1759: The Wedgwood Pottery Co. is founded by Josiah Wedgwood in Great Britain.
1776: Adam Weishaupt establishes the Illuminati in Upper Bavaria.
1778: The Battle of Crooked Billet starts during the American Revolution in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.
1840: The first official adhesive stamp – the Penny Black – is issued in the U.K.
1844: The Hong Kong Police Force is established on this day. It would be the first modern police force in Asia and the second modern police force in the world.
1862: The capture of New Orleans is completed by the Union Army during the American Civil War.
1863: During the American Civil War, the Battle of Chancellorsville starts.
1866: The Memphis Race Riots start on this day. Almost 50 black and 2 white are killed during the incident. Reports of the atrocities would help the 14th Amendment to the U.S Constitution get passed.
1875: After burning down in 1873, the Alexandra Palace reopens on this date.
1930: Pluto is officially given its name on this day.
1931: In New York City, the Empire State Building is dedicated.
1941: German forces attack Tobruk during World War II.
1944: In retailiation for General Franz Krech being killed by partisans in Malaoi, German soldiers shoot 200 Communist prisoners at Kaisariani.
1945: The Soviet Flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery during World War II.
1945: After having killed their children by inserting cyanide pills into their mouths, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda Goebbels commit suicide in the Reich Garden.
1945: In the wake of the Soviet advance in Demmin in Germany, approximately twenty-five hundred people die in a mass suicide.
Famous Birthdays on May 1
Irish-English 1st Duke of Wellington and Prime Minister of the U.K., Arthur Wellesley is born in 1769.
Irish poet and author, James Clarence Mangan is born in 1803.
American frontierswoman and scout, Calamity Jane is born in 1852.
Spanish neuroscientist and Nobel Prize laureate, Santiago Ramon y Cajal is born in 1852.
American actress Julie Benz is born in 1972.
American actor James Badge Dale is born in 1978.
American NHL hockey player, David Backes is born in 1984.
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