Billy Joel could easily have sung his “We Didn’t Start the Fire” song based on May 1st alone, as it is a red letter day in history that includes: (i) the Memphis Massacre in white mobs launched a three-day attack on black neighborhoods (1866); (ii) the demonstrations that led to International Workers Day (1886); (iii) the first protest march on Washington (1994); (iv) the U.S. rout of Spain in the Battle of Manilla Bay (1898); (v) the announcement of the death of Adolph Hitler and mass suicides in Germany (1945); (vi) Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane shot down over the Soviet Union (1960); (vii) a nationwide student strike in response to President Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia; (viii) President George W. Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished Speech” (2003); and (ix) President Obama announcing the death of Osama bin Laden (2011).
Headlines
1886
Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket Square massacre in Chicago. The Haymarket affair is generally considered significant as the origin of international May Day observances for workers. Three years later, the 2nd International Congress called for the first International Workers Day on May 1st to commemorate Haymarket Square.
1900
Scofield Mine explosion kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah. It was the worst mining disaster in U.S. history at that time and remains the 5th worst.
1931
The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City as the World’s Tallest Building.
1945
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 Chancellery, by order of Stalin.
As Soviet troops committed atrocities after capturing the town of Demmin in northeastern Germany, as many as 2,500 residents committed suicide. The events, which were taboo under the East German government, gained recognition following the end of the Cold War. Although death toll estimates vary, it is acknowledged to be the largest mass suicide ever recorded in Germany. Mass suicides occurred all along the late-war Soviet-German front line with more than 4,000 suicides in Berlin in April and May 1945.
1956
Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine is made available to the public.
1994
Three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix
The US at War
1898
In the Battle of Manila Bay, the U.S. Navy defeats the Spanish Pacific Squadron, destroying all seven of its ships without any losses. It was the first major engagement in the Spanish-American War and marked the end of the Spanish colonial period in Philippine history.
1960
Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
1970
National student strike spreads across nearly 900 campuses nationwide in response to President Nixon’s April 30 announcement of the escalation of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. The protests turned tragic when the National Guard opened fire on protestors and killed four students at Kent State University.
2003
In what becomes known as the “Mission Accomplished” speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended”. Bush’s assertions—and the sign itself—became controversial as the Iraqi insurgency gained pace and developed into a full-on sectarian war. The vast majority of casualties, U.S. and Iraqi, military and civilian, occurred after the speech. U.S. troops fought in Iraq for eight more years.
2011
President Obama announced that U.S. seals killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
Scottish Independence or Not
1328
Scotland retains status as an independent state as Treaty of Edinburgh-Northamption ends Wars of Scottish Independence (1296-1357).
1707
Act of Union joins England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Slavery / Civil War / Reconstruction
1807
Slave Trade Act of 1807 abolishes slave trade within the British Empire.
1863
Confederate Congress adopts a resolution that “negroes or mulattoes, slave or free, taken in arms should be turned over to the authorities in the state in which they were captured and that their officers would be tried by Confederate military tribunals for inciting insurrection and be subject, at the discretion of the court and the president, to the death penalty.”
1866
Beginning of the Memphis Massacre, in which mobs of white residents and policemen rampaged through black neighborhoods, attacking and killing black soldiers and civilians over three days. until federal troops restored order. A Congressional Committee detailed the carnage as including 46 black and 2 white people were killed, 75 black people injured, over 100 black persons robbed, 5 black women raped, and 91 homes, 4 churches, and 8 schools (every black church and school) burned in the black community. Modern estimates place property losses at over $100,000, suffered mostly by black people. Many black people fled the city permanently; by 1870, their population had fallen by one-quarter compared to 1865.
This event and the New Orleans Massacre in July led to the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Reconstruction Act.
Firsts
1704
Boston Newsletter publishes the first newspaper advertisement.
1786
“Marriage of Figaro” premiers in Vienna with Wolfgang Mozart directing.
1840
The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom.
1844
The Hong Kong Police Force is established as the first modern police force in Asia and second in the world.
1850
John Geary becomes the first Mayor of San Francisco. He served only one year and returned to his native Pennsylvania in 1852 due to his wife’s failing health. After her death, he was appointed and served as the third territorial governor of Kansas from 1856-1857. After serving as a Brigadier General in the Civil War, he won two terms as Governor of Pennsylvania.
1884
Moses Fleetwood Walker became the first African American to play in a Major League Baseball game, as catcher for the Toledo Blue Stockings in their 5-1 loss to the Louisville Eclipse. From History.com: “In 42 games with the Blue Stockings that year, Walker had a .263 batting average with 40 hits and 23 runs scored. He made his last MLB appearance on September 4, 1884, after suffering a broken rib earlier in the season.”
1894
Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey leads a march of unemployed workers during the worst depression in U.S. history at that time from Ohio to Washington, D.C., with 6,000 jobless men reaching the Capitol city. The march sought to lobby the government to launch public works projects to create jobs. The march failed, with Coxey being arrested for walking on the grass at the Capitol building, was the first protest march on Washington, D.C.
1971
Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is founded, combining and streamlining the operations of 18 intercity passenger railroads.
Today Past 