Historical Events
- May 2 30th Kentucky Derby: Shorty Prior riding Elwood wins in 2:08.50
Rolls Meets Royce
May 4 Charles Rolls meets Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, England. Go on to form the car manufacturer Roll-Royce. [1]
- May 4 Construction begins by the United States on the Panama Canal
Carnegie's Peace Palace
May 11 Andrew Carnegie donates $1.5m to build the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, an international law administrative building and home for the Permanent Court of Arbitration [1]
Shéhérazade
May 17 Maurice Ravel's song cycle "Shéhérazade" premieres with Jeanne Hatto as soprano, at the Salle Nouveau Théâtre, Paris, France
- May 18 In Morocco, a brigand, Raizuli, kidnaps Ion H. Perdicaris, an American citizen
- May 21 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) forms in Paris
- May 21 France recalls its ambassador to the Vatican to protest the Pope's attempt to discipline two French bishops; this is yet another incident driving France and the Catholic Church apart
- May 25 38th Belmont: George Odom aboard Delhi wins in 2:06.6
- May 26 In two days of bitter fighting, the Japanese Army soundly defeats the Russians at Kinchan and captures the forts at Nanshan
- May 27 NY Giants first baseman Dan McGann collects MLB record 5 stolen bases in 3-1 win over the Brooklyn Superbas at the Polo Grounds in NYC; record broken in 1991 by Otis Nixon
- May 28 29th Preakness: Eugene Hildebrand aboard Bryn Mawr wins in 1:44.2
- May 30 Frank Chance gets hit by pitch 5 times in a doubleheader
- May 30 The Japanese Army capture the City of Dairen after landing troops along the south coast of Manchuria
Famous Birthdays
Red Ruffing (1904-1986)
May 3 American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (6 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1932, 36–39, 41; NY Yankees), born in Granville, Illinois
- May 4 Umm Kulthum [Ibrahim], Egyptian singer and actress, born in Tummāy al-Zahāyrah, Egypt (d. 1975)
- May 5 Gordon Richards, British jockey (26 x British flat racing Champion Jockey; 4,870 race wins), born in Donnington Wood, Telford (d. 1986)
- May 6 Catherine Lacey, British actress (Sorcerors), born in London, England (d. 1979)
- May 6 Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist and poet (Trade Wind-Nobel 1974), born in Jämshög, Sweden (d. 1978)
- May 6 Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli engineer and physicist (founder of the Feldenkrais method), born in Slavuta, Russian Empire (d. 1984)
- May 6 Raymond Bailey, American actor (Vertigo, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Incredible Shrinking Man), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1980)
- May 8 John Snagge, British newsreader and commentator for the BBC (Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race), born in London (d. 1996)
- May 10 David Brown, English industrialist (owned and developed David Brown Tractors, Aston Martin and Lagonda), born in Huddersfield, England (d. 1993)
- May 11 Guus Weitzel, Dutch radio personality and actor, born in Teterings, Netherlands (d. 1989)
Salvador Dali (1904-1989)
May 11 Spanish surrealist artist (Crucifixion), born in Figueres, Spain
- May 13 Earle Birney, Canadian poet and novelist who twice won the Governor General's Award, born in Calgary, Northwest Territories (d. 1995)
- May 13 Tim Wall, Australian cricket fast bowler (18 Tests, 56 wickets, BB 5/14; South Australia), born in Semaphore, Australia (d. 1981)
- May 14 Hans Albert Einstein, American professor (d. 1973)
- May 14 Marcel Junod, Swiss physician (d. 1961)
- May 15 Clifton Fadiman, American editor, radio and TV host (Information, Please!; Quiz Kids), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1999)
- May 15 Gustav-Adolf Boltenstern, Swedish equestrian (Olympic gold team dressage 1952, 56; silver 1932, bronze 1948), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1995)
- May 16 Hugh Plaxton, Canadian ice hockey left wing (Olympic gold 1928; Montreal Maroons) and politician (House of Commons of Canada 1935-40), born in Barrie, Ontario (d. 1982)
- May 17 Jean Gabin, French actor (Moulin Rouge, La Grande Illusion), born in Paris, France (d. 1976)
- May 18 Jacob K. Javits, American politician (Sen-R-NY), born in New York City (d. 1986)
- May 18 Shunryū Suzuki, Japanese-born American Zen teacher (popularised Zen Buddhism in America), born in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan (d. 1971)
- May 19 Anthony Bushell, British actor (Journey's End, A Night to Remember), born in Kent, England (d. 1997)
- May 19 Sven Thofelt, Swedish athlete (Olympic gold pentathlon 1928; silver team épée 1936, bronze 1948), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1993)
- May 20 Margery Allingham, English detective writer (one of 'four 'Queens of Crime'), born in London, England (d. 1966)
- May 20 Russell Hardie, American actor (Sequoia, In Old Kentucky), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1973)
- May 21 Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (Robert Montgomery Presents, Earl of Chicago, Yellow Jack), born in Fishkill Landing, New York (d. 1981)
Fats Waller (1904-1943)
May 21 American jazz organist, piano player, singer and composer ("Ain't Misbehavin'"; "Honeysuckle Rose"; "Hot Chocolate"), born in New York City [1]
- May 22 Anne de Vries, Dutch teacher and writer (Bartje), born in Assen, Netherlands (d. 1964)
- May 22 Paul Viiding, Estonian poet, born in Valga, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire (d. 1962)
- May 24 Kenneth Buckley, British rear-admiral (d. 1992)
- May 24 Patrick Johnson, English physicist (d. 1996)
- May 25 Kurt Thomas, German composer, born in Tönning, Germany (d. 1973)
- May 26 George Formby, British singer and comedian, born in Wigan, Lancashire, England (d. 1961)
- May 26 Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist, born in Kaunas, Lithuania (d. 2002)
- May 27 Chūhei Nambu, Japanese athlete (Olympic gold triple jump 1932; only person to have held WRs in both long jump & triple jump), born in Sapporo, Japan (d. 1997)
- May 28 Shalva Mikhailovich Mshvelidze, Russian composer, born in Tiflis (d. 1984)
- May 29 Hubert Opperman, Australian road cyclist, politician (multi-distance world records), born in Rochester, Victoria (d. 1996)
- May 29 Robert Knox, English bacteriologist (one of first to report MRSA) (d. 2000)
- May 29 Ronald Russell, British journalist, author and Conservative politician, born in Seahouses, Northumberland (d. 1974)
- May 30 Ernesto de la Guardia, President of Panama (1956-60), born in Panama City, Panama (d. 1983)
- May 31 Otto "Toby" Hardwicke, American jazz alto saxophone player (The Washingtonians, 1923-28; Duke Ellington Orchestra, 1932-46 - "Sophisticated Lady"; "In A Sentimental Mood"), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1970)
- May 31 Stan Brenders, Belgian jazz pianist and bandleader, born in Brussels (d. 1969)
Famous Deaths
- May 1 Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (Slavonic Dances; New World Symphony; Cello Concerto in b, Op. 104), dies at 62
- May 6 Franz von Lenbach, German painter, dies at 67
- May 7 Peter Hille, German writer, dies at 49
- May 8 Eadweard Muybridge, English photographer, pioneer in study of motion, dies at 74
Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904)
May 10 Welsh journalist and African explorer (discovered source of the Nile), dies at 63
- May 14 Richard Hol, Dutch composer, organist and conductor, dies at 78
- May 16 N I Bobrikov, Russian governor-general in Finland, dies
- May 19 Auguste Molinier, French historian (b. 1851)
- May 19 Jamsetji Tata, Indian pioneer industrialist (Tata Group), dies at 65
- May 22 Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French neurologist, hysteria specialist, and namesake of Tourette's syndrome, dies from syphilis at 46
