What is May 5?
{{calendar}} {{day}} == Events == === Up to 1900 === * [[553]] &ndash; The [[Second Council of Constantinople]] begins. * [[1215]] &ndash; Rebel barons renounce (withdraw) their [[allegiance]] to King [[John of England]], as part of a chain of events leading to the signing of [[Magna Carta]]. * [[1260]] &ndash; [[Kublai Khan]] becomes ruler of the [[Mongol Empire]]. * [[1494]] &ndash; [[Christopher Columbus]] lands on the island of [[Jamaica]] and claims it for Spain. * [[1640]] &ndash; King [[Charles I of England]] dissolves the [[Short Parliament]]. * [[1668]] &ndash; Portuguese [[galley]] ''Santissimo Sacramento'' strikes a reef off the coast of [[Salvador]], Northeast [[Brazil]], and sinks. Out of the over 1,000 people on board, only 70 survive the disaster. * [[1762]] &ndash; [[Russia]] and [[Prussia]] sign the [[Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1762)|Treaty of St. Petersburg]]. * [[1789]] &ndash; In [[France]], the [[Estates-General of 1789|Estates-General]] convenes for the first time in 150 years. * [[1809]] &ndash; [[Mary Kies]] becomes the first woman awarded a [[U.S.]] [[patent]], for a technique of [[weaving]] [[straw]] with [[silk]] and [[yarn|thread]]. * [[1809]] &ndash; The [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[Cantons of Switzerland|canton]] of [[Aargau]] denies citizenship to [[Jew]]s. * [[1821]] &ndash; [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] dies aged 51 on the South Atlantic [[island]] of [[Saint Helena]]. It takes several weeks for the news to reach [[Europe]], due to the remoteness of the [[island]]. * [[1821]] &ndash; The first edition of the British daily [[newspaper]] [[The Guardian]] is published. * [[1835]] &ndash; In [[Belgium]], the first railway in [[continental Europe]] opens between [[Brussels]] and [[Mechelen]]. * [[1842]] &ndash; The Great [[Fire]] of [[Hamburg]] starts. It is brought under control on [[May 8]]. * [[1860]] &ndash; [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] sets sail from [[Genoa]], leading the expedition of the Thousand to conquer the [[Kingdom]] of the Two [[Sicily|Sicilies]], eventually leading to the creating of t