On This Day: 1 May

1 May in Indian history

• 2019Naxalite attack in Gadchiroli district of India: Sixteen army soldiers, including a driver, killed in an IED blast. Naxals targeted an anti-Naxal operations team.India
• 1993Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa is assassinated in Colombo in a suicide bombing carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.India
• 1945Second World War: British and Indian forces conducted a successful airborne assault on a Japanese artillery battery during the advance to liberate Rangoon, Burma.India
• 1897The Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Swami Vivekananda to serve as the humanitarian counterpart to the Hindu monastic order Ramakrishna Math.India

1 May in world history

• 2004Cyprus, 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.
• 1994Three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix.
• 1991In Major League Baseball, Rickey Henderson broke the record for stolen bases on the same night that Nolan Ryan broke his own record for no-hitters.
• 1970Vietnam War: A student anti-war strike erupts in response to U.S. and South Vietnamese forces attacking Vietnamese communists in a Cambodian Campaign.
• 1960Cold War: U-2 incident: Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
• 1947Sicilian separatist Salvatore Giuliano and his gang fired into a crowd of May Day marchers near Piana degli Albanesi, Sicily, killing 11 and wounding 33.
• 1945World War II: German radio broadcasts news of Adolf Hitler's death, falsely stating that he has "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany". The Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chanc
• 1931New York City's Empire State Building, at the time the tallest building in the world, opened.
• 1898Spanish–American War: Battle of Manila Bay: The Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy destroys the Pacific Squadron of the Spanish Navy after a seven-hour battle. Spain loses all seven of its ships, and 381 Spanish sailors die. There are no American vesse
• 1884Moses Fleetwood Walker, the last African American in Major League Baseball until Jackie Robinson, played his first game for the Toledo Blue Stockings.
• 1865The Empire of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance.
• 1863American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville between Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker begins.
• 1699Francis Nicholson and James Blair organize five May Day orations given by students of the College of William & Mary, leading to the establishment of Williamsburg as Virginia's new capital.
• 305Diocletian and Maximian retired as co-rulers of the Roman Empire, being succeeded by Galerius and Constantius Chlorus.

Born on 1 May

• 1971Ajith Kumar, Indian actor and race car driverIndia
• 1932S. M. Krishna, Indian politician and statesman, Minister of External Affairs, 10th Chief Minister of Karnataka, 19th Governor of Maharashtra (died 2024)India
• 1919Manna Dey, Indian singer and composer (died 2013)India
• 1872Sidónio Pais, Portuguese soldier and politician, 4th President of Portugal (died 1918)
• 1764Benjamin Henry Latrobe, English-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (died 1820)
• 1218Rudolf I of Germany, King of Germany 1273–1291 (died 1291)

Died on 1 May

• 1985Denise Robins, English journalist and author (born 1897)
• 1945Joseph Goebbels, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (born 1897)
• 1278William II of Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea from 1246 to 1278
• 1255Walter de Gray, English prelate and statesman

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 1 May in history?

2019: Naxalite attack in Gadchiroli district of India: Sixteen army soldiers, including a driver, killed in an IED blast. Naxals targeted an anti-Naxal operations team. 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. 1994: Three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix. 1993: Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa is assassinated in Colombo in a suicide bombing carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

What happened on 1 May in Indian history?

2019: Naxalite attack in Gadchiroli district of India: Sixteen army soldiers, including a driver, killed in an IED blast. Naxals targeted an anti-Naxal operations team. 1993: Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa is assassinated in Colombo in a suicide bombing carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. 1945: Second World War: British and Indian forces conducted a successful airborne assault on a Japanese artillery battery during the advance to liberate Rangoon, Burma.

Which famous people were born on 1 May?

Ajith Kumar, Indian actor and race car driver (1971); S. M. Krishna, Indian politician and statesman, Minister of External Affairs, 10th Chief Minister of Karnataka, 19th Governor of Maharashtra (died 2024) (1932); Manna Dey, Indian singer and composer (died 2013) (1919); Sidónio Pais, Portuguese soldier and politician, 4th President of Portugal (died 1918) (1872).

Which day is observed on 1 May?

Labour Day; Maharashtra & Gujarat Day; Commemoration of the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat following the foundation of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti (India): Maharashtra Day; Armed Forces Day (Mauritania); Constitution Day (Argentina, Latvia, Marshall Islands); International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day.