All Events

Historical Events on May 1

  • Capture of New Orleans

    1862

    American Civil War: The Union Army completes its capture of New Orleans.

  • Tobruk

    1941

    World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk.

  • Fidel Castro

    1961

    The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.

  • Cambodian Campaign

    1970

    Protests erupt following the announcement by Richard Nixon that American and South Vietnamese forces would attack Vietnamese communists in a Cambodian Campaign.

  • Auschwitz concentration camp

    1987

    Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.

  • Operation Flash

    1995

    Croatian forces launch Operation Flash during the Croatian War of Independence.

  • Mission Accomplished speech

    2003

    Invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".

  • European Union

    2004

    Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.

  • Pope John Paul II

    2011

    Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.

All Births

Famous Birthdays on May 1

All Deaths

Famous Deaths on May 1

30. April

02. May