Little girls, with May pole, and dog in field of wildflowers in 1905

Image from LOC via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US.

“Let Your Love Flow” by the Bellamy Brothers became #1 song in the U.S. on May 1, 1976.

Photo of the Bellamy Brothers in 1976 via Alamy

On May 1, 1894, Jacob Coxey and about 500 unemployed workers reached Washington, DC. Spurred by the economic Panic of 1893 the group, dubbed “Coxey’s Army,” petitioned the government to create public sector jobs. The march began in Ohio and is seen as the first organized protest in the nation’s capital.

Image from LOC via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US.

On May 1, 1931, the Empire State Building was opened.

In comparing the height (from base to tip) of the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the Empire State Building in New York, the Empire State Building is nearly 400 feet taller.

Image of the exterior of The Empire State Building in 1931 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Self portrait of American artist Cecilia Beaux 
c. 1894

Born on May 1, 1855 in Philadelphia, Cecilia was the first full-time female teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On May 1, 1915, the RMS Lusitania departed Pier 54 in New York on her return journey to Liverpool.
Sadly, the vessel never returned to England after she was struck by a U-boat torpedo. 128 Americans were among the victims.

Image: RMS Lusitania leaving New York Habor on May 1, 1915 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On May 1, 1898, Commodore George Dewey led the US Navy’s Asiatic Squadron to victory over a Spanish fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay, the opening action of the Spanish-American War. Dewey, later promoted to Admiral of the Navy is shown aboard the USS Olympia, his flagship with Bob, his dog. National Museum of the US Navy

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US

On May 1, 1967 Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.  

Image via Alamy 

On May 1, 1962 the first Target retail store opened in Roseville, Minnesota.

Image from Runner1928 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 

Orson Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland
for the 1941 film Citizen Kane.  

On May 1, 1941 Citizen Kane, which was produced and directed by Orson Welles, made its world premiere at the RKO Palace Theatre on Broadway. Welles also starred in the film as Charles Foster Kane and co-wrote the screenplay. 

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain 

Circus clowns entertaining children and staff at a children’s hospital on May 1, 1923

Image via LOC, no known restrictions 

Tonight Show host Jack Paar was born on May 1, 1918 in Canton, Ohio.

Image: Jack Paar with John F. Kennedy on the Tonight Show, 1959 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Photo of an Amtrak 621 with the San Francisco Zephyr over the Truckee River in Verdi, Nevada in the mid 1970s

On May 1, 1971 Amtrak began operations. 

Image by Drew Jacksich via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA 2.0

Ufologist, Josef Allen Hynek, who developed the “close encounter” scale (of the third kind, etc.) was born on May 1, 1910 in Chicago, Illinois.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Molding of Space Couch at Langley 

May 1, 1959

Image from NASA via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

“Smallest news & post card stand in New Orleans, La., 103 Royal Street” in 1908

35 years earlier, on May 1, 1873, the first U.S. Government postal cards were issued for one penny each. 

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain