
Southern, novelist and screenwriter
(Dr. Strangelove, Easy
Rider). |
| 1940 |
|
Bobbie
Ann Mason, American writer (Shiloh
and Other Stories, In Country). |
