What happened on May 1 ?

1218 - John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257)

1218 - Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1291)

1285 - Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1326)

1582 - Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643)

1594 - John Haynes, Massachusetts colonial magistrate

1672 - Joseph Addison, English politician and writer (d. 1719)

1804 - Aleksey Khomyakov, Russian poet (d. 1860)

1830 - Mother Jones, American labor activist (d. 1930)

1831 - Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and suffragist (b.1903)

1852 - Calamity Jane, American Wild West performer (d. 1903)

1852 - Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish histologist and neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1934)

1872 - Sidónio Pais, Portuguese military and politician (d. 1918)

1881 - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French palaeontologist and philosopher (d. 1955)

1887 - Alan Gordon Cunningham, British army officer (d. 1983)

1896 - Mark Wayne Clark, American general (d. 1984)

1901 - Heinz Eric Roemheld, American film composer (d. 1985)

1901 - Antal Szerb, Hungarian author, literature historian (d. 1945)

1905 - Henry Koster, German film director (d. 1988)

1908 - Giovanni Guareschi, Italian journalist (d. 1968)

1909 - Kate Smith, American singer (d. 1986)

1913 - Louis Nye, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)

1913 - Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (d. 1980)

1915 - Archie Williams, American athlete (d. 1993)

1916 - Glenn Ford, Canadian actor

1917 - John Beradino, American actor and baseball player (d. 1996)

1917 - Danielle Darrieux, French singer and actress

1918 - Jack Paar, American television host (d. 2004)

1918 - Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (d. 1977)

1919 - Dan O'Herlihy, Irish film actor (d. 2005)

1923 - Joseph Heller, American novelist (d. 1999)

1924 - Art Fleming, American game show host (d. 1995)

1924 - Karel Kachy?a, Czech film director (d. 2004)

1925 - Chuck Bednarik, American football player

1925 - Scott Carpenter, American astronaut

1928 - Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racecar driver (d. 2002)

1929 - Ralf Dahrendorf, German-born sociologist and politician

1930 - Richard Riordan, Mayor of Los Angeles, California

1934 - Joan Hackett, American actress (d. 1983)

1935 - Ann Robinson, American actress

1937 - Una Stubbs, English actress

1939 - Judy Collins, American folk singer

1939 - Max Robinson, American broadcast journalist (d. 1988)

1940 - Elsa Peretti, Italian jewelry designer

1944 - Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician

1945 - Rita Coolidge, American singer

1946 - Joanna Lumley, British actress

1946 - John Woo, Hong Kong director, producer, writer, and actor

1950 - Dann Florek, American actor

1954 - Ray Parker Jr., American singer and songwriter

1960 - Steve Cauthen, American jockey

1962 - Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress

1964 - Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater

1967 - Tim McGraw, American musician

1968 - Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer

1968 - D'arcy Wretzky, American musician (Smashing Pumpkins)

1969 - Wes Anderson, American director, writer, and producer

1973 - Curtis Martin, American football player

1973 - Oliver Neuville, German footballer

1975 - Alexei Smertin, Russian footballer

1975 - Jodhi May, British actress

1981 - Aleksander Hleb, Belarusian footballer, Tyrel Van Wijk

1988 - Jacobo León, Mexican film director, animator, writer and producer

1990 - Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress

1997 - Ariel Gade, American child actress