May 3 facts for kids

May 3rd is a special day with many interesting events happening throughout history! From ancient Mayan kings to modern-day technology, this date has seen a lot of important moments, famous births, and notable deaths.

Historical Events

Early History (Before 1600)

• 752 – Yaxun Bʼalam IV, a powerful Mayan king from Yaxchilan (in what is now Mexico), became ruler.
• 1481 – A huge earthquake hit the island of Rhodes, causing about 30,000 people to be hurt or killed.
• 1491 – The King of Kongo, Nkuwu Nzinga, was baptized by Portuguese missionaries and took the name João I.
• 1568 – A French force attacked and burned the San Mateo fort, killing many Spanish soldiers. This was in response to a brutal Spanish attack at Fort Caroline.

1600s to 1900s

• 1616 – The Treaty of Loudun helped end a civil war in France.
• 1715 – A total solar eclipse was seen across northern Europe and Asia. This event was predicted very accurately by the scientist Edmond Halley.
• 1791 – The Constitution of May 3 was announced in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This was one of the first modern constitutions in Europe.
• 1802 – Washington, D.C. officially became a city in the United States.
• 1808 – During the Finnish War, Sweden lost the important fortress of Suomenlinna to Russia.
• 1808 – Rebels in Madrid who had protested against French rule on May 2nd were executed.
• 1815 – In the Neapolitan War, Joachim Murat, the King of Naples, was defeated by Austrian forces at the Battle of Tolentino.
• 1830 – The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway opened. It was the first steam-powered passenger railway to sell season tickets and include a tunnel.
• 1837 – The University of Athens was founded in Greece.
• 1848 – The Benty Grange helmet, an ancient Anglo-Saxon helmet, was found in a burial mound in England.
• 1849 – The May Uprising in Dresden began, which was one of the last German revolutions of 1848–49.
• 1855 – American adventurer William Walker left San Francisco with about 60 men to try and take over Nicaragua.

1900s to Today

• 1901 – The Great Fire of 1901 started in Jacksonville, Florida, causing a lot of damage.
• 1913 – Raja Harishchandra, the first full-length movie from India, was released. This marked the start of the Indian film industry.
• 1921 – Ireland was divided by British law, creating Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.
• 1921 – West Virginia became the first U.S. state to plan a broad sales tax.
• 1928 – The Jinan incident began in China, leading to many deaths and Japanese retaliation.
• 1939 – The All India Forward Bloc political party was created by Subhas Chandra Bose.
• 1942 – During World War II, Japanese naval troops invaded Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. This led to the Battle of the Coral Sea between Japanese, American, and Australian forces.
• 1945 – In World War II, several prison ships, including the Cap Arcona, were sunk by the Royal Air Force in Germany.
• 1947 – Japan's new post-war constitution officially started.
• 1948 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that agreements preventing the sale of homes to Black people and other minorities could not be legally enforced.
• 1951 – London's Royal Festival Hall opened as part of the Festival of Britain.
• 1952 – Two U.S. Air Force officers, Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict, landed a plane at the North Pole.
• 1952 – The Kentucky Derby horse race was shown on national television for the first time.
• 1953 – Two men were rescued from a truck that crashed over the side of the Pit River Bridge. A photographer named Virginia Schau took a famous picture of the rescue, winning a Pulitzer Prize for Photography.
• 1957 – The owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, Walter O'Malley, decided to move the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.
• 1963 – Police in Birmingham, Alabama used strong force against "civil rights protesters". Images of this violence were seen worldwide, bringing more attention to the civil rights movement.
• 1968 – Eighty-five people died when Braniff International Airways Flight 352 crashed in Texas.
• 1971 – Erich Honecker became the leader of East Germany, staying in power until 1989.
• 1978 – The first unwanted bulk commercial email, later called "spam", was sent to many computers on the west coast of the United States.
• 1979 – Margaret Thatcher won the general election in the United Kingdom. The next day, she became the first female British Prime Minister.
• 1999 – A very powerful F5 tornado hit Oklahoma City, killing 45 people and causing huge damage. This tornado had the highest wind speed ever recorded at the time.
• 1999 – Pakistani soldiers entered Indian territory, leading to the Kargil War.
• 2000 – The outdoor game of geocaching began, with the first hidden "cache" and its GPS coordinates posted online.
• 2001 – For the first time since 1947, the United States lost its seat on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
• 2006 – Armavia Flight 967 crashed into the Black Sea near Sochi, Russia, killing 113 people.
• 2007 – A three-year-old British girl named Madeleine McCann disappeared in Portugal, becoming a very famous missing-person case.
• 2016 – Eighty-eight thousand people had to leave their homes in Fort McMurray, Canada, because of a large wildfire that destroyed many buildings.

Famous Births

Born Before 1900

• 1469 – Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian historian and philosopher.
• 1695 – Henri Pitot, a French physicist who invented the Pitot tube, used to measure fluid speed.
• 1849 – Jacob Riis, a Danish-American journalist and photographer known for showing how poor people lived.
• 1892 – George Paget Thomson, an English physicist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1896 – Dodie Smith, an English author and playwright, who wrote The Hundred and One Dalmatians.
• 1898 – Golda Meir, who became the 4th Prime Minister of Israel.

Born After 1900

• 1903 – Bing Crosby, a famous American singer and actor.
• 1906 – Mary Astor, an American actress.
• 1919 – Pete Seeger, an American singer-songwriter and activist.
• 1921 – Sugar Ray Robinson, an American boxer often called one of the greatest of all time.
• 1933 – James Brown, an American singer, often called the "Godfather of Soul."
• 1933 – Steven Weinberg, an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1934 – Frankie Valli, an American singer, known for his high voice.
• 1942 – Věra Čáslavská, a Czech gymnast and Olympic champion.
• 1950 – Mary Hopkin, a Welsh singer-songwriter.
• 1951 – Christopher Cross, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1958 – Sandi Toksvig, a Danish-English comedian and writer.
• 1959 – Ben Elton, an English actor, director, and writer.
• 1975 – Christina Hendricks, an American actress.
• 1977 – Eric Church, an American country music singer.
• 1996 – Alex Iwobi, a Nigerian footballer.
• 1996 – Domantas Sabonis, a Lithuanian basketball player.
• 1997 – Desiigner, an American rapper.

Notable Deaths

Died Before 1900

• 1481 – Mehmed the Conqueror, an Ottoman sultan who conquered Constantinople.
• 1758 – Pope Benedict XIV, a leader of the Catholic Church.
• 1856 – Adolphe Adam, a French composer known for ballets like Giselle.

Died After 1900

• 1916 – Tom Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh, and Patrick Pearse, Irish rebels who played roles in the Easter Rising.
• 1932 – Charles Fort, an American journalist and author who wrote about strange phenomena.
• 1969 – Zakir Husain, the 3rd President of India.
• 1981 – Nargis, a famous Indian actress.
• 1987 – Dalida, a popular Italian singer and actress.
• 1989 – Christine Jorgensen, an American trans woman who was one of the first people to have gender confirmation surgery.
• 1991 – Jerzy Kosiński, a Polish-American novelist.
• 2002 – Barbara Castle, an English politician.
• 2006 – Karel Appel, a Dutch painter and sculptor.
• 2007 – Wally Schirra, an American astronaut.
• 2011 – Jackie Cooper, an American actor and director.
• 2014 – Gary Becker, an American economist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 2021 – Lloyd Price, an American R&B singer.

Holidays and Observances

• Constitution Memorial Day (Japan)
• Constitution Day (Poland)
• Fiesta de las Cruces (Spain and Hispanic America)
• International Sun Day
• World Press Freedom Day

Images for kids

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  A friendly robot, representing the "See also" section.

See also

A friendly robot, representing the "See also" section.

In Spanish: 3 de mayo para niños