1704 – Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Bohemian-Austrian violinist and composer, dies at 59
1707 – Michiel de Swaen, Dutch physician and poet, dies at 53
1737 – Abraham Patras, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1735-37), dies at 65
1779 – John Winthrop, American educator at Harvard and astronomer, dies at 64
1863 – Elisha Franklin Paxton [Bull Paxton], American general (Confederate Army), dies leading Stoneville Brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville at 35
1968 – Leonid Sabaneyev, Russian composer, dies at 86
1972 – Bruce Cabot, actor (Diamonds are Forever), dies at 68
1991 – Don Whitmire, American College Football Hall of Fame tackle (Alabama, Navy – All American at both), dies at 68
2018 – Bob Prewitt, American college basketball coach (SMU Mustangs), dies at 93
2023 – Lance Blanks, American basketball guard (Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves), executive (GM Phoenix Suns 2010-13), and broadcaster (ESPN, Longhorn Network), takes his own life at 56
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 3rd May 2025
1837 – The University of Athens is founded by King Otto of Greece – first modern university in the Eastern Mediterranean
1902 – 28th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Winkfield on Alan-a-Dale wins in 2:08.75
1922 – Salt layer find at Winterswijk
1953 – Westchester conference of American Library Association proclaims “Freedom to Read”
1968 – Holland Pirate Radio Station VRON becomes Radio Veronica Intl
1970 – World premiere of The Beatles’ “Let it Be” documentary film directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, in New York City
1982 – NY Times reports that military will get 25% of NASA’s budget
1992 – NY Met Eddie Murray is 24th to hit 400 HRs
2018 – Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan becomes NFL’s first $30m per season player after agreeing to $150m contract extension
2018 – Indian government confirms around 110 people have died in dust storms in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in the last 9 days
Today in History for 3rd May 2025
Historical Events
1765 – 1st North American medical college opens in Philadelphia
1830 – First regular steam train passenger service in the US starts in South Carolina, with U.S.-built locomotive “The Best Friend of Charleston”
1867 – Hudson’s Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island
1900 – 26th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Boland aboard Lieut Gibson wins in 2:06.25
2018 – Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan becomes NFL’s first $30m per season player after agreeing to $150m contract extension
Famous Birthdays
1895 – Ernst Kantorowicz, German-American historian (Laudes regiae), born in Posen, Prussia (d. 1963)
1920 – John Lewis, American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer (Modern Jazz Quartet, 1952-97), born in La Grange, Illinois (d. 2001)
1964 – Ron Hextall, Canadian ice hockey goalie (Vezina and Conn Smyth Trophy 1987) and executive (GM Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins), born in Brandon, Manitoba
1968 – Shane Minor, American country music singer, born in Modesto, California
1979 – Genevieve Nnaji, Nigerian actress and director (Lionheart), born in Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria
Famous Deaths
1763 – George Psalmanazar, British impostor (b. 1679)
1764 – Francesco Algarotti, Italian art collector and encyclopedist (Viaggio in Russia), dies at 53
1983 – Armando José Fernandes, Portuguese neoclassical composer, dies at 76
2005 – Pierre Moerlen, French rock-jazz fusion drummer and percussionist (Gong; Mike Oldfield), dies at 52
2008 – Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, Spanish former Primer Minister (b. 1926)
Famous Deaths for 2nd May 2025
1300 – Blanche of Artois, regent of Navarre (b. 1248)
1934 – Sergey Lebedev, Russian chemist, inventor of first commercially viable, mass-produced polybutadiene synthetic rubber for tires, and synthetic motor oil for aircraft engines, dies at 59
1957 – Tadeusz Zygfryd Kassern, Polish composer and cultural attache, dies at 53
1960 – Caryl Chessman, American kidnapper and rapist, executed in gas chamber at San Quentin (California) State Prison after 12 years of appeals at 38
1982 – Hugh Marlowe [Hipple], American actor (All About Eve, Ellery Queen), dies from a heart attack at 71
1994 – Louis Calaferte, writer (Requiem of the Innocents), dies at 65
1995 – Michael Hordern, British actor (Watership Down, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold), dies from kidney disease at 83
1996 – Emile Habibi, Palestinian Israeli writer (The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist), dies at 73
2001 – Ted Rogers, British comedian and game show host (3-2-1), dies after emergency open-heart surgery at 65
2018 – Wang Danfeng, Chinese actress, dies at 93
Historical Events for 2nd May 2025
1809 – Dartmoor Prison in England opens to house French prisoners of war
1906 – Tsar Nicolas II of Russia dismisses his moderate Prime Minister Witte and appoints Ivan Goremykin, a conservative bureaucrat
1950 – Dutch PM Malan recognizes South-Africa but not People’s Republic of China
1956 – US Lab detects high-temperature microwave radiation from Venus
1979 – 14th Academy of Country Music Awards: Kenny Rogers and Barbara Mandrell win
1985 – US performs underground nuclear test “Towanda” at Nevada Test Site, with an estimated 150 ton yield
1993 – “Tango Passion” closes at Longacre Theater NYC after 5 performances
1998 – 124th Kentucky Derby: Kent Desormeaux aboard Real Quiet wins in 2:02.20
2011 – E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others sick
2019 – Drone delivers a kidney for transplant surgery in Baltimore, Maryland, for the first time
Today in History for 2nd May 2025
Historical Events
1876 – Ross Barnes hit 1st home run in National League
1906 – 32nd Kentucky Derby: Roscoe Troxler aboard Sir Huon wins in 2:08.8
1968 – 22nd NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat LA Lakers, 4 games to 2
1981 – Radio Shack re-releases Model III TRSDOS 1.3 with 2 fixes
1999 – John Elway announces his retirement from the NFL
Famous Birthdays
1844 – Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American inventor of African descent, notable for his 57 US patents (lubrication of steam engines), born in Colchester, Ontario (d. 1929)
1904 – Georgi Dimitrov, Bulgarian composer, born in Belogradchik, Bulgaria (d. 1979)
1929 – Edward Levy, American composer, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2002)
1973 – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, German film director and screenwriter (The Lives of Others), born in Cologne, Germany
1987 – Nana Kitade, Japanese singer and songwriter, born in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Famous Deaths
373 – Athanasius, Greek early church Father, theologian and Patriarch of Alexandria (298-373) (b. 298)
1985 – Bridget D’Oyly Carte, British theater and hotel director, dies of lung cancer at 77
1990 – Oleg Anatolyevich Yakovlev, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 49
1992 – Wilbur Mills, American politician (US Representative from Arkansas, 1939-77), famous for his involvement in a sex scandal with Fanne Foxe, dies at 82
2017 – Leo Thorsness, American Vietnam War pilot (Medal of Honor), dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 1st May 2025
1471 – Thomas a Kempis, German Dutch spiritual writer (Navolging of Christ), dies at 91
1679 – Esaias Reusner, German lutenist and composer, dies at 43
1903 – Luigi Arditi, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 80
1903 – Arthur Haygarth, English cricket batsman (Middlesex and Surrey, cricket historian), dies at 77
1921 – Louis Campbell-Tipton, American composer, dies at 43
1959 – Oscar Torp, Norwegian premier, dies
1985 – George Pravda, Czech actor, dies at 68
2018 – Bob Woffinden, British journalist and author, dies of mesothelioma at 89
2022 – Charles Siebert, American television actor (One Day at A Time; Trapper John, M.D. – “Stanley”), and director, dies at 84
2024 – Austin Savage, Welsh field hockey goaltender player (1972 Olympics), dies at 84
Historical Events for 1st May 2025
1778 – American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.
1863 – Battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi
1927 – Imperial Airways is the first British airliner to serve cooked meals
1946 – The Paris Peace Conference concludes that the islands of the Dodecanese should be returned to Greece by Italy
1950 – Gwendolyn Brooks is the first African American awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for “Annie Allen”
1977 – American golfer Gene Littler wins the Houston Open, his 29th and final PGA title
1980 – 15th Academy of Country Music Awards: Larry Gatlin and Crystal Gayle win
1995 – Montreal Canadiens lose 2-0 at Buffalo to miss Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 25 years
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.
2005 – 17-year old Lionel Messi scores his 1st senior league goal for FC Barcelona in 2-0 win against Albacete Balompié, at the Spotify Camp Nou in Barcelona
Today in History for 1st May 2025
Historical Events
1759 – British fleet occupies Guadeloupe, West Indies, capturing it from France
1795 – Kamehameha I, King of Hawaiʻi defeats Kalanikupule and conquers island of Oʻahu at Battle of Nuʻuanu [approx. date]
1921 – Drusian sultan Pasja al-Atrasj elected governor of Suwayda
1947 – Radar for commercial and private planes is first demonstrated
1954 – WAPA TV channel 4 in San Juan, PR (NBC/SFN) begins broadcasting
Famous Birthdays
1915 – Archie Williams, American athlete (Olympic gold 400m 1936), born in Oakland, California (d. 1993)
1928 – Raoul Servais, Belgian cartoonist and filmmaker (Harpya, Palme d’Or 1979), born in Ostend, Belgium (d. 2023)
1930 – Little Walter [Marion Walter Jacobs], blues singer-songwriter and harmonica player, born in Marksville, Louisiana (d. 1968)
1941 – Juraj Hatrík, Slovak composer (Monumento malinconico; Dispute Over a Plastered Dwarf), and educator, born in Orkucany, Slovak Republic (d. 2021)
1987 – Shahar Pe’er, Israeli tennis player (5 WTA singles titles), born in Jerusalem, Israel
Famous Deaths
1896 – Nasr-ed-Din, shah of Persia (184.-96), murdered at 65
1963 – Lope K. Santos, Filipino writer and Father of the Philippine National Language and Grammar, dies at 83
1971 – Glenda Farrell, American actress (Golddiggers of 1935: Grand Slam; Exposed), dies of lung cancer at 66
2014 – Assaf Dayan, Israeli actor (He Walked Through the Fields), dies at 68
2017 – Mike Lowry, American politician (Rep-D-WA, 1979-89, Governor of Washington 1993-97), dies at 78
Famous Deaths for 30th April 2025
535 – Amalaswintha, queen of Ostrogoths, murdered in the bath at about 37
1792 – Hans Adolf Friedrich von Eschstruth, composer and lawyer, dies at 36
1958 – Alvan T. Fuller, American automotive dealer and politician, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (1925-29) during Sacco and Vanzetti case, dies at 80
1993 – Tommy Caton, English footballer (b. 1962)
1996 – Hélène Cordet, French actress (The Limping Man), dies at 78
2003 – Peter “Possum” Bourne, New Zealand race car driver, dies at 47
2007 – Tom Cartwright, English cricket medium pace bowler (5 Tests, 15 wickets, BB 6/94; Warwickshire CCC, Somerset CCC), dies at 71
2016 – Phil Ryan, Welsh keyboardist and composer (Man; Pete Brown), dies at 69
2020 – Rishi Kapoor, Indian Bollywood actor and director (Bobby, Do Dooni Chaar), dies at 67
2021 – Anthony Payne, British composer (Phoenix Mass; Visions and Journeys), critic, and musicologist, dies at 84