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: 5 May – Having discovered a better way to weave straw with silk and thread, Mary Kies became the first woman to be awarded a US patent (1809). 5 May – The Music Hall in New York City, now known as Carnegie Hall, opened for its first public performance with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as its guest conductor (1891). 5 May - Mexican forces under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated an invading French army at the Battle of Puebla, a victory commemorated annually in Cinco De Mayo (1862). 5-7 May – Union and Confederate forces fought to a bloody draw in the Battle of the Wilderness near Spotsylvania, Virginia (1864).