May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). There are 244 days remaining.
- 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor
- 1699 - Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville founds the first European settlement in the Mississippi River Valley
- 1707 - The Act of Union joins England, Wales, and Scotland to form Great Britain
- 1714 - George I of the House of Hanover is chosen to succeed to the throne of Great Britain upon the death of Queen Anne
- 1776 - Adam Weishaupt founds the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Germany
- 1786 - Premier night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna
- 1790 - The United States completes its first census
- 1834 - Slavery is abolished in British territories
- 1851 - The Great Exhibition opens in London
- 1863 - American Civil War: - The Battle of Chancellorsville begins
- 1869 - The Folies-Bergere[?] opens in Paris
- 1873 - The 1873 Vienna World's Fair[?] opens in Vienna
- 1876 - Colorado is admitted to statehood
- 1884 - The start of the general strike which eventually won the eight-hour workday in the United States. May 1st, called May Day or Labour Day, is now a holiday recognized in almost every industrialized country; a few exceptions are Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United States. It is also a major holiday in Communist countries.
- 1883 - Buffalo Bill Cody put on his first Wild West Show
- 1893 - The World Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago, Illinois
- 1894 - Japan declares war on China over the fate of Korea
- 1894 - Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington D.C.
- 1898 - Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manila Bay - The United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet
- 1901 - The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York
- 1931 - The Empire State Building is opened in New York City
- 1940 - The 1940 Summer Olympics are canceled
- 1941 - Orson Welles's Citizen Kane premieres in New York City
- 1941 - World War II: Germany attacks Tobruk[?]
- 1948 - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il Sung as president.
- 1950 - Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth
- 1956 - The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public
- 1960 - Benin gains independence as Dahomey
- 1960 - Francis Gary Powers[?], in a U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union
- 1967 - Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu
- 1978 - Japan's Naomi Uemura[?], traveling by sled dog, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone
- 1982 - The 1982 World's Fair[?] opens in Knoxville, Tennessee
- 1983 - Edwin El Chapo Rosario wins boxing's vacant WBC world Lightweight title by beating Jose Luis Ramirez in San Juan, by points in 12 rounds, becoming Puerto Rico's 14th world boxing champion. A young Julio Cesar Chavez also wins as part of the undercard.
- 1991 - Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan hurls his seventh no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
- 1991 - Oakland Athletics outfielder Rickey Henderson breaks the all-time record for stolen bases by stealing his 939th
- 1992 - Rickey Henderson steals his 1000th base
- 2004 - Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will join the European Union.
- 1218 - Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (+ 1291)
- 1769 - Likeliest birthdate for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister (+ 1852)
- 1830 - Mother Jones[?], labor activist (+ 1930)
- 1852 - Calamity Jane, riflewoman, Wild West star (+ 1903)
- 1881 - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, palaeontologist and philosopher (+ 1955)
- 1887 - Alan Gordon Cunningham[?], British general
- 1905 - Henry Koster[?], film director (+ 1988)
- 1908 - Giovanni Guareschi, writer (+ 1968)
- 1909 - Kate Smith[?], singer (+ 1986)
- 1916 - Glenn Ford[?], actor
- 1918 - Jack Paar[?], television host
- 1923 - Shimon Peres, Israeli statesman
- 1923 - Joseph Heller, American novelist (+ 1999)
- 1924 - Art Fleming[?], game show host (+ 1995)
- 1929 - Ralf Dahrendorf[?], sociologist and politician
- 1932 - Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League (+ 1990)
- 1936 - Yves St. Laurent[?], fashion designer
- 1939 - Judy Collins, singer
- 1944 - Rita Coolidge[?], singer
- 1960 - Steve Cauthen[?], jockey[?]
- 1967 - Tim McGraw[?], country musician
- 1968 - Oliver Bierhoff[?], soccer player, National Team Of Germany
- 1973 - Oliver Neuville, soccer player, National Team Of Germany
See Also:
April 30 - May 2 - April 1 - June 1 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, October, November, December