Historical Events
- May 2 General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware
- May 10 HMS Vindictive sunk to block entrance of Ostend Harbor
- May 11 44th Kentucky Derby: William Knapp on Exterminator wins in 2:10.8
- May 13 1st US airmail stamps issued (24 cents)
- May 14 Sunday baseball is made legal in Washington, D.C.
- May 15 1st regular US airmail postal service between NY, Philadelphia & Washington, D.C.
- May 15 43rd Preakness: Johnny Loftus aboard War Cloud wins in 1:53.6
- May 15 Finnish Civil War ends
- May 15 Greeks troops land at Smyrna
- May 15 Washington Senator Walter Johnson pitches 1-0, 18 inning game
- May 16 The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government an imprisonable offense.
- May 18 Dutch Indian Volksraad installed in Batavia
- May 18 TNT explosion in chemical factory in Oakdale, Pennsylvania, kills 200
- May 19 Washington's 1st Sunday game, Senators beat Cleveland 1-0 in 18 innings
- May 20 1st electrically propelled warship (New Mexico)
- May 21 US House of Representatives passes amendment allowing women to vote
- May 23 King Oil/Shell refinery on Curacao officially opens
- May 24 British officer General Poole lands at Murmansk, the Russian port on the Barents Sea
- May 24 Cleveland starter Stan Coveleski sets club record for most innings pitched (19) in a complete game as the Indians beat the New York Yankees, 3-2 at the Polo Grounds, NYC
- May 26 Armenia defeats the Ottoman Army in the Battle of Sardarapat
- May 26 Georgian Social Democratic Republic declares independence from Russia
- May 27 Third Battle of Aisne: German offensive overcomes British forces (WWI)
- May 28 Azerbaijan gains independence and declares itself a Democratic Republic
- May 28 The Armenian National Council declares Armenia independent from the Russian Empire
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (d. 1977)
Jack Paar (1918-2004)
May 1 American comedian and TV host of the Jack Paar Show and The Tonight Show (1957-62), born in Canton, Ohio
- May 2 Frederick Archibald Warner, British diplomat, born in Blagdon, England (d. 1995)
- May 3 Ted Bates, English soccer manager (Southampton 1955-73) and forward (Southampton 202 games), born in Thetford, England (d. 2003)
- May 4 Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese Prime Minister (1972-74), convicted of bribe-taking, born in Kariwa, Japan (d. 1993)
- May 4 Thomas Mead, Australian politician and journalist, born in Randwick, Australia (d. 2004)
- May 5 Erbie Bowser, American blues and jazz pianist, born in Davila, Texas (d. 1995)
- May 6 Godfrey Ridout, Canadian composer, conductor, educator, and musicologist, born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 1984)
- May 6 Sydney Chatton, English actress (Once Upon a Horse), born in Bolton, Lancashire, England (d. 1966)
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004)
May 6 1st President of the United Arab Emirates, born in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, birth date disputed
- May 7 Argeliers León, Cuban composer, born in Pinar del Río, Cuba (d. 1991)
- May 8 Nan Wynn [Masha Vatz], American radio and big-band singer (Rudy Vallée; Teddy Wilson), actress, and singing voice for Rita Hayworth, born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (d. 1971) [1]
- May 9 Orville Freeman, American politician (Governor of Minnesota 1955-61, US Secretary of Agriculture 1961-69), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 2003)
Mike Wallace (1918-2012)
May 9 American journalist and media personality (60 Minutes, 1968-2006; Biography), born in Brookline, Massachusetts
- May 10 Dr. T Berry Brazelton, American child development paediatrician, author, TV host (What Every Baby Knows), who developed the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), born in Waco, Texas (d. 2018)
- May 10 George Welch, American World War II flying ace (Medal of Honor nominee) and test pilot, born in Wawaset Park, Delaware (d. 1954)
- May 11 Richard Feynman, American theoretical physicist, born in Queens, New York (d. 1988)
Julius Rosenberg (1918-1953)
May 12 1st American civilian executed for espionage after he and his wife were convicted of passing secret radar, jet and nuclear information to the Soviet Union, born in New York City
- May 12 Oscar Beregi Jr, Hungarian actor (Young Frankenstein, Panic in City), born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (d. 1976)
- May 13 John Baines Johnston, British diplomat (British High Commissioner to Rhodesia just before independence, High Commissioner of Malaysia), born in Maryport, England (d. 2005)
- May 13 T. Balasaraswati, Indian Bharatanatyam dancer, born in Madras Presidency, British India (d. 1984)
- May 14 Arthur McIntyre, English cricket wicket-keeper (3 Tests, 8 dismissals; Surrey CCC, MCC), born in London, England (d. 2009)
- May 15 Eddy Arnold, American country music singer ("Make The World Go Away"; "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye"), born in Henderson Tennessee (d. 2008)
- May 15 Joseph Wiseman, Canadian actor (Dr No, Viva Zapata, Les Miserables), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2009)
- May 16 Aubrey Bowman, British pianist, composer, and conductor (Workman's Music Association), born in Bournemouth, England (d. 2009)
- May 16 Edward Thomas, British historian and intelligence expert (Bletchley Park), born in Portsmouth, England (d. 1996)
- May 16 Juan Rulfo, Mexican writer (Pedro Paramo) (d. 1986)
- May 16 Wilf Mannion, English former footballer (d. 2000)
- May 17 (Märta) Birgit Nilsson, Swedish operatic soprano (Elektra; Salome), born in Västra Karup, Skåne, Sweden (d. 2005)
- May 18 Massimo Girotti, Italian actor (Last Tango in Paris, In the Name of the Law), born in Mogliano, Marche, Italy (d. 2003)
- May 19 Abraham Pais, Dutch-born American physicist (d. 2000)
Florence Chadwick (1918-1995)
May 19 American swimmer who was the 1st woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, born in San Diego, California
- May 20 Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
- May 21 Leonard Mullens, British rubber physicist (Mullins effect) (d. 1997)
- May 22 David Land, impresario and theatre producer, born in London (d. 1995)
- May 23 Dennis Compton, England cricket batsman and footballer (5,807 Test runs, Arsenal 1950 FA Cup), born in Hendon, England (d. 1997)
- May 23 Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, American bandleader, songwriter, and record producer (Little Richard; Sam Cooke), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 1985)
- May 24 Coleman Young, 1st African American Mayor of Detroit, born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (d. 1997)
- May 25 Johnny Beazley, American MLB baseball pitcher (1941-42 & 1946-49 (St. Louis Cardinals - winner of two 1942 World Series games; Boston Braves), and WWII veteran, born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 1990)
- May 25 Peder Lunde Sr., Norwegian yachtsman (Olympic silver 1952), born in Nordstrand, Norway (d. 2009)
- May 26 Anton Christoforidis, Greek boxer (NBA light heavyweight title 1941), born in Mersin, Turkey (d. 1985)
- May 27 Kam Fong Chun, American actor (Hawaii Five-0, Magnum, P.I.), born in Kalihi, Territory of Hawaii (d. 2002)
- May 27 Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japanese politician (Prime Minister of Japan 1982-87), born in Takasaki, Japan (d. 2019)
- May 29 Herb Shriner, American humorist and TV host (Herb Shriner Show), born in Toledo, Ohio (d. 1970)
- May 29 Isabel Dean, English actress (Five Days One Summer Virgin Island, Ransom), born in Aldridge, Staffordshire (d. 1997)
- May 30 Bob Evans, American restaurateur (Bob Evans Farms), born in Sugar Ridge, Ohio (d. 2007)
- May 30 Guadalupe "Pita" Amor, Mexican poet (d. 2000)
Famous Deaths
- May 1 Grove Karl Gilbert, American geologist (investigated Lake Bonneville, Utah), dies at 74
- May 2 Ernie Parker, Australian tennis player (Australasian C'ship 1913), dies in action WWI at 34
- May 3 Charlie Soong, Chinese Methodist missionary and key player in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, dies at 55
- May 9 George Coşbuc, Romanian poet, dies at 51
- May 12 Abel Hoadley, Australian confectioner (Violet Crumble), dies at 73
- May 14 James Gordon Bennett Jr., American newspaper publisher (thought to have inspired the phrase "Gordon Bennett"), dies at 77
- May 16 Eusapia Palladino, Italian spiritual medium, dies at 64
- May 18 Toivo Kuula, Finnish composer, dies after being shot in a quarrel at 34
- May 19 Gervais Raoul Lufbery, French-American World War I fighter pilot and flying ace, dies at 33
- May 24 Evan Williams, American oratorio tenor, dies at 50
- May 27 Henry Adams, American historian and writer (Education of Henry Adams), dies at 80
- May 30 Georgy Valentinovich Plekhanov, Russian revolutionary theorist, dies at 61
- May 31 Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist and son of Eilhard Mitscherlich, dies at 82
