1. 1457 BC - The Battle of Megiddo begins. It is the first well - documented ancient battle. Pharaoh Thutmose III of Egypt leads his army to defeat the Canaanite coalition, establishing Egypt's hegemony on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.

2. 328 - Athanasius is elected patriarch - bishop of Alexandria.

3. 1092 - Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated in Lincoln, England.

4. 1386 - The Treaty of Windsor between Portugal and England is ratified at Windsor, strengthening the ties between the two kingdoms. It is the oldest diplomatic alliance still in force.

5. 1450 - 'Abd al - Latif, the Timurid monarch, is assassinated.

6. 1460 - Witch burnings take place in the courtyard of the episcopal palace in Utrecht.

7. 1502 - Christopher Columbus leaves Cádiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the New World.

8. 1519 - Austrians rise up against the central government.

9. 1573 - The Polish parliament selects the Duke of Anjou as king.

10. 1588 - The troops of Duke Henri de Guise occupy Paris.

11. 1671 - Colonel Thomas Blood attempts to steal the crown jewels of England and Scotland from the Tower of London.

12. 1726 - Three men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's Molly - house in London are executed by hanging.

13. 1738 - Britain sends a fleet to the Mediterranean Sea and West Indies.

14. 1753 - King Louis XV disbands the French parliament.

15. 1754 - The first newspaper cartoon in America, "Join or Die", is published.

16. 1766 - John Byron returns to England after a trip around the world.

17. 1768 - John Hancock is accused of smuggling by British officials.

18. 1785 - British inventor Joseph Bramah patents a beer - pump handle.

19. 1788 - The British parliament accepts the abolition of the slave trade.

20. 1793 - Explorer Alexander Mackenzie sets out on his second expedition to the Pacific.

21. 1816 - Lady Caroline Lamb publishes the gothic novel Glenarvon.

22. 1837 - The steamboat "Sherrod" burns in the Mississippi River, killing 175 people.

23. 1846 - The Battle of Resaca de la Palma - the US forces Mexico back to the Rio Grande.

24. 1862 - The Battle of Farmington, Mississippi.

25. 1862 - The Battle of Fort Pickens, Florida. The Confederates evacuate Pensacola.

26. 1862 - The US Naval Academy is relocated from Annapolis, Maryland, to Newport, Rhode Island.

27. 1864 - Skirmish at Ware Bottom Church, Virginia.

28. 1864 - The Battle of Cloyd's Mt and Swift Creek, Virginia.

29. 1864 - A ship battle at Helgoland between Austria and Denmark.

30. 1865 - President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation declaring the end of the American Civil War.

31. 1868 - Anton Bruckner's 1st symphony in C premieres.

32. 1868 - The city of Reno, Nevada, is founded.

33. 1873 - The Vienna stock market crash heralds the long depression.

34. 1874 - London's Victoria Embankment opens.

35. 1874 - The first horse - drawn bus makes its debut in Mumbai, India.

36. 1877 - Mihail Kogălniceanu reads the declaration of independence of Romania in the chamber of deputies. May 9th becomes Romania's Independence Day.

37. 1882 - The Telegraph Hill RR Co (cable cars) in San Francisco is organized.

38. 1887 - Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.

39. 1889 - The 15th Kentucky Derby: Thomas Kiley aboard Spokane wins.

40. 1896 - The first horseless carriage show in London is held.

41. 1899 - John Burr patents an improved rotary blade lawn mower in the US.

42. 1901 - A financial panic begins in the USA.

43. 1901 - The first Australian parliament opens in Melbourne.

44. 1904 - The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine to exceed 100 mph.

45. 1908 - Dirk Fock becomes governor of Suriname.

46. 1914 - The 40th Kentucky Derby: John McCabe aboard Old Rosebud wins.

47. 1914 - J.T. Hearne becomes the first bowler to take 3000 first - class wickets.

48. 1914 - US President Woodrow Wilson proclaims Mother's Day.

49. 1915 - The German and French fight the Battle of Artois.

50. 1916 - The British - France Sykes - Picot conference is held to discuss the division of Turkey.