It happened on a… May 5

2023

WHO announced that COVID-19 was now sufficiently under control to lift the maximum alert level after more than three years of a pandemic that has claimed “at least 20 million” lives.

2021

Canada is the first country to authorize the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for 12-15 year olds.

2018

Electric cigarette explodes killing a man in St. Petersburg, Florida, first death from a vaping product.

2016

Fort McMurray wildfires: Canadian province of Alberta declares a state of emergency as evacuation of 80,000 people continues.

1971

“Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin first played live at Ulster Hall, Belfast.

1969

Milwaukee Bucks sign #1 NBA Draft pick, star UCLA center Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).

1962

West Side Story soundtrack album goes #1 & stays #1 for 54 weeks.

1961

Alan Shepard became the first American in space when he made a 15 minute suborbital flight.

1956

Elvis Presley scored his first US No.1 single and album when ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ went to the top of the charts. ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ became his first million-seller, and was the best-selling single of 1956.

1922

Construction begins on Yankee Stadium (Bronx).

1921

Perfume Chanel No. 5 released by fashion designer Coco Chanel.

1904

Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the avenue, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.

1821

Napoleon Bonaparte died on the island of St. Helena, where he had been in exile.

1494

Christopher Columbus sighted Jamaica on his second trip to the Western Hemisphere. He named the island Santa Gloria.