On this day in history

May 1

3 births · 8 deaths · 0 events

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Anniversary highlights

Born this day

1769

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Would be 257

Oldest record

471st

Marcellus II

death anniversary

Famous births3

1672 · 354 yrs

Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was a British writer and politician. He was the eldest son of Lancelot Addison.

LiteratureWould be 354

Photo: After Godfrey Kneller · Public domain

1769 · 257 yrs

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (né Wesley; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852), was a British Army officer and statesman. A leading figure in early-19th-century British politics, Wellesley served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.

PoliticsWould be 257

Photo: Thomas Lawrence · Public domain

1852 · 174 yrs

Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (Spanish:; 1 May 1852 – 17 October 1934) was a Spanish neuroscientist, pathologist, and histologist specialising in neuroanatomy, and the central nervous system. He and Camillo Golgi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1906.

ScienceWould be 174

Photo: Original photo is anonymous although published by Clark University in 1899. Restoration by Garrondo · Public domain

Famous deaths8

1555 · 471 yrs

Marcellus II

Pope Marcellus II (Italian: Marcello II; 6 May 1501 – 1 May 1555), born Marcello Cervini degli Spannocchi, was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 10 April 1555 to his death, 22 days later. Marcellus succeeded Pope Julius III.

ReligionWould be 525

Photo: Workshop of Italian art schools of the Renaissance · Public domain

1572 · 454 yrs

Pius V

Pope Pius V, OP (Italian: Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an inquisitor and is venerated as a saint of the Catholic Church.

ReligionWould be 522

Photo: Bartolomeo Passarotti and workshop · Public domain

1700 · 326 yrs

John Dryden

John Dryden (19 August 1631 – 12 May 1700) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate.

LiteratureWould be 395

Photo: John Richardson · CC BY-SA 4.0

1873 · 153 yrs

David Livingstone

David Livingstone (19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish doctor, Congregationalist, pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. Livingstone was married to Mary Moffat Livingstone, from the prominent 18th-century Moffat missionary family.

ExplorationWould be 213

Photo: Thomas Annan / Adam Cuerden · Public domain

1904 · 122 yrs

Antonín Dvořák

Antonín Leopold Dvořák (8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic era nationalist example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana.

MusicWould be 185

Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain

1945 · 81 yrs

Joseph Goebbels

Paul Joseph Goebbels (29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German politician and philologist who was the Gauleiter (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 until his suicide in 1945.

PoliticsWould be 128

Photo: Heinrich Hoffmann · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

1978 · 48 yrs

Aram Khachaturian

Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (6 June 1903 – 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Soviet composers.

MusicWould be 123

Photo: Roger Pic · Public domain

1994 · 32 yrs

Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna da Silva (Brazilian Portuguese:; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver and philanthropist who competed in Formula One from 1984 to 1994.

BusinessWould be 66

Photo: File:Ayrton Senna 2.jpg: Instituto Ayrton Senna derivative work: F1fans · CC BY 2.0

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