Cy Young, pitching for the recently established Boston
Americans, threw the first perfect game of the World
Series era on this day in history, May 5, 1904.

Young mowed down 27 straight batters in front of 10,267
fans at the former Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston
as the Americans — later renamed the Red Sox — beat the
Philadelphia Athletics 3-0.

Perfect games are one of the rarest feats in all of sports
— with an average of less than 1 per 10,000 games.

Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955)

On May 5, 1961, Navy Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. 
was launched into space aboard the Freedom 7 space
capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to travel
into space. The suborbital flight, which lasted 15 minutes
and reached a height of 116 miles into the atmosphere,
was a major triumph for the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA).

Cinco de Mayo is Spanish for "Fifth of May"… a yearly celebration
held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s
victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in
1862, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza (below).

Depictions of the Battle of Puebla.