May 5th

May 5 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. If the ancient Mayans were correct, there are 230 days remaining until the end of time.

1260 Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.

1816 American Bible Society is organized in New York

1862 French army is defeated in Puebla, Mexico. Last invasion by foreign troops in North America. We prefer doing it ourselves!

1865 In North Bend, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio), the first train robbery in the United States takes place.

1891 Music Hall (Carnegie Hall) opens in New York with Pyotr Il’ych Tchaikovsky as guest conductor

1904 Throwing like a girl, Cy Young of Boston pitches first perfect game against Philadelphia A's (3-0) in the modern era

1955 "Damn Yankees" opens at 46th St. Theater New York City for 1022 performances without the shower scenes

1989 Mike Tyson gets 2nd ticket for drag racing in Albany, New York. I couldn’t find a picture of Mike, but I did find a picture of who was drag racing against him.

1994 American teenager Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism. Bet he won’t do that again!

1997 "Married With Children" airs its final episode on Fox TV leaving poor David Faustino without a clear career path.

1903 James Beard, gay US chef/cookbook writer 

1914 Tyrone Power, bisexual US actor  <le sigh>

1938 Jerzy Skolimowski, maybe gay Polish director/writer/actor/painter 

1942 Tammy Wynette, US singer/songwriter

1943 Michael Palin, English actor/comedian/writer/lumberjack/traveling companion/Python 

1944 Roger Rees, gay Welsh-born US actor

1945 Kurt Loder, maybe gay US journalist/MTV News 

1957 Peter Howitt, English actor 

1957 Richard E. Grant, Swazi/British actor 

1959 Brian Williams, US news anchor, just because. . .

1969 Manny Perez, Dominican actor 

1969 Rafer Weigel, US actor 

1970 Kyan Douglas, gay US grooming expert/Queer Eye 

1972 Darrin Dewitt Henson, US actor/Soul Food 

1974 Jeff Conger, US model 

1979 Vincent Kartheiser, US actor 

1981 Craig David, English singer 

1981 Ian Virgo, US/UK actor 

1981 Blake Towsley, US Survivor contestant/model 

1981 Cho Byung-Kwan, Korean wrestler in red 

1981 Chris Duncan, US (STLMO) baseball player/not sure what he's doing here 

1982 Corey Parker, Australian rugger 

1983 Brendan Bradley, US actor 

1983 Henry Cavill, British actor/The Tudors/Man of Steel 

1989 Chris Brown, US singer/actor

1821 Napoleon I Bonaparte, emperor France (1799-1815), rises high, falls low

2001 Cliff Hillegass, US businessman/invented Cliffs Notes, still leaves out important stuff

2001 Raymond Kessler, US wrestler, takes an early fall

2011 Arthur Laurents, 93, gay US playwright/librettist/stage director/screenwriter (Anastasia, Rope, West Side Story), reaches a turning point when he finally understands the way we were.

2011 Claude Choules, 110, British-born Australian veteran, last surviving combat veteran of World War I, won’t be back ‘til it’s over over there.