Ten countries officially joined the European Union in the largest single expansion of the EU
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined simultaneously. The expansion brought eight...
May 1 in History
Significant events that happened on this day.
Historical Events
2004
1978
A Japanese adventurer became the first person to reach the North Pole solo
Naomi Uemura completed the 478-mile journey from Ellesmere Island after 54 days of traveling alone with just his dog sled team. He survived temperatur...
1971
Amtrak began operating intercity passenger rail service across the United States
The government-backed corporation took over most passenger rail service from private railroads, which had been abandoning unprofitable routes. Amtrak...
1960
A Soviet surface-to-air missile shot down an American U-2 spy plane
MajorPilot Francis Gary Powers was captured alive after ejecting from his aircraft over Soviet territory. The incident severely embarrassed the Eisenhower...
1941
Orson Welles' groundbreaking film 'Citizen Kane' premiered in New York
The movie flopped at the box office and lost money for RKO Pictures, largely due to newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst's campaign against it. D...
1931
The Empire State Building was officially opened in New York City
MajorPresident Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington D.C. to turn on the building's lights, officially opening the world's tallest building at the...
1898
Commodore George Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay without losing a single American life
In just seven hours, Dewey's squadron sank all ten Spanish ships during the Spanish-American War. His only reported American casualty was a sailor who...
1893
The World's Columbian Exposition opened in Chicago with over 27 million visitors during its six-month run
The fair introduced Americans to numerous innovations including the Ferris wheel, Cracker Jack, and the concept of the midway. It also featured the fi...
1886
Workers across America went on strike demanding an eight-hour workday
MajorOver 300,000 workers walked off their jobs in what became known as the Haymarket affair, eventually leading to the establishment of International Work...
1851
Queen Victoria opened the Great Exhibition in London's Crystal Palace
The massive glass and iron structure housed over 100,000 exhibits from around the world in what was essentially the first World's Fair. The building w...
1786
Mozart's opera 'The Marriage of Figaro' premiered in Vienna
The comic opera was an instant success despite its mildly subversive plot mocking aristocracy. Emperor Joseph II famously complained that it had 'too...
1707
The Act of Union united England and Scotland to create Great Britain
MajorThe political union dissolved the separate Scottish and English parliaments and created the Kingdom of Great Britain with a single parliament in Westm...
