Historical Events
Royal Canadian Navy Established
May 4 Wilfrid Laurier passes the Naval Service Act, which creates the Royal Canadian Navy
- May 7 35th Preakness: R Estep aboard Layminster wins in 1:40.6
- May 10 1st aircraft air display held (Hendon, England)
- May 10 36th Kentucky Derby: Fred Herbert aboard Donau wins in 2:06.4
- May 10 Halley's Comet closest approach to Earth in 1910 pass
- May 10 The British House of Commons pass three major resolutions on political reform
- May 11 Montana's Glacier National Park forms
- May 12 Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Charles "Chief" Bender no-hits Cleveland Naps, 4-0
Second NAACP Conference
May 12 Second NAACP conference in NYC
Meeting of Interest
May 20 Funeral for Britain's King Edward VII held in Westminster Abbey, has one of the largest assemblages of European royalty
Louis Botha Prime Minister
May 21 Louis Botha becomes the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa
- May 27 Reform of Prussian three-class voting system fails
- May 29 Pope Pius X's encyclical on Editae Saepe, against church reformers
- May 30 44th Belmont: James Butwell aboard Sweep wins in 2:22
- May 31 Cape of Good Hope becomes part of Union of South Africa
- May 31 Glenn Curtiss flies from Albany to NYC
- May 31 Union of South Africa declares its independence from the United Kingdom
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Cliff Battles, American College/Pro Football HOF halfback (West Virginia Wesleyan College; 3 x First-Team All-Pro; NFL rushing yards leader 1932, 37; Boston Braves/Redskins, Washington Redskins), born in Akron, Ohio (d. 1981)
- May 2 Alexander Bonnyman Jr., U.S. Marine Corps officer, born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1943)
- May 2 Laurie Nash, Australian cricket fast-bowler (2 Tests, 10 wickets) and VFL player and coach (South Melbourne), born in Melbourne, Australia (d. 1986)
- May 3 Alceo Galliera, Italian conductor (Victoria Symphony; La Scala), and composer (The Wise Virgins and the Foolish Virgins), born in Milan, Italy (d. 1996)
- May 3 Norman Corwin, American screenwriter for radio drama, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2011)
- May 4 Mady Alfredo [Maria De Brieder], Flemish actress (Alicia), born in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (d. 1989)
- May 5 William I. Martin, American pilot (early testing of all-weather and night flying techniques) and vice-admiral, born in Ava, Missouri (d. 1996) [1]
- May 6 Antoon Breyne, Belgian journalist, born in Ypres, Belgium (d. 1986)
- May 8 Mary Lou Williams, American jazz pianist and composer (Zodiac Suite), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1981)
- May 9 Barbara Woodhouse, Irish-born British dog training expert and TV personality ("walkies"), born in Rathfarnham, Ireland (d. 1988)
- May 10 Margot Turner, British nurse and nursing administrator (whose account as a prisoner-of-war in Japanese camp inspired TV series "Tenko"), born in Finchley, England (d. 1993)
- May 11 Jorge Croner de Vasconcelos, Portuguese composer, born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1974)
- May 12 Charles B. Fulton, American jurist (d. 1996)
Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994)
May 12 British biochemist who developed protein crystallography to study molecular structure, including that of vitamin B12 (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1964), born in Cairo, Egypt [1]
- May 12 Gordon Jenkins, American arranger and orchestra leader (Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra), born in Webster Groves, Missouri (d. 1984)
- May 14 Ken Viljoen, South African cricket batsman (27 Tests, 2 x 100, HS 124; Griqualand West, Orange Free State, Transvaal), born in Windsorton, South Africa (d. 1974)
- May 15 Constance Cummings, American-British Tony Award-winning stage (Wings; Long Day's Journey Into Night), and screen (Blithe Spirit; Glamour) actress, born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2005)
- May 16 Olga Berggolts, Russian poet (d. 1975)
- May 18 Arthur van Schendel, Dutch art historian, and museum director (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 1959-75), born in Ede, Netherlands (d. 1979)
- May 19 Alan Melville, South African cricket batsman (11 Tests, 4 x 100, HS 189; Natal, Oxford University CC, Sussex CCC, Transvaal), born in Carnarvon, South Africa (d. 1983)
- May 22 Johnny Olson, American radio personality and television announcer (The Price is Right), born in Windom, Minnesota (d. 1985)
- May 23 (Benjamin) "Scatman" Crothers, American singer, musician ("I'd Rather Be a Hummingbird"), and actor (Chico and the Man - "Louie", The Shining), born in Terre Haute, Indiana (d. 1986)
- May 23 Artie Shaw [Arthur Arshawsky], American gig 0bandleader, jazz clarinetist and actor ("Begin the Beguine"), and actor, born in New York City (d. 2004)
- May 23 Franz Kline, American abstract expressionist painter, born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (d. 1962)
- May 23 Hugh Casson, English architect (Festival of Britain director, President of the Royal Academy), born in London, England (d. 1999)
- May 23 Margaret Wise Brown, American author (d. 1952)
Jimmy Demaret (1910-1983)
May 24 American golfer (US Masters 1940, 47, 50), born in Houston, Texas
- May 24 Marģeris Zariņš, Latvian composer and writer, born in Jaunpiebalga, Russian Empire (d. 1993)
- May 24 Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Finnish composer (Angoscia, Trittico sinfonico), born in Raisio, Finland (d. 1961)
- May 26 Adolfo López Mateos, 48th President of Mexico, born in Atizapán de Zaragoza, State of Mexico, Mexico (d. 1969)
- May 26 Laurance Rockefeller, American CEO (Chase Manhattan Bank) and philanthropist, born in New York City (d. 2004)
- May 27 (Earl) "Jock" Caruthers American jazz saxophonist (Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra, 1932-47), born in Monroe, Mississippi (d. 1971)
- May 28 Arthur Trappier, American jazz drummer (Blanche Calloway: Fats Waller), born in Georgetown, South Carolina (d. 1975)
- May 28 Rachel Kempson, British actress (Captive Heart), born in Dartmouth, Devon, England (d. 2003)
- May 28 Stuart Piggott, British archaeologist best known for his work on prehistoric Wessex, born in Petersfield, Hampshire (d. 1996)
T-Bone Walker (1910-1975)
May 28 American blues guitarist ("Funky Town"; "Well Done"), born in Linden, Texas
- May 29 Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete, politician (Rep-D-Ill; joint world record 100m, Olympic gold 4x100m relay 1936), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1978)
- May 30 Inge Meysel, German actress (None, Ida Rogalski), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2004)
- May 31 Francis Avery Jones, Welsh gastroenterologist, born in Briton Ferry, Carmarthenshire (d. 1998)
Famous Weddings
Samuel Goldwyn
May 8 Film producer Samuel Goldwyn (27) weds first wife Blanche Lasky
George S. Patton
May 26 US General George S. Patton (24) weds Frederick Ayer's daughter Beatrice Ayer at Beverly Farms Episcopal Church near Boston, Massachusetts
Famous Deaths
- May 3 Howard T Ricketts, American pathologist (studied typhus fever), dies of typhus at 39
- May 10 Stanislao Cannizzaro, Italian chemist (advocated for single system of atomic formulas), dies at 85
- May 10 William Huggins, discoverer of stellar nature of Andromeda, dies
- May 16 Henri-Edmond Cross [Delacroix], French painter (Fauvism), dies at 53
- May 18 Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish novelist (Dziurdziowie), dies at 68
- May 18 Florimond Van Duyse, Belgian composer, dies at 66
- May 18 Pauline Viardot, French pianist, mezzo-soprano, and composer (Cendrillon), dies at 88
- May 20 Jean-Baptiste Theodore Weckerlin, French composer, dies at 88
- May 22 Jules Renard, French writer (Le plaisir the rompre), dies at 46
Robert Koch (1843-1910)
May 27 German pioneering bacteriologist (TB, Cholera, Nobel Prize 1905), dies at 66
- May 29 Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist and composer (Islamej; Tamara), dies at 73
Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910)
May 31 English-American physician who was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, dies at 89
