What happened on May 3? There are more than 285 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

Interesting Facts & Myths About May 3

May 3 In HistoryMay 3 is the 124th day of the year 2024. There are 242 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 18th week of the year 2024.

On this day in Conway, Arkansas 72035 sunrise will occur at 06:14 AM and sunset will occur at 07:58 PM (local time).

The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Taurus. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.

According to the Chinese calendar, there are 271 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).

Birthday curiousity Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the March 30 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)

Historical Events For May 3

  • 1481
    The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties.
  • 1491
    Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I.
  • 1791
    The Constitution of May 3 (the first modern constitution in Europe) is proclaimed by the Sejm of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
  • 1802
    Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city.
  • 1808
    Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia.
  • 1808
    Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose up on May 2 are executed near Príncipe Pío hill.
  • 1815
    Neapolitan War: Joachim Murat, King of Naples is defeated by the Austrians at the Battle of Tolentino, the decisive engagement of the war.
  • 1830
    The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway is opened. It is the first steam hauled passenger railway to issue season tickets and include a tunnel.
  • 1837
    The University of Athens is founded in Athens, Greece.
  • 1849
    The May Uprising in Dresden begins – the last of the German revolutions of 1848.
  • 1860
    Charles XV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
  • 1867
    The Hudson’s Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island.
  • 1877
    Labatt Park, the oldest continually operating baseball grounds in the world has its first game.
  • 1901
    The Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, Florida.
  • 1913
    Raja Harishchandra the first full-length Indian feature film is released, marking the beginning of the Indian film industry.
  • 1915
    The poem In Flanders Fields is written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.
  • 1916
    The leaders of the Easter Rising are executed in Dublin.
  • 1920
    A Bolshevik coup fails in the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
  • 1921
    West Virginia becomes the first state to legislate a broad sales tax, but does not implement it until a number of years later due to issues surrounding its enforcement.
  • 1928
    Japanese atrocities in Jinan, China.
  • 1936
    Joe DiMaggio, familiarly referred to as Joltin' Joe and The Yankee Clipper makes his major league debut for the New York Yankees.
  • 1937
    Gone with the Wind, a novel by Margaret Mitchell, wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
  • 1939
    The All India Forward Bloc is formed by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
  • 1942
    World War II: Japanese naval troops invade Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands during the first part of Operation Mo that results in the Battle of the Coral Sea between Japanese forces and forces from the United States and Australia.
  • 1945
    World War II: Sinking of the prison ships Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay.
  • 1947
    New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.
  • 1948
    The U.S. Supreme Court rules, in Shelley v. Kraemer, that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities are legally unenforceable.
  • 1951
    London’s Royal Festival Hall opens with the Festival of Britain
  • 1951
    The United States Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees begin their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry Truman.
  • 1952
    Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the United States land a plane at the North Pole.
  • 1952
    The Kentucky Derby is televised nationally for the first time on the CBS network.
  • 1957
    Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, New York, to Los Angeles, California.
  • 1960
    The Anne Frank House opens in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  • 1960
    The Off-Broadway musical comedy, The Fantasticks, opens in New York City’s Greenwich Village, eventually becoming the longest-running musical of all time.
  • 1963
    The police force in Birmingham, Alabama switches tactics and responds with violent force to stop the “Birmingham campaign” protesters. Images of the violent suppression are transmitted worldwide, bringing newfound attention to the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
  • 1973
    The 108-story Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out at 1.451 feet as the world’s tallest building.
  • 1978
    The first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (which would later become known as “spam”) is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
  • 1986
    Twenty-one people are killed and forty-one are injured after a bomb explodes in an airliner (Flight UL512) at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka.
  • 1987
    A crash by Bobby Allison at the Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama fencing at the start-finish line would lead NASCAR to develop restrictor plate racing the following season both at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega.
  • 1999
    The southwestern portion of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is devastated by an F5 tornado killing forty-five people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado is one of 66 from the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. This is the strongest tornado ever recorded with wind speeds of up to 318 mph.
  • 2000
    The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.
  • 2001
    The United States loses its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.
  • 2002
    A military MiG-21 aircraft crashes into the Bank of Rajasthan in India, killing eight.
  • 2003
    New Hampshire’s famous Old Man of the Mountain collapses.

Who Were Born On May 3?

  • 612
    Constantine III, Byzantine Emperor (d. 641)
  • 1415
    Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (d. 1495)
  • 1428
    Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman (d. 1495)
  • 1446
    Margaret of York, wife of Charles I, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1503)
  • 1469
    Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and political author (d. 1527)
  • 1662
    Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (d. 1736)
  • 1695
    Henri Pitot, Italian-born French engineer (d. 1771)
  • 1713
    Alexis Claude de Clairaut, French mathematician (d. 1765)
  • 1761
    August von Kotzebue, German dramatist (d. 1819)
  • 1764
    Elisabeth of France, sister of Louis XVI (d. 1794)
  • 1768
    Charles Tennant, Scottish chemist and industrialist (d. 1838)
  • 1814
    Sir Adams George Archibald, Canadian Father of the Confederation (d. 1892)
  • 1826
    Charles, Crown Prince of Sweden-Norway (d. 1872)
  • 1835
    Alfred Austin, English poet (d. 1913)
  • 1844
    Richard D'Oyly Carte, English theatrical impresario (d. 1901)
  • 1849
    Bernhard von Bülow, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1929)
  • 1849
    Jacob August Riis, American journalist (d. 1914)
  • 1857
    George Gore, American baseball player (d. 1933)
  • 1859
    Andy Adams, American author (d. 1935)
  • 1860
    John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist (d. 1936)
  • 1860
    Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician (d. 1940)
  • 1861
    Emmett Dalton, American outlaw (d. 1937)
  • 1867
    J.T. Hearne, English cricketer (d. 1944)
  • 1870
    Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1948)
  • 1873
    Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian general (d. 1945)
  • 1874
    François Coty, French perfume manufacturer (d. 1934)
  • 1874
    V. Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer (d. 1954)
  • 1877
    Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst (d. 1925)
  • 1879
    Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman (d. 1950)
  • 1886
    Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (d. 1971)
  • 1887
    Marika Kotopouli, Greek actress (d. 1954)
  • 1888
    Beulah Bondi, American actress (d. 1981)
  • 1891
    Tadeusz Peiper, Polish poet (d. 1969)
  • 1892
    George Paget Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
  • 1892
    Jacob Viner, Canadian economist (d. 1970)
  • 1893
    Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian writer and public benefactor (d. 1975)
  • 1895
    Cornelius Van Til, philosopher and Christian apologist (d. 1987)
  • 1896
    Dodie Smith, English novelist and playwright (d. 1990)
  • 1896
    Karl Allmenroder, German World War I Flying ace (d. 1917)
  • 1898
    Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1978)
  • 1898
    Septima Poinsette Clark, American educator and civil rights activist (d. 1987)
  • 1901
    Gino Cervi, Italian actor (d. 1974)
  • 1902
    Alfred Kastler, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
  • 1903
    Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (d. 1977)
  • 1905
    Werner Fenchel, German mathematician (d. 1988)
  • 1906
    Anna Roosevelt Halsted, American radio personality, daughter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (d. 1975)
  • 1906
    Mary Astor, Academy Award-winning American actress (d. 1987)
  • 1907
    Dorothy Young, American entertainer (d. 2011)
  • 1910
    Norman Corwin, American radio pioneer
  • 1912
    Virgil Fox, American organist (d. 1980)
  • 1913
    William Inge, American playwright (d. 1973)
  • 1915
    Stu Hart, Canadian professional wrestler and trainer (d. 2003)
  • 1916
    Léopold Simoneau, French Canadian tenor (d. 2006)
  • 1917
    Betty Comden, American lyricist (d. 2006)
  • 1918
    Ted Bates, English former footballer (d. 2003)
  • 1919
    John Cullen Murphy, American comic strip artist (d. 2004)
  • 1919
    Pete Seeger, American singer
  • 1920
    John Lewis, American jazz pianist and composer (Modern Jazz Quartet) (d. 2001)
  • 1921
    Joe Ames, American singer (d. 2007)
  • 1921
    Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (d. 1989)
  • 1922
    Len Shackleton, English former footballer (d. 2000)
  • 1923
    George Hadjinikos, Greek pianist and conductor
  • 1923
    Ralph Hall, American politician
  • 1924
    Ken Tyrrell, English founder of eponymous F1 racing team (d. 2001)
  • 1924
    Yehuda Amichai, Israeli poet (d. 2000)
  • 1925
    Jean Séguy, French sociologist of religions (d. 2007)
  • 1928
    Dave Dudley, American singer (d. 2003)
  • 1932
    Robert Osborne, American film historian
  • 1933
    Alex Cord, American actor
  • 1933
    James Brown, American singer and dancer (d. 2006)
  • 1933
    Steven Weinberg, American physicist, Nobel laureate
  • 1934
    Frankie Valli, American singer (The Four Seasons)
  • 1934
    Georges Moustaki, Egyptian born Greek-French singer and songwriter
  • 1934
    Henry Cooper, English boxer (d. 2011)
  • 1935
    Ron Popeil, American inventor
  • 1937
    Nélida Piñon, Brazilian writer
  • 1938
    Chris Cannizzaro, American baseball player
  • 1938
    Omar Abdel-Rahman, Egyptian Islamist terrorist
  • 1940
    Clemens Westerhof, Dutch football manager
  • 1940
    David Koch, American businessman, politician
  • 1940
    Konrad “Conny” Plank, German record producer and musician
  • 1941
    Edward “Monk” Malloy, American university president
  • 1942
    C.L. Otter, American politician, governor of Idaho
  • 1942
    Dave Marash, American journalist
  • 1942
    Věra Čáslavská, Czech gymnast
  • 1943
    Jim Risch, American politician, junior senator of Idaho
  • 1945
    Davey Lopes, American baseball player and coach
  • 1946
    Greg Gumbel, American broadcaster
  • 1946
    Norm Chow, American football coach
  • 1946
    Silvino Francisco, South African snooker player
  • 1947
    Doug Henning, Canadian magician (d. 2000)
  • 1948
    Chris Mulkey, American actor
  • 1949
    Ken Hom, Chinese American chef
  • 1949
    Ron Wyden, American politician, senior senator of Oregon
  • 1950
    Mary Hopkin, Welsh Singer
  • 1951
    Christopher Cross, American musician
  • 1951
    Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian writer
  • 1952
    Allan Wells, British athlete
  • 1952
    Caitlin Clarke. American actress (d. 2004)
  • 1952
    Chuck Baldwin, American political figure
  • 1953
    Gary Young, American drummer (Pavement)
  • 1955
    David Hookes, Australian cricketer (d. 2004)
  • 1956
    Marc Bellemare, French Canadian lawyer and politician
  • 1957
    Rod Langway, American ice hockey player
  • 1958
    Kevin Kilner, American actor
  • 1958
    Sandi Toksvig, Danish born writer, broadcaster and comedian
  • 1958
    Susanna Kwan, Hong Kong singer
  • 1959
    Ben Elton, British comedian and author
  • 1959
    David Ball, English musician (Soft Cell)
  • 1959
    Uma Bharati, Indian politician
  • 1960
    Amy Steel, American actress
  • 1961
    David Vitter, American politician
  • 1961
    Joe Murray, American cartoonist
  • 1961
    Steve McClaren, English football manager
  • 1962
    Anders Graneheim, Swedish bodybuilder
  • 1963
    Jamie Reeves, British strongman
  • 1963
    Jeff Hornacek, American basketball player
  • 1964
    Ron Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1965
    John Jensen, Danish footballer
  • 1965
    Mikhail Prokhorov, Russian self-made businessman
  • 1965
    Nina Garcia, Colombian-American fashion expert and television personality
  • 1965
    Rob Brydon, Welsh comedian
  • 1966
    Darren Morgan, Welsh snooker player
  • 1966
    Firdous Bamji, Indian-American actor
  • 1966
    Frank Dietrich, German politician (d. 2011)
  • 1966
    Giorgos Agorogiannis, Greek footballer
  • 1966
    Peter Abbay, American actor
  • 1967
    André Olbrich, German guitarist and composer (Blind Guardian)
  • 1968
    Shane Minor, American singer
  • 1969
    Daryl F. Mallett, American writer/editor
  • 1970
    Bobby Cannavale, American actor
  • 1970
    Jeffrey Sebelia, American fashion designer
  • 1971
    Damon Dash, American label executive
  • 1971
    Josey Scott, American singer (Saliva)
  • 1972
    Shonie Carter, American MMA fighter
  • 1973
    Brad Martin, American musician
  • 1973
    Rea Garvey, Irish musician
  • 1974
    Peter Everitt, Australian football player
  • 1974
    Princess Haya bint Hussein of Jordan
  • 1975
    Christina Hendricks, American actress
  • 1975
    Dulé Hill, American actor
  • 1975
    Maksim Mrvica, Croatian pianist
  • 1975
    Valentino Lanús, Mexican actor
  • 1975
    Willie Geist, American television personality
  • 1976
    Brad Scott, Australian rules footballer and coach
  • 1976
    Jeff Halpern, American ice hockey player
  • 1977
    Mashima Hiro, Japanese manga artist of Rave Master and Fairy Tail
  • 1977
    Ryan Dempster, American baseball player
  • 1977
    Tyronn Lue, American basketball player
  • 1978
    Autumn Phillips, member of the British royal family
  • 1978
    Lawrence Tynes, American football player
  • 1978
    Paul Banks, American vocalist (Interpol)
  • 1979
    Steve Mack, American professional wrestler
  • 1980
    Jaycee Dugard, American kindnapping victim
  • 1980
    Marcel Vigneron, American chef (Top Chef)
  • 1980
    Zuzana Ondrášková, Czech tennis player
  • 1981
    Farrah Franklin, American singer (former member of Destiny’s Child)
  • 1981
    U;Nee, South Korean singer and actress (d. 2007)
  • 1982
    Igor Olshansky, Ukrainian-born American football player
  • 1983
    Joseph Addai, American football player
  • 1983
    Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer
  • 1983
    Myriam Fares, Lebanese singer
  • 1983
    Romeo Castelen, Dutch footballer
  • 1984
    Cheryl Burke, American dancer
  • 1985
    Ezequiel Lavezzi, Argentinian footballer; plays for Italian team SSC Napoli
  • 1985
    Meagan Tandy, American actress
  • 1987
    Lina Grinčikaitė, Lithuanian sprinter
  • 1990
    Levi Johnston, American actor and model; former fiancé of Bristol Palin
  • 1990
    Miranda Chartrand, Canadian singer

Who Died On May 3?

  • 1152
    Matilda of Boulogne, Queen of England (b. 1105)
  • 1160
    Peter Lombard, Italian scholar and bishop (b. c. 1100)
  • 1270
    King Béla IV of Hungary (b. 1206)
  • 1294
    John I, Duke of Brabant (b. 1252)
  • 1481
    Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1432)
  • 1598
    Anna Guarini, Italian singer (b. 1563)
  • 1606
    Henry Garnet, English Jesuit (b. 1555)
  • 1616
    William Shakespeare, English writer and actor (b. 1564) (his death is commonly accepted to be on April 23, according to the Julian calendar)
  • 1622
    Pedro Páez, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1564)
  • 1679
    James Sharp, Scottish archbishop (b. 1613)
  • 1693
    Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French courtier (b. 1607)
  • 1704
    Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Bohemian composer (b. 1644)
  • 1724
    John Leverett the Younger, American President of Harvard (b. 1662)
  • 1750
    John Willison, Scottish minister and writer (b. 1680)
  • 1752
    Samuel Ogle, British provincial Governor of Maryland (b. c. 1692)
  • 1758
    Pope Benedict XIV (b. 1675)
  • 1763
    George Psalmanazar, British impostor (b. 1679)
  • 1764
    Francesco Algarotti, Italian philosopher (b. 1712)
  • 1779
    John Winthrop, American astronomer (b. 1714)
  • 1793
    Martin Gerbert, German theologian and historian (b. 1720)
  • 1839
    Ferdinando Paer, Italian composer (b. 1771)
  • 1856
    Adolphe Charles Adam, French composer (b. 1803)
  • 1910
    Howard Taylor Ricketts, American bacteriologist. (b. 1871)
  • 1916
    Leaders of the Easter Rising: Patrick Pearse, Irish Nationalist and Leader of the Easter Rising (b. 1879)
  • 1916
    Leaders of the Easter Rising: Thomas MacDonagh, Irish Nationalist and Leader of the Easter Rising (b. 1878)
  • 1916
    Leaders of the Easter Rising: Tom Clarke, Irish Nationalist, Leader and Organiser of the Easter Rising (b. 1858)
  • 1918
    Charlie Soong, Christian missionary
  • 1921
    Théodore Pilette, Belgian racing driver (b. 1883)
  • 1942
    Thorvald Stauning, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1873)
  • 1958
    Frank Foster, English cricketer (b. 1889)
  • 1969
    Zakir Hussain, 3rd President of India, (b. 1897)
  • 1972
    Bruce Cabot, American film actor (b. 1904)
  • 1972
    Leslie Harvey, Scottish guitar player for Stone the Crows (b. 1944)
  • 1978
    Bill Downs, American broadcast journalist (b. 1914)
  • 1987
    Dalida, French singer (b. 1933)
  • 1988
    Lev Semenovich Pontryagin, Russian mathematician (b. 1908)
  • 1989
    Christine Jorgensen, American transsexual (b. 1926)
  • 1989
    Edward Ochab, Polish Communist politician (b. 1906)
  • 1991
    Jerzy Kosiński, Polish-born writer (b. 1933)
  • 1991
    Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer and composer (b. 1907)
  • 1992
    George Murphy, American dancer, actor and politician (b. 1902)
  • 1996
    Alex Kellner, American baseball player (b. 1924)
  • 1996
    Dimitri Fampas, Greek guitarist (b. 1921)
  • 1996
    Jack Weston, American actor (b. 1924)
  • 1997
    Narciso Yepes, Spanish classical guitarist (b. 1927)
  • 1997
    Sébastien Enjolras, French racing driver (b. 1976)
  • 1999
    Godfrey Evans, English cricketer (b. 1920)
  • 1999
    Joe Adcock, American baseball player (b. 1927)
  • 1999
    Steve Chiasson, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1967)
  • 2000
    John Joseph O'Connor, Cardinal Archbishop of New York (b. 1920)
  • 2000
    Julia Bathory, Hungarian glass-designer (b. 1901)
  • 2001
    Billy Higgins, American drummer (b. 1936)
  • 2002
    Barbara Castle, British politician (b. 1910)
  • 2002
    Evgeny Svetlanov, Russian composer and pianist (b. 1928)
  • 2003
    Suzy Parker, American actress (b. 1932)
  • 2004
    Anthony Ainley, British actor (b. 1932)
  • 2004
    Darrell Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1928)
  • 2004
    Ken Downing, British racing driver (b. 1917)
  • 2006
    Earl Woods, athlete and father of Tiger Woods (b. 1932)
  • 2006
    Karel Appel, Dutch painter (b. 1921)
  • 2006
    Pramod Mahajan, Indian politician (b. 1949)
  • 2007
    Knock Yokoyama, Japanese comedian and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2007
    Wally Schirra, American astronaut (b. 1923)
  • 2007
    Warja Honegger-Lavater, Swiss illustrator (b. 1913)
  • 2008
    Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, Spanish former Prime Minister (b. 1926)
  • 2009
    Ram Shewalkar, Indian Marathi writer (b. 1931)
  • 2009
    Ton Lutz, Dutch actor (b. 1919)
  • 2010
    Guenter Wendt, German-American engineer (b. 1923)
  • 2010
    Roy Carrier, American Zydeco musician (b. 1947)
  • 2011
    Jackie Cooper, American actor (b. 1922)
  • 2011
    Sergo Kotrikadze, Georgian footballer (b. 1936)
  • 2011
    Thanasis Veggos, Greek actor (b. 1927)

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