William Garrow (1760–1840) was a British barrister, politician and judge known for his indirect reform of the advocacy system, which helped usher in the adversarial court system used in most common law nations today. He introduced the phrase "innocent until proven guilty", insisting that defendants' accusers and their evidence be thoroughly tested in court. Garrow is best known for his criminal defence work, which, through the example he set with his aggressive defence of clients, helped establish the modern adversarial system used in most common law systems. Garrow is also known for his impact on the rules of evidence, coining the best evidence rule. His work was cited as recently as 1982 in the Supreme Court of Canada and 2006 in the Irish Court of Criminal Appeal. In 2009, BBC One broadcast Garrow's Law, a four-part fictionalised drama of Garrow's beginnings at the Old Bailey; a second series aired in late 2010. (more...)

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• The Conservative Party, led by Stephen Harper (pictured), wins a majority in the Canadian federal election.
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May 5: Cinco de Mayo; Liberation Day in Denmark, Ethiopia, and the Netherlands; Children's Day in Japan and South Korea

• 1260 – Kublai Khan (pictured) claimed the title of Khagan of the Mongol Empire after the death of his older brother Möngke in the previous year.
• 1860 – Led by Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi, the volunteer Expedition of the Thousand set sail from Genoa on a campaign to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
• 1940 – World War II: A squad of 250 Norwegian volunteers in Hegra Fortress finally surrendered to a vastly superior Nazi force after a 25-day siege.
• 1961 – Project Mercury: Aboard the American spacecraft Freedom 7, astronaut Alan Shepard made a sub-orbital flight, becoming the second person to travel into outer space after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
• 1981 – After sixty-six days without food, Irish republican Bobby Sands died of starvation in HM Prison Maze.

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