May 5
1818
Karl Marx, German philosopher and founder of modern communism, is born in Prussia.

1925
John T. Scopes is arrested in Tennessee, USA, for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution.

May 7
1824
The Ninth Symphony composed by Beethoven has its premiere. Symphony No. 9 incorporates part of the poem Ode to Joy originally written by Friedrich von Schiller.

1939
Germany and Italy announce a military and political alliance known as t...