May 1

305 – Diocletian forces Maximian to abdicate, then abdicates himself, leaving Constantius, father of Constantine, and Galerius as the remaining Co-Emperors of both the eastern and western Roman Empire.

880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the architectural model for all later ‘cross in square’ Orthodox churches.

1328 – Under terms of the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, ending the wars of Scottish independence,  England recognizes Scotland as an independent state.

1486 – Christopher Columbus presents his plans for discovering a western route to the Indies to the Spanish Queen Isabella I of Castile.

1707 – The Act of Union joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain takes effect, lasting until 1801, when Ireland was added to form the United Kingdom.

1865 – The Empire of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance.

1866 – The Memphis Race Riots begin. In 3 days, 46 blacks and 2 whites were killed. Reports of the riots influenced passage of the 14th amendment to the Constitution.

1885 – The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opens for business.

1886 – Rallies are held throughout the U.S. demanding the 8 hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket affair in Chicago, in commemoration of which, May 1 is celebrated as International Workers’ Day in many countries.

1898 – In Manila Bay, Philippines, the Asiatic Squadron of the U.S. Navy completely destroys the Pacific Squadron of the Spanish Navy in 7 hours, with no American vessel losses or combat deaths.

1900 – An explosion at the Winter Quarters coal mine in Scofield, Utah kills over 200 men  in what is the 5th worst mining accident in United States history.

1915 – The RMS Lusitania departs from New York City on her 202nd crossing of the North Atlantic.

1919 – German Weimar Republic Army and Freikorps troops enter Munich to end the breakaway Bavarian Soviet Republic.

1930 – In the Lowell Observatory Observation Circular, astronomer Vesto Slipher officially proposes that a newly discovered dwarf planet be named “Pluto”.

1931 – The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.

1955 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.

1960 – Flying a U-2  spy plane over the Sverdlovsk Oblast in west central Russia, pilot Francis Gary Powers is shot down and taken prisoner.

1961 – The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.

1971 –  The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as “Amtrak” takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service.

1978 – Naomi Uemura of Japan, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole on a solo expedition.

1999 – Conrad Anker, of the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition to Mount Everest, finds the body of British climber George Mallory, 75 years after he and his climbing partner, Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, disappeared in 1924. Nothing found yet could confirm if he and Irvine reached the summit.

2003 – On board USS Abraham Lincoln, off the coast of California, President George W. Bush declares that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended”.