What Happened in May 1929

Historical Events

May 1 Farm workers strike begins in East-Groningen
May 1 Police kill 19 Mayday demonstrators in Berlin

Music History

May 2 Billie Holiday (14) and her mother are arrested for prostitution following a raid of a brothel in Harlem, New York City

May 3 Prussia bans anti-fascists

Gehrig's Three Home Runs

May 4 Lou Gehrig hits three consecutive HRs, Yankees 11, Tigers 9

May 6 AL announces it will discontinue MVP award
May 6 New York to San Francisco footrace begins
May 8 Jan Mayen island, 500 km NNE of Iceland, incorporated into Norway

Hubbell No-Hits Pirates

May 8 NY Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell no-hits Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-0 at the Polo Grounds, NYC

Volgograd Tractor Plant

May 8 Soviet government contract Albert Kahn Associates architectural firm to design the USSR's 1st tractor plant

May 9 WJW-AM in Cleveland Ohio begins radio transmissions
May 10 54th Preakness: Louis Schaefer aboard Dr Freeland wins in 2:01.6

4th British Open

May 10 British Open Men's Golf, Muirfield: Walter Hagen wins 4th Open title, by 6 strokes from fellow American Johnny Farrell

May 11 1st regularly scheduled TV broadcasts (3 nights per week)
May 11 Dr Annie Webb Blanton forms Delta Kappa Gamma Society in Austin, Texas
May 12 Pulitzer prize awarded to Julia Peterkin (Scarlet Sister Mary)
May 15 Fire in X-ray film stock kills 125 at Crile Clinic (Cleveland, Ohio)

1st Academy Awards

May 16 1st Academy Awards: "Wings", Emil Jannings and Janet Gaynor win

Janet Gaynor, the only woman to win Best Actress for multiple roles, receives her award from Douglas Fairbanks

May 18 55th Kentucky Derby: Hall of Fame jockey Linus McAtee on 3-1 chance Clyde Van Dusen wins in 2:10.8 on a muddy track
May 18 Brooklyn Robins beat Philadelphia Phillies, 20-16; lose 8-6 in game 2 at the Baker Bowl; MLB record 50 runs for a doubleheader

Feng Yuxiang Declares War

May 19 Chinese warlord Feng Yuxiang declares war on Chiang Kai-Shek's nationalist government

Chinese Military and Political Leader Chiang Kai-shek

May 19 Cloudburst causes stampede in Yankee Stadium, crushes 2 people to death
May 21 Automatic electric stock quotation board installed in NYC
May 21 Sergei Prokoviev's ballet "Prodigal Son" premieres in Paris
May 24 Chicago WS pitcher Ted Lyons and Detroit's George Uhle go 21 innings before Tigers get a run to win, 6-5; longest game (3 hours, 31 mins) ever at Comiskey Park, Chicago
May 28 1st all color talking picture "On With the Show" exhibited (NYC)
May 30 Indianapolis 500: Ray Keech takes lead for final time on lap 158 for his first Indy 500 win; car owner Maude A. Yagle is first and only female winning owner in Indy history
May 31 Atlantic City Convention Center opens

Events in 1929

Famous Birthdays

May 1 Sonny James [James Loden], country music singer-songwriter (Young Love), born in Hackelburg, Alabama (d. 2016)

Sonny Ramadhin (1929-2022)

May 1 West Indian cricket spin bowler (43 Tests, 158 wickets, BB 7/49), born in St. Charles Village, Trinidad

May 2 (Fred Lincoln) "Link" Wray, Native American rock guitarist ("Rumble"), born in Dunn, North Carolina (d. 2005)
May 2 Edward Levy, American composer, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2002)
May 2 Graham Gedye, New Zealand cricket batsman (4 Tests, 2 x 50; Auckland), born in Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand (d. 2014)
May 2 Luc Ferrari, French composer, born in Paris (d. 2005)
May 3 Hendrik L van Beek, Dutch vice-admiral
May 3 Jahanara Imam, Bangladeshi writer and political activist, born in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India (d. 1994)

Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993)

May 4 British actress (Roman Holiday; Breakfast at Tiffany's; My Fair Lady), born in Brussels, Belgium

May 4 Sydney M. Lamb, American linguist (Stratificational grammar), born in Denver, Colorado
May 5 (Jacqueline) "Ilene" Woods, American radio singer and actress (Disney's Cinderella), born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (d. 2010)
May 5 John S Ragin, American actor (Dr Astin-Quincy ME), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2013)
May 6 Hans Beck, German inventor of Playmobil toys, born in Greiz, Germany (d. 2009)
May 6 John P. Allen, American engineer, inventor and CEO (Biosphere 2), born in Carnegie, Oklahoma
May 6 John Taylor, British bishop (St Albans) and Lord High Almoner to Queen
May 6 Rosemary Camp, British archaeologist (Council for British Archaeology)
May 7 Babe Parilli, American football player, born in Rochester, Pennsylvania (d. 2017)
May 7 Dick Williams, American Baseball Hall of Fame manager (World Series 1972, 73 Oakland A's) and utility (Brooklyn Dodgers), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 2011)
May 7 Gisèle Rabesahala, Malagasy politician (1st female minister) and human righter activist, born in Antananarivo, Magaascar (d. 2011)
May 7 Sally L. Smith, American educator and founder (Lab School of Washington), born in New York City (d. 2007)
May 8 Claude Castonguay, Quebec politician (task force on Quebec health care), born in Quebec City (d. 2020)

John C. Bogle (1929-2019)

May 8 American investor and business magnate (founder and chief executive of The Vanguard Group), born in Montclair, New Jersey

May 8 Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese-American Academy Award-winning stage and screen singer and actress (Sayonara; Flower Drum Song; Courtship of Eddie's Father - "Mrs. Livingston"), born in Otaru, Japan (d. 2007)
May 8 Virginie Korte-van Hemel, Dutch Catholic People's Party (KVP) politician (Council of State, 1992-99; Secretary of Justice, 1982-89), born in Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands (d. 2014)
May 9 Anthony Lloyd, Lord Justice of Appeal
May 9 Kay Dotrice [Katherine Newman], British actress (Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers), born in Liverpool, England (d. 2007)
May 10 Brian Corby, CEO (Prudential)
May 10 Robin Hill, 8th Marquess of Downshire, Irish peer and the Hereditary Constable of Hillsborough Fort
May 11 Edward Anson, British vice-admiral
May 12 Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Verdun, Quebec (d. 2015)
May 12 Sam Nujoma, Namibian revolutionary and politician, first President of Namibia (1990-2005), born in Ongandjera, Soutwest Africa
May 13 Creed Taylor, American Grammy Award-winning jazz and bossa nova record producer (Stan Getz; Wes Montgomery), and label founder (Impluse!; CTI Records), born in Lynchburg, Virginia (d. 2022)
May 13 Will Eisma, Dutch composer and violinist, born in Sungailiat, Indonesia
May 14 Barbara Branden, Canadian writer and lecturer, (d. 2013)
May 14 Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2007)
May 14 Henry McGee, British actor and comedian (No, That's Me Over Here!, The Benny Hill Show), born in South Kensington, London (d. 2006)
May 14 Vladimir Antoshin, USSR, International Chess Grandmaster (1964)
May 15 David Healy, American-born actor (Supergirl, Doomsday Gun, Patton), born in New York City (d. 1995)
May 15 Frank Evans Heart, American computer engineer (worked on first routing computer for ARPANET, the Internet's predecessor), born in the Bronx, New York (d. 2018)
May 15 Jack Flavell, cricketer (England pace bowler in 4 Tests 1961-64)
May 16 Adrienne Rich, American feminist writer (Diamond Cutters), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 2012)
May 16 Betty Carter [Lillie Mae Jones], American jazz singer and scat vocalist, born in Flint, Michigan (d. 1998)
May 16 Claude Morin, French Canadian politician
May 16 John Conyers, American politician (Rep-D-MI, 1965-2017), born in Highland Park, Michigan (d. 2019)
May 16 Osmo Lindeman, Finnish jazz pianist, film score composer, pedagogue, and electronic music pioneer, born in Helsinki, Finland (d. 1987)
May 17 George Weinberg, American psychotherapist (coined "homophobia"), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2017)
May 17 John Davies, Australian swimmer (Olympic gold 200m breaststroke 1952; WR 200m breaststroke 2:34.4 1952), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 2020)
May 17 Raymond Hide, geophysicist
May 18 John Nicolaas Block, Dutch aviation pioneer (Martinair, Transavia, Air Holland), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1994)
May 18 Norman St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley, British MP (C) (1964-1987), born in London
May 18 Roger Matton, Canadian composer, born in Granby, Quebec (d. 2004)
May 19 Curt Simmons, American baseball pitcher (3 x MLB All-Star; World Series 1964 St. Louis Cardinals; Philadelphia Phillies), born in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania (d. 2022)
May 19 Harvey Cox, US theologist (Secular City)
May 19 John Stroger Chicago politician
May 19 Michael Adamis, Greek electroacoustic music composer, born in Piraeus, Greece (d. 2013)
May 20 Andre Carolus Cirino, Suriname/Indian poet
May 21 Charles Wadsworth, American pianist (Lincoln Center), born in Barnesville, Georgia
May 21 Larance Marable, American jazz drummer (Charlie Haden's Quartet West; Stan Getz; Groove Holmes), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2012)
May 21 Paul Winslow, South African cricketer (big-hitter for South Africa, 108 v England 1955)
May 21 Robert Welch, English designer, silversmith (Robert Welch flatware), born in Hereford, England (d. 2000)
May 22 Asher Ben-Yohanan, Israeli composer, born in Kávala, Greece (d. 2015)
May 23 Joe Modise, South African commandant of Umkhonto we Sizwe (1965- )
May 23 Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish actress (Zulu, One Summer of Happiness), born in Gothenburg, Sweden (d. 1982)
May 23 Vic Stasiuk, Canadian ice hockey left winger (Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins) and coach (Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks), born in Lethbridge, Alberta (d. 2023)
May 25 Beverly Sills [Belle Miriam Silverman], American operatic soprano, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2007)
May 25 David Sturtevant Ruder, 23rd chairman of Security & Exchange Commission, born in Wausau, Wisconsin
May 25 Warren Frost, American actor (Twin Peaks, Matlock, Seinfeld), born in Newburyport, Massachusetts (d. 2017)
May 26 Hugo Raes, Flemish writer (Horses Jump & Fresh Sea), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 2013)
May 27 Bjarne Hansen, Norwegian soccer centre-back (3 caps; Vålerenga FC), born in Oslo, Norway (d. 2023)
May 28 Leslie Wight, cricketer (one Test WI v India 1953, scored 21)
May 28 Patrick McNair-Wilson, MP
May 29 Peter Higgs, English theoretical physicist (Nobel Prize for Physics 2013), born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England
May 30 Don Laws, American figure skater and coach (Scott Hamilton, Patrick Chan, Tiffany Chin), born in Washington, D.C.. (d. 2014)
May 30 Michael Mellinger, German actor (Goldfinger; The Bourne Identity), born in Kochel, Bavaria (d. 2004)
May 31 Elaine Stewart, American actress and model (The Bad and the Beautiful, Take the High Ground), born in Montclair, New Jersey (d. 2011)
May 31 Kip Tyler [Elwood Smith], American rockabilly singer-songwriter, and bongo player ("Ooh Yeah Baby"), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1996)
May 31 Neil Shaw, British CEO (Tate & Lyle)
May 31 Zoltán Aladár, Transylvanian composer, music critic and teacher (The Goat and the Three Goons), born in Homorodszentmárton, Romania (d. 1978)

Born in 1929

Famous Weddings

May 1 American poet e.e (Edward Estlin) Cummings marries 2nd wife Anne Minnerly Barton

Charles Lindbergh & Anne Morrow Lindbergh

May 27 Aviator Charles Lindbergh (27) weds author Anne Morrow (22) in Englewood, New Jersey

Famous Deaths

May 4 Henry Morton Dunham, American composer, dies at 75
May 7 Albert Anselmi, American gangster, murdered by Al Capone
May 7 John Scalise, American gangster, murdered by Al Capone
May 7 Joseph "Top Toad" Giunta, American gangster, murdered by Al Capone
May 11 Jozef Murgaš, Slovak inventor, dies at 65
May 16 Lilli Lehmann, German opera soprano (Tristan und Isolde), dies at 80

Archibald Primrose (1847-1929)

May 21 5th Earl of Rosebery, British Prime Minister (Liberal: 1894-95), dies at 82

May 21 V P F A Royle, cricketer (one Test England v Australia 1879), dies
May 28 Alice Stopford Green, Irish historian and proponent of Irish independence, dies at 81

On This Day