Historical Events
- May 2 In the Bronx, New York City: 2nd Ave & Bronx Terrace renamed Bronx Blvd; Seward Place renamed Sycamore Ave; Herald Ave renamed Dickinson Ave; Monroe & Selwyn Avenue named
- May 3 Irish Nationalists Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh and Thomas Clarke are executed by firing squad following their involvement in the Easter Rising
- May 4 At request of US, Germany curtails its submarine warfare
- May 4 Ned Daly, Willie Pearse, Michael O'Hanrahan and Joseph Plunkett are executed by British authorities following the Easter Rising, at Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin
- May 5 US Marines invade Dominican Republic, stay until 1924
- May 6 Belgian troops march into Kigali, German East Africa
- May 8 German munitions bunker in Fort Douaumont explodes killing 679 German soldiers
- May 8 Irishmen Eamon Kent, Michael Mallin, Con Colbert and Sean Houston are executed by British authorities following the Easter Rising at Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin
- May 9 British-France Sykes-Picot conference over division of Turkey
- May 9 Disastrous wind-blown fire in Ellendale, North Dakota destroys three blocks of businesses, a church, and 21 homes
- May 10 Historic Shipport Museum opens in Amsterdam
- May 12 James Connolly and Sean McDermott are executed following their involvement in the Easter Rising in Dublin
- May 13 1st observance of Indian (Native American) Day
- May 13 42nd Kentucky Derby: Johnny Loftus aboard George Smith wins in 2:04
- May 13 Lafayette Escadrille, an American air force unit under French command comprised of volunteers to fight for France, see first combat at the Battle of Verdun
- May 15 Asiago, Italy, falls when Austrian troops attack the Italian front
- May 15 Claiming that the USA must act to quell dangerous disorder, the government orders US Marines to land in Santo Domingo; the American occupation will continue until 1924
- May 16 41st Preakness Stakes: Hall of Fame jockey Linus McAtee aboard the J.K.L. Ross owned Damrosch wins in 1:54.80
- May 17 British Summer Time (Daylight Savings) introduced
- May 18 A British Royal Inquiry into the Easter Rising in Dublin is set up in London
- May 18 US pilot Kiffin Rockwell shoots down German aircraft over Alsace in WWI
- May 20 Codell, Kansas hit by tornado (also on same date in 1917 & 1918)
- May 20 Saturday Evening Post cover features Norman Rockwell painting
- May 21 Britain begins "Summer Time" (daylight saving time)
- May 22 Battle of Verdun: French troops assault Fort Douaumont but fail to recapture it after hours of dogged fighting
- May 24 Conscription begins in Britain
- May 24 French driven out of Fort Douaumont after 500 killed or injured
- May 24 Last British-Indian contract workers arrive in Suriname
- May 24 US pilot William Thaw shoots down a German Fokker
- May 27 Groundbreaking begins on Hugh Grant Circle in Bronx
Wilson Supports League of Nations
May 27 President Woodrow Wilson addresses the League to Enforce Peace, founded in 1915, and gives public support to the idea of a league of nations
- May 29 NY Giants win 17th consecutive road game
- May 29 Official flag of President of the United States adopted
- May 29 US forces invade Dominican Republic, stay until 1924
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Dario Resta accompanied by riding mechanic Bob Dahnke lead 103 of 120 laps to claim victory; only Indy 500 scheduled for less than 500 miles (300)
Battle of Jutland
May 31 Battle of Jutland: Largest naval battle of World War I between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet which killed 8,645 in an inconclusive battle but strategic British victory. German fleet never puts to sea again in WWI.
HMS Invincible Explodes
May 31 HMS Invincible explodes after taking fire during the Battle of Jutland, killing 1026 officers including Rear-Admiral Hood - only 6 crew members survive
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Glenn Ford, Canadian-American actor (Cade's County, Big Heat, Midway), born in Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, Quebec, Canada (d. 2006)
- May 3 Henry B. González, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Texas (1961-99), born in San Antonio, Texas (d. 2000)
- May 3 Léopold Simoneau, French Canadian tenor, born in Saint-Flavien, Quebec, Canada (d. 2006)
- May 3 Pierre Emmanuel [Noël Mathieu], French poet (Sodome), born in Gan, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France (d. 1984)
- May 4 Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian author and urbanologist (The Death and Life of Great American Cities), born in Scranton, Pennsylvania (d. 2006)
- May 4 Maurice "Moe" Purtill, American jazz drummer, born in Huntington, New York (d. 1994)
- May 5 Zail Singh, Indian politician (7th President of India 1982-87), born in Sandhwan, British India (d. 1994)
- May 7 Huw Wheldon, Welsh broadcaster (BBC), born in Prestatyn, Denbighshire (d. 1986)
- May 8 João Havelange, Brazilian industrialist and FIFA President 1974-98, born in Rio de Janeiro (d. 2016)
- May 8 Swami Chinmayananda, Indian spiritualist (d. 1993)
- May 9 Bernard Rose, British organist, soldier, composer, and academic, born in Sawbridgeworth, England (d. 1996)
- May 9 Douglas Guest, British organist, choir master (Westminster Abbey, 1963-81), conductor, and composer (For the Fallen), born in Sheffield, England (d. 1996) [1]
- May 10 Milton Babbitt, American mathematician, composer of serial and electronic music (Correspondences), and teacher (Princeton; Juilliard), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2011)
- May 11 Camilo Jose Cela, Spanish writer (Nobel Prize 1989), born in Padrón, La Coruña (d. 2002)
- May 12 Ellis Kohs, American composer (Lohiau and Hiiaka), educator, and musicologist, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2000)
- May 14 Del Moore, American comedian and actor (Life With Elizabeth; Bachelor Father - "Cal"; Cinderfella), born in Pensacola, Florida (d. 1970)
- May 14 Lance Dossor, British-Australian concert pianist, born in Weston-super-Mare, England (d. 2005)
- May 14 Marco Zanuso, Italian Modernist architect and product designer, born in Milan, Italy (d. 2001)
- May 16 Adriana Caselotti, voice of Snow White in Disney's animated film, born in Bridgeport, Connecticut (d. 1997)
- May 16 Bernard Braden, Canadian-born British broadcaster and actor (All Night Lone, Full Treatment), born in Vancouver, British Columbia (d. 1993)
- May 16 Ephraim Katzir, biophysicist and President of Israel (1973-78), born in Kiev, Russian Empire (d. 2009)
- May 16 Irene Ighodaro, Sierra Leonean doctor and social reformer, born in Freetown, Sierra Leone (d. 1995)
- May 17 Cornelis A. Eman, Aruban politician (chairman State of Aruba Peoples Party) (d. 1967)
- May 17 John Hinde, English pioneering color photographer (color postcards, documented circus life), born in Somerset (d. 1997) [1]
- May 20 Alexei Petrovich Maresiev, Russian flying ace (d. 2001)
- May 20 John McIntyre, Scottish theologian (Chaplin to the Queen in Scotland), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 2005)
- May 20 Owen Chadwick, English historian, priest and university chancellor, born in London, England (d. 2015)
- May 20 Trebisonda Valla, Italian athlete (d. 2006)
- May 21 Dennis Day [Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty], Irish-American tenor ("Danny Boy"), radio and television comic actor (Jack Benny Program; A Day in the Life of Dennis Day), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 1988)
Harold Robbins (1916-1997)
May 21 American author (Moneychangers, Carpetbaggers, Betsy), born in New York City
- May 21 Leonard Manasseh, British architect (Rutherford School), born in Singapore (d. 2017)
- May 21 Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (d. 2002)
- May 22 Gordon Binkerd, American composer, born in Lynch, Nebraska (d. 2003)
- May 23 Jean Françaix, French classical pianist, and composer, born in Le Mans, France (d. 1997)
- May 24 Roden Cutler, Australian diplomat and Governor (New South Wales), born in Manly, New South Wales (d. 2002)
- May 25 Lou van Rees, Dutch impresario, born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1993)
- May 26 Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch political prisoner and journalist (The Walls Came Tumbling Down) (d. 1972)
- May 26 Moondog [Louis Thomas Hardin], American composer, musician and poet, born in Marysville, Kansas (d. 1999)
- May 27 Bernard Oliver, American engineer at HP and inventor (first hand-held calculators, SETI, Pulse Code Modulation), born in Soquel, California (d. 1995) [1]
- May 28 Gerald McArthur, British Scotland Yard detective who caught the Great Train Robbers (d. 1996)
- May 28 Walker Percy, American writer and novelist ("The Moviegoer", "Lancelot"), born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 1990)
- May 29 Carl Story, American bluegrass musician (Rambling Mountaineers), born in Lenoir, North Carolina (d. 1995)
- May 30 Joseph W Kennedy, American chemist (Manhattan Project; 1 of 4 discoverers of plutonium), and educator, born in Nacogdoches, Texas (d. 1957)
- May 31 Bert Haanstra, Dutch filmmaker and director (Fanfare; Glass), born in Holten, Netherlands (d. 1997)
- May 31 John Vivyan, American actor (Mr Lucky, Wrong Man, Imitation of Life), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1983)
- May 31 Judy Campbell [Judith Mary Gamble], British actress (Convoy, Bonnie Prince Charlie), born in Grantham, England (d. 2004)
Famous Weddings
Karl Dönitz
May 27 German Naval commander Karl Dönitz (24) weds nurse Ingeborg Weber (22)
Famous Deaths
- May 4 Joseph Mary Plunkett, Irish revolutionary (b. 1887)
- May 6 Dirk Bos, Dutch Liberal 2nd Member of Parliament, dies at 53
- May 6 Earl Ross Drake, American composer, dies at 50
- May 11 Karl Schwarzschild, German astronomer (Schwarzschild effect), dies on the Eastern front at 42, mere months after working out a solution to Einstein's Theory of Relativity
- May 11 Max Reger, German composer, pianist and professor (Leipzig Univ), dies at 43
- May 12 James Connolly, Irish socialist (founder of the Irish Socialist Republican Party), dies at 47
- May 13 Sholem Aleichem [Solomon Rabinowitz], Yiddish author and playwright (Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye the Dairyman), dies of tuberculosis at 57
- May 14 William Stanley, American inventor of the induction coil (electricity transformer), dies at 57 [1]
- May 17 Boris Borisovich Galitzine, Russian physicist (b. 1862)
- May 17 Gervais Salvayre, French composer (Calypso; La Résurrection), and music critic dies at 68
- May 25 Jack Marsh, Australian cricketer (Aboriginal bowler played for NSW 1900-03), dies in a pub brawl at 41 or 42
- May 27 Joseph Gallieni, French general (Battle of Marne) and military governor of Paris, dies at 67
- May 28 Ivan Franko, Ukrainian writer and political activist, dies at 59
John Singleton Mosby (1833-1916)
May 30 Confederate Army cavalry battalion commander in the American Civil War, dies at 82
- May 31 British Rear Admiral Horace Hood, dies in Battle of Jutland on board HMS Invincible, at 45
