On this day in History - May 5

1494 – On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica, landing at Discovery Bay and declares Jamaica the property of the Spanish crown for reasons that will later be questioned.

1821 – Emperor Napoleon dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

1905 – The trial in the Stratton Brothers case begins in London, England; it marks the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to gain a conviction for murder.