135 things happened on 3 May, from AD 612 to 2023. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
The Anglo-Portuguese army under Lord Wellington tries to halt a larger French army under Marshal Masséna marching to relieve Almeida in the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro. After intense fighting, the French are repulsed.
UK story
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway is opened; it is the first steam-hauled passenger railway to issue season tickets and include a tunnel.
UK story
Edith Maryon's statuette The Dance of Anitra (pictured), one of the few of her works known to survive in private hands, was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts.
UK story
The oldest Royal Air Force station in continuous operation, RAF Northolt, opened as home to No. 4 Reserve Aeroplane Squadron.
UK story
Under the British Government of Ireland Act, Ireland was partitioned into two self-governing territories, Northern and Southern Ireland.
UK story
Second World War: Japanese forces began an invasion of Tulagi and nearby islands in the British Solomon Islands, enabling them to threaten and intercept supply and communication routes between the United States and Australasia.
UK story
London's Royal Festival Hall opens with the Festival of Britain.
UK story
The Conservative Party wins the United Kingdom general election. The following day, Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female British Prime Minister.
Mayan king Bird Jaguar IV of Yaxchilan in modern-day Chiapas, Mexico, assumes the throne.
Nkuwu Nzinga, the ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, was baptised as João I by Portuguese missionaries.
The Treaty of Loudun was signed, ending a war that originally began as a power struggle for the French throne.
A total solar eclipse is visible across northern Europe and northern Asia, as predicted by Edmond Halley to within four minutes accuracy.
The Great Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ratified the first codified national constitution in Europe.
Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city after Congress abolishes the Board of Commissioners, the District's founding government. The "City of Washington" is given a mayor-council form of government.
Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia.
Neapolitan War: Joachim Murat, King of Naples, is defeated by the Austrians at the Battle of Tolentino, the decisive engagement of the war.
The University of Athens is founded in Athens, Greece.
The May Uprising in Dresden begins: The last of the German revolutions of 1848–49.
A group of American mercenaries led by William Walker set sail from San Francisco to conquer Nicaragua.
The Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, Florida.
Raja Harishchandra, the first Indian feature-length film, was released.
Russian Civil War: Relying on Red Army troops in neighboring Azerbaijan, the Bolsheviks attempted to stage a coup d'etat in Georgia.
West Virginia becomes the first state to legislate a broad sales tax, but does not implement it until a number of years later due to enforcement issues.
Subhas Chandra Bose formed the All India Forward Bloc, a faction within the Indian National Congress, in opposition to Gandhi's tactics of nonviolence.
A new Constitution of Japan went into effect, providing for a parliamentary system of government, guaranteeing certain fundamental rights, and relegating the Japanese monarchy to a purely ceremonial role.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Shelley v. Kraemer that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities are legally unenforceable.
The United States Senate Committee on Armed Services and United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations begin their closed door hearings into the relief of Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry Truman.
Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the United States land a plane at the North Pole.
The Kentucky Derby is televised nationally for the first time, on the CBS network.
Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.
The Off-Broadway show The Fantasticks premiered, eventually becoming the world's longest-running musical, with 17,162 performances across 42 years.
Police in Birmingham, Alabama, used high-pressure water hoses and dogs against civil-rights protesters, bringing scrutiny on racial segregation in the southern United States.
Erich Honecker became First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the governing party of East Germany.
The first unsolicited bulk commercial email (which would later become known as "spam") is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
The Kargil War initiates when Indian forces detected the infiltration of Pakistani forces in Indian-administered Kargil, a city in Jammu and Kashmir.
A Doppler on Wheels team measured the fastest winds recorded on Earth, at 143.6 m/s (321 mph; 517 km/h), in a tornado near Bridge Creek, Oklahoma.
The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.
The United States loses its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.
Eighty-eight thousand people are evacuated from their homes in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada as a wildfire rips through the community, destroying approximately 2,400 homes and buildings.
Ethnic violence breaks out between the Meitei and the Kuki Zo people in the state of Manipur.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “The oldest Royal Air Force station in continuous operation, RAF Northolt”?
B: 1915. 1915 — that’s 111 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Under the British Government of Ireland Act, Ireland was partitioned into two”?
C: 1921. 1921 — that’s 105 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: The oldest Royal Air Force station in continuous operation, RAF Northolt. 1921: Under the British Government of Ireland Act, Ireland was partitioned into two · 1915: The oldest Royal Air Force station in continuous operation, RAF Northolt · 1942: Second World War: Japanese forces began an invasion of Tulagi and nearby Find it on the page
“Second World War: Japanese forces began an invasion of Tulagi and nearby” happened in 1942. How many years ago was that?
B: 84 years. 2026 − 1942 = 84. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 3 May.
Well-known people who died on 3 May.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 3 May somewhere in the world.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “May 3” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.