On May 1, 1786, Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro premieres in Vienna.

On May 1, 1883, Legendary American hunter/showman/cowboy Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) stages his first Wild West show.

On May 1, 1921, The U. S. Lighthouse Service begins guiding ships into New York harbor with a system of “radio fog signals.” These beacons ushered in a new means of electronic navigation. 

On May 1, 1931, U. S. president Herbert C. Hoover presses a button to officially dedicate the Empire State Building in New York City, which at 102 stories would remain the world’s tallest skyscraper until 1974.

On May 1, 1945, as Russian troops enter Berlin, Nazi minister for propaganda Joseph Goebbels commits suicide with his wife and six children.

On May 1, 1960, An American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers is shot down over the Soviet Union, derailing an important summit meeting between U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.