Born On This Day:

• Joseph Ignace Guillotin, 1738
• William Pitt the Younger, 1759
• Thomas Moore, 1779
• Tony Pastor, 1837
• Jim Thorpe, 1886
• Ian Fleming, 1908
• Walker Percy, 1916
• Stephen Birmingham, 1931
• Dionne Quintuplets, 1934
• Caroll Baker, 1935
• Gladys Knight, 1944
• Rudolph Giuliani, 1944
• John Fogerty, 1945
• Sondra Locke, 1947
• David Baddiel, 1964
• Kylie Minogue, 1968
• Carrie Mulligan, 1985

Died On This Day:

• Luigi Boccherini, 1805
• Noah Webster, 1843
• Anne Bronte, 1849
• Audie Murphy, 1971
• Edward VIII Duke of Windsor, 1972
• Eric Morecambe, 1984
• Anthony 'Big Tuna' Accardo, 1992
• Julius Boros, 1994
• Phil Hartman shot dead, 1998
• Beryl Cook, 2008
• Gary Coleman, 2010
• Maya Angelou, 2014

Today's Events:

• 585 BC - Traditional date of cease fire between Lydians and Medes when total eclipse of sun occurred.
• 1742 - First indoor swimming pool opens in London.
• 1754 - George Washington and troops capture French east of Uniontown, PA (French & Indian War).
• 1804 - First Republic of France ends; Era of Napoleon begins.
• 1870 - First stamp auction in America held in New York City.
• 1892 - Famed naturalist John Muir founds the Sierra Club.
• 1900 - Solar eclipse darkens much of Northern hemisphere.
• 1902 - Thomas A. Edison announces his invention of the alkaline storage battery.
• 1922 - Detroit News Orchestra becomes first to broadcast on radio on station WWJ.
• 1928 - Chrysler and Dodge merge in biggest auto industry merger in history.
• 1929 - First Technicolor film, 'On With the Show' opens at Winter Garden Theatre, N.Y.
• 1937 - Neville Chamberlain appointed Prime Minister of England.
• 1940 - Belgian army surrenders to Germans.
• 1951 - Goon Show (Crazy People Featuring the Goons) broadcast in UK with Sellers, Secombe & Milligan.
• 1961 - Observer article about prisoners by Brit lawyer Peter Benenson leads to founding of Amnesty Intl.
• 1967 - British yachtsman Sir Francis Chicester sails into Plymouth, England after circumnavigation of globe.
• 2008 - King Gyanendra of Nepal, revered as a living god, stripped of power as Assembly in Nepal abolishes monarchy.
• 2011 - £1.15 million paid by anonymous Asian for the world's most expensive camera - a Leica 0 series from 1923 - at Vienna's WestLicht Gallery.

Feast Day of Saint:

• Germanus of Paris
• Bernard of Montjoux
• St. Augustine

Holiday:

• Public Holiday in Jamaica
• Armenian Independence Day (1918)

Non-Specific Holiday:

• VESAK (Commemoration of birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha) celebrated Southeast Asia.
• MOTHER'S DAY (U.S.), second Sunday in May
• FESTIVAL OF JOAN OF ARC in France, second Sunday in May
• MEMORIAL DAY (U.S.), Last Monday in May
• PROCESSION OF THE HOLY BLOOD in Belgium on first Monday after May 2.
• TANO FESTIVAL (Korea) on 5th day of 5th lunar month.
• TUAN WU CHIEH or Dragon Boat Festival (China) 5th day of 5th lunar month.
• ASCENSION DAY (Christian) 40th day after Easter.
• PENTACOST (Christian) or Whitsunday (Anglican) 50 days after Easter.
• TRINITY SUNDAY (Christian), Sunday after Pentecost.
• CORPUS CHRISTI (Christian), Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
• I'D AL-HAJJ, Muslim Festival
• ARANYA SHASHTI, Hindu Festival honoring god of the forest
• BUDDHA PURNIMA, Hindu Festival, celebrated early May
• GANGA DASSHERA, Hindu Festival, celebrated end of May
• ARMED FORCES DAY in US - third Saturday in May
• NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER in US - first Thursday in May
• NATIONAL DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION DAY - third Friday in May in US
• NATIONAL TEACHER'S DAY - Tuesday in the first full week in May in US
• VICTORIA DAY - first Monday before May 25, celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday in Canada
• WESAK FESTIVAL celebrated in the eastern hemisphere at the Taurus full moon, beginning of May
• GOODWILL FESTIVAL celebrated at the Gemini full moon, end of May