On May 5, 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte, 51, died in exile on the island of St. Helena.

In 1862, Mexican troops repelled French attacks on the city of Puebla de los Ángeles in the Battle of Puebla.

In 1925, schoolteacher John T. Scopes was charged in Tennessee with violating a state law that prohibited teaching the theory of evolution. (Scopes was found guilty, but his conviction was later set aside.)

In 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard Jr. became America’s first space traveler as he made a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard Mercury capsule Freedom 7.

In 1981, Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died at age 27 at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland on his 66th day without food.

In 1994, Singapore officials caned American teenager Michael Fay for vandalism.