May 1

May 1 is the 122nd day of the year, and the American record for it runs from 1863 to 2003 — a span of 140 years. The entry that anchors it: American Civil War, 1863.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the date carries heavier freight. In 1863, American Civil War — the Battle of Chancellorsville between Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker begins. The same year, American Civil War — during the Vicksburg campaign, Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant win the Battle of Port Gibson and establish a firm presence on the east side of the Mississippi River.

In the postwar nineteenth century the date tracks a nation rebuilding. In 1866, the Memphis Race Riots begin. Over three days, 46 blacks and two whites were killed. Reports of the atrocities influenced passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Then, in 1886, Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket affair in Chicago, in commemoration of which May 1 is celebrated as International Workers' Day in many countries. Five years on, in 1891, The 1891 New Orleans Lynchings — 11 Italian immigrants are lynched by a mob in Louisiana, USA after the acquittal of several defendants in a murder case, the largest mass lynching in U.S. history. Three years on, in 1894, Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C. Four years on, in 1898, Battle of Manila Bay — the Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy destroys the Pacific Squadron of the Spanish Navy after a seven-hour battle. Spain loses all seven of its ships, and 381 Spanish sailors die. There are no American vessel losses or combat deaths.

Closer to the present, the date is still accumulating. In 2003, Invasion of Iraq — in what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended"

The date is also a birthday. Among the Americans born on May 1: Wolphert Gerretse (1579), Dutch-American farmer, co-founded New Netherland; John Haynes (1594), English-American politician, 1st Governor of the Colony of Connecticut; Judith Sargent Murray (1751), American poet and playwright; Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764), English-American architect, designed the United States Capitol; and Phoebe Hinsdale Brown (1783), American hymnwriter.

May 1 is also a date of endings. Among the Americans who died on it: John Barclay Armstrong (1913), American Texas ranger; Everett Shinn (1953), American painter and illustrator; William Thomson Sloper (1955), American stockbroker and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic; and LeRoy Samse (1956), American pole vaulter.

The date carries formal observance as well — International Workers' Day or Labour Day (International), and its related observances: — Law Day (United States), formerly intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day. (United States) and International Workers' Day or Labour Day (International), and its related observances: — Loyalty Day, formerly intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day. (United States). May 1 carries 8 entries spread across 140 years. None of the people in them knew they were sharing a date; that is a pattern only visible looking back.