{"id":13555,"date":"2022-05-03T07:06:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T05:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=207482"},"modified":"2022-05-03T07:23:07","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T05:23:07","slug":"3-may-on-this-day-in-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/3-may-on-this-day-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"3 May: On this day in history"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 03 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

3 May 1152<\/h3>\n

Matilda of Boulogne<\/a>, the wife of King Stephen, died in Castle Hedingham. She had been an energetic supporter of her husband\u2019s cause during the war against the adherents of the Empress Matilda<\/a>, his rival for the English throne.<\/p>\n

3 May 1469<\/h3>\n

Civil servant and political theorist Niccolo di Bernado dei Machiavelli<\/a> is born. Forced into retirement following the collapse of the Florentine Republic in 1512 he spends the last 15 years of his life as a writer of poetry, stories and political treatises. His work, Il Principe<\/em> (The Prince<\/em>), is a brutally pragmatic discussion of what a Renaissance ruler needs to do to maintain authority. It will be condemned by the papacy and give rise to the adjective \u2018machiavellian\u2019.<\/p>\n

3 May 1481<\/h3>\n

Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II \u2018the Conqueror\u2019 died, aged 49. During his life he had greatly expanded the Ottoman empire and in 1453 had overseen the capture of Constantinople.<\/p>\n

3 May 1740<\/h3>\n

Elizabeth Branch and her daughter Betty were hanged at Ilchester, Somerset, for beating to death their 13-year old maidservant. Public outrage at the murder was such that the pair were executed at an unusually early time to prevent them being torn to pieces by the mob.<\/p>\n

3 May 1813<\/h3>\n

Guided by escaped slaves, a squadron of British frigates under Rear Admiral George Cockburn mounted a surprise attack on the small Maryland town of Havre de Grace, burning 40 of the town\u2019s 60 houses and destroying a nearby cannon foundry.<\/p>\n

3 May 1849<\/h3>\n

In Dresden, Saxony, pro-democracy protesters launch the ill-fated May Uprising, often considered the last of the 1848 revolutions<\/a>. After six days of pitched street battles, the revolt is put down.<\/p>\n

3 May 1898<\/h3>\n

The birth in Kiev of Israeli politician Golda Meir. She will emigrate to the USA as a child and later settle in Palestine. After serving as ambassador to the USSR, minister of labour and foreign minister, she becomes Israeli prime minister in 1969.<\/p>\n

3 May 1937<\/h3>\n

American writer Margaret Mitchell is awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her novel Gone With The Wind<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Browse more\u00a0On this day in history<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n