Template:On this day - May 3

Ferdinand the Catholic

• 735 – Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, ruler of the city-state of Copán, is sacrificed in a decapitation rite in the Maya city of Quiriguá, now part of Guatemala.
• 1240 – In the town of Écija (present-day Province of Seville in Spain) the Christian troops of Ferdinand III of Castile defeat the Muslims.
• 1248 – In the course of the Christian conquest of Seville, the Cantabrian fleet sails up the Guadalquivir River with the aim of destroying the Bridge of Boats, which made it easier for supplies to reach the city.
• 1283 – During the Naval Battle of Malta, the Aragonese squadron of Roger of Lauria defeats the French one.
• 1487 – King Ferdinand II of Aragon makes a triumphal entry into the town of Vélez-Málaga (Spain), which had surrendered on 27 April.
• 1493 – On the island of San Miguel de La Palma (Canary Islands), Spanish conquistadors found the village of Santa Cruz de La Palma.
• 1493 – In Rome, Pope Alexander VI issues the Brief Inter caetera, which delimits the zone of discoveries of Spain and Portugal.
• 1494 – On the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands), Spanish conquistadors found the village of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
• 1494 – Spanish forces led by Christopher Columbus land on the island of Jamaica.
• 1502 – On what is now the Venezuelan Guajira Peninsula, Spanish conquistadors led by Alonso de Ojeda found the village of Santa Cruz de Coquibacoa.
• 1518 – The expedition commanded by Hernán Cortés reaches the island of Cozumel, in present-day Mexico.
• 1523 – On the shores of the Caribbean Sea, Spanish conquistadors led by Cristóbal de Olid land in what is now Honduras and take possession of that territory in the name of the King of Spain.
• 1678 – Birth of Amaro Pargo, Spanish merchant and privateer (d. 1747).
• 1787 – Charles III of Spain authorizes the creation, in Cusco, of a praetorial Audiencia for the better administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
• 1808 – Near the Príncipe Pío hill (Madrid) French troops execute the rebels who rose up on 2 May. This event gave rise to the famous painting Los fusilamientos del tres de mayo by Francisco de Goya.
• 1814 – Chilean pro-independence forces and the royalist army of Gabino Gaínza sign the Treaty of Lircay, which brings about a brief cessation of hostilities.
• 1844 – In Madrid, General Ramón María Narváez takes office for the first time as President of the Spanish Government, beginning the «Moderate Decade».
• 1853 – Death of Juan Donoso Cortés, Spanish diplomat and politician (b. 1809).
• 1865 – Queen Isabella II of Spain revokes by Royal Decree the annexation of Santo Domingo to Spain.
• 1902 – In Argentina, a presidential decree gives official founding status to the settlement in Patagonia under the name of San Carlos de Bariloche.
• 1924 – In Barcelona (Spain) a counterfeit money factory is discovered.
• 1937 – During the Spanish Civil War an anarcho-communist revolution known as the May Days breaks out in Barcelona (Spain); it will cause between 500 and 1,000 deaths, as well as thousands of wounded.
• 1938 – During the Spanish Civil War the Society of Jesus is reinstated by the Burgos Government.
• 1952 – In Chile, the Government denounces the agreement with the United States on copper.
• 1965 – At the UN (New York), Cuba asks the Security Council to condemn the United States for its aggression against the Dominican Republic.
• 1972 – A medical brigade made up of Cuban doctors and nurses leaves Havana (Cuba) for the Republic of Vietnam.
• 1982 – In the course of the Falklands War the sinking of the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano by a British naval submarine is confirmed.
• 1997 – Death of Narciso Yepes, Spanish guitarist (b. 1927).
• 2004 – Mexico withdraws its ambassador from Havana (Cuba).
• 2008 – Death of Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, Spanish civil engineer and politician, President of the Government of Spain during the Spanish Transition (b. 1926).
• 2010 – Death of Florencio Campomanes, the Pope of Chess, Filipino political scientist, chess player and tournament organizer (b. 1927).
• 2021 – A Metro accident occurs in Mexico City in which 26 people died and another 80 were injured.
• 2023 – Death (for the second time) of Francisco Paesa, versatile Spanish spy (b. 1936).