Historical Events
- May 1 80th Kentucky Derby: Raymond York wins aboard Determine, his only Derby success
- May 1 Bishops publish Mandement (member socialist org forbidden)
- May 1 HSA-UWC Forms (Unification Church) (Moonies)
- May 1 Preston North End defender Joe Marston becomes the first Australian to play in an FA Cup Final, a 3-2 loss to WBA
- May 1 The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form the American Motors Corporation [1]
- May 1 WAPA TV channel 4 in San Juan, PR (NBC/SFN) begins broadcasting
Baseball Record
May 2 MLB St. Louis Cardinal Stan Musial hits 5 HRs in a doubleheader against the New York Giants at Busch Stadium
- May 3 KTEN TV channel 10 in Ada-Ardmore, Oklahoma(ABC) begins broadcasting
Event of Interest
May 3 Pulitzer prizes awarded to Charles Lindbergh and John Patrick
- May 3 WHA TV channel 21 in Madison, Wisconsin (PBS) begins broadcasting
- May 4 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
Coup d'état
May 5 General Alfredo Stroessner leads a military coup in Paraguay, overthrowing the government of President Federico Chávez
Sports History
May 6 English athlete Roger Bannister becomes first to run a sub-4 minute mile, recording 3:59:4 at Iffley Road Track, Oxford
- May 7 French surrender to Vietminh after 55-day siege at Dien Bien Phu
- May 7 US, Great Britain & France reject Russian membership of NATO
- May 8 1st shot-put throw over 60' (18.29 m) by American Parry O'Brien, Los Angeles, California
- May 10 Bolshoi Ballet does not appear in Paris
- May 13 "Pajama Game" opens at St James Theater NYC for 1063 performances
- May 13 Chinese Middle School students in Singapore take part in anti-National Service riots
- May 13 Labour Party wins British municipal elections
- May 13 Robin Roberts gives up a HR then retires next 27 men in a row
- May 13 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
- May 14 Belgium shortens military conscription from 20 to 18 months
- May 15 KGLO (now KIMT) TV channel 3 in Mason City, IA (CBS) 1st broadcast
Baseball History
May 16 Ted Williams gets 8 hits in 1st game (DH) since breaking collarbone
- May 16 WGAN (now WGME) TV channel 13 in Portland, ME (CBS) 1st broadcast
- May 17 US Supreme Court unanimously rules on Brown v Topeka Board of Education reverses 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy v Ferguson decision ruling racial segregation in public schools as illegal
- May 19 Postmaster General Summerfield approves CIA mail-opening project
Chiang Kai-shek President
May 20 Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China
- May 21 US Twenty-sixth amendment to give 18-year-olds right to vote is defeated
- May 22 79th Preakness: Johnny Adams aboard Hasty Road wins in 1:57.4
- May 22 KREX TV channel 5 in Grand Junction, CO (CBS) begins broadcasting
- May 22 Robert Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan is Bar Mitzvahed
- May 24 1st rocket attains 150 mi (241 km) altitude, White Sands, New Mexico
- May 24 Dr Peter Murray Marshall becomes 1st African American to head an American Medical Association unit (New York County)
- May 24 German airline Lufthansa forms
- May 24 IBM announces vacuum tube "electronic" brain that could perform 10 million operations an hour
- May 29 British runner Diane Leather becomes first woman to run the mile in under 5 minutes; 4:59.6 at Alexander Sports Ground in Birmingham, England
- May 29 First of the annual Bilderberg conferences, fostering relations between Europe and North America held at Oosterbeek, Netherlands
French Open Men's Tennis
May 29 French Championships Men's Tennis: Tony Trabert beats Art Larsen 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 for first of 2 straight French singles titles
French Open Women's Tennis
May 29 French Championships Women's Tennis: Maureen Connolly retains her title; beats Ginette Bucaille of France 6-4, 6-1
- May 30 Dutch bishops forbid membership to non-catholic sporting clubs
- May 30 Emile Zatopek runs world record 5K (13:57.2)
- May 30 Hector Villa-Lobos' "Odisseia de Uma Raca" premieres
- May 31 Indianapolis 500: Bill Vukovich takes the lead on lap 150 to win his second consecutive 500; sets then record 130.840 mph average race speed
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Joel Rosenberg, sci-fi author
- May 1 Michael Scott, reporter (Entertainment Tonight)
- May 1 Randy Dorton, American race car engine builder (Director of Engine Operations Hendrick Motorsports; 9 x NASCAR C'ships), born in Concord, North Carolina (d. 2004)
- May 1 Ray Parker Jr, American rock guitarist and vocalist (Ghostbusters), born in Detroit, Michigan
- May 1 Taslim Arif, Pakistan cricket wicket-keeper (6 Tests; top score 210no v Aust 1980), born in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan (d. 2008)
- May 2 Angela Bofill, Cuban-Puerto Rican-American R&B singer-songwriter (This Time I'll Be Sweeter; Too Tough), born in Brooklyn, NYC
- May 2 Bulelani Ngcuka, South African attorney and leader (UDF), born in Middlerift, South Africa
- May 2 Roberta Pedon, American glamour model, born in Ohio (d. 1982)
- May 3 Patti Boulaye [Komlosy] (née Ebigwei), Nigerian-British pop singer and stage and screen actress (Bisi, Daughter of the River), born in a taxi in Mid-Western Nigeria
- May 3 Peter Duncan, British stage and screen actor, and television presenter (Blue Peter, 1980-86), born in Chelsea, London, England
- May 4 Doug Jones, American attorney and politician (US Senator-D-Alabama 2018-21), born in Fairfield, Alabama
- May 4 Julie Budd, American singer ("Child of Plenty"), born in Brooklyn, New York
- May 4 Marilyn Martin, American singer-songwriter ("Separate Lives"), born in Tennessee
- May 4 Pia Zadora [Schipani], American actress (Hairspray), and singer, born in Hoboken, New Jersey
- May 5 Angelo Kimball, American rock guitarist (Face To Face), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- May 5 Dave Spector, American television personality and commentator, born in Chicago, Illinois
- May 6 Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician
- May 6 Sergei Nikolayevich Tresvyatsky, Russian cosmonaut
- May 7 Philippe Geluck, Belgian comedian and cartoonist, born in Brussels, Belgium
- May 8 David Keith, American actor (Back Roads, Firestarter), born in Knoxville, Tennessee
- May 8 Phil Wiggins, American blues harmonica player (Cephas & Wiggins), born in Washington, D.C.
- May 8 Stephen Furst, American actor (Animal House, St. Elsewhere), born in Norfolk, Virginia (d. 2017)
- May 9 Balazs Taroczy, Hungarian tennis star
- May 10 Anatoly Chukanov, Russian cyclist (Olympic gold Soviet Union team time trial 1976; UCI Road World C'ships gold 1977), born in Novospasovka, Rostov, Russia (d. 2021)
- May 10 Jeff Apple, American film producer (In the Line of Fire), born in Miami, Florida
- May 10 Michael Hagerty, American actor (Overboard, Inspector Gadget), born in Chicago, Illinois
- May 11 Edgar Riley Jr, American rock keyboardist (Axe - "Rock 'N' Roll Party in the Streets"), born in Florida
- May 11 John Clayton, American sports journalist/reporter (The Pittsburgh Press, The News Tribune; ESPN), born in Braddock, Pennsylvania (d. 2022)
- May 11 John Gregory, English football manager
- May 11 Judith Weir, English composer (Master of the Queen's Music, 2014-present), born in Cambridge, England
- May 11 Lubomir Stoykov, Bulgarian journalist and broadcaster
- May 13 Johnny Logan [Seán Sherrard], Irish celtic-pop singer and songwriter ("Hold Me Now"), born in Frankston, Australia
- May 14 Jens Sparschuh, German writer
- May 15 Robert P. Harrison, American thinker
- May 16 Dafydd "Dave" Williams, Canadian physician and astronaut (sk: STS 90), born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- May 16 Janet Maw, English actress (Sparrow, King John, Mayor of Casterbridge), born in UK
- May 16 Joseph Polchinski, American leading theoretical physicist (multiverse), born in White Plains, New York (d. 2018)
- May 17 John Iles, British stage and screen actor (The Bill -"Dashwood"), born in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England
- May 17 Michael Roberts, South African jockey (British flat racing champion 1992), born in Cape Town, South Africa
- May 18 Barry E. Jackson, American film production designer, animator, illustrator, graphic artist, and children's book author, born in Omaha, Nebraska
- May 18 Jaques Morelenbaum, Brazilian cellist, arranger, conductor, and composer, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- May 18 Reinhold Heil, German composer, born in Schlüchtern, Germany
- May 18 Wreckless Eric [Eric Goulden], British new wave rock singer-songwriter ("Whole Wide World"), born in Newhaven, England
- May 19 Phil Rudd, Australian rock drummer (AC/DC - Rock 'n Roll Damnation), born in Melbourne, Victoria
- May 19 Rick Cerone, catcher (Yankees/Red Sox/Mets/Expos), born in Newark, New Jersey
- May 20 Cindy Hensley McCain, American businesswoman, diplomat and humanitarian (wife of politician John McCain, head of UN Food Programme), born in Phoenix, Arizona
- May 20 David Paterson, American politician (Governor of New York 2008-10), born in Brooklyn, New York
- May 20 Guy Hoffman, American drummer (BoDeans, 1984-87; Violent Femmes, 1993-2002), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- May 20 James Henderson, American southern rock guitarist (Black Oak Arkansas, 1975-79 - "Ain't Life Grand"), born in Jackson, Mississippi (d. 2016)
- May 20 Robert Van de Walle, Belgian judoka
- May 21 Marc Ribot, American guitarist (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, John Zorn), born in Newark, New Jersey
- May 21 Marina Langner, German beauty queen, Miss World runner-up (1975), born in Dusseldorf, Germany
- May 22 Aaron Rapoport, American photographer, and music album cover designer (Lionel Richie - Dancing on the Ceiling; Supertramp - Breakfast In America), born in San Mateo County, California
- May 22 Jerry Dammers, British keyboardist (The Specials), born in Ootacamund, Tamil Nadu, India
- May 22 Shuji Nakamura, Japanese-born American electronic engineer (invented the Blue LED), born in Ikata, Japan
- May 25 Alison Stern, American wife of radio personality Howard Stern (Private Parts), born in Newton, Massachusetts
- May 26 Alan Hollinghurst, British novelist
- May 26 Danny Rolling, American murderer (d. 2006)
- May 27 Cathy Carr, American swimmer (Olympic gold 100m breaststroke [WR 1:13.58], 4×100m medley 1972), born in Albuquerque, New Mexico
- May 27 Jackie Slater, American Pro Football HOF offensive tackle (7 x Pro Bowl; LA / St. Louis Rams 1976–95), born in Jackson, Mississippi
- May 27 Pauline Hanson, Australian politician
- May 28 George E Mahlberg, American astronomer (Mt Palomar/Mt Wilson, California, 1974-78), movie actor, sound engineer, and DJ (Dr. Cosmo), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 2011)
- May 28 John Tory, Canadian lawyer and politician (Mayor of Toronto, 2016-2023), born in Toronto, Ontario
- May 28 Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist, born in Kazan, USSR (d. 1988)
- May 29 Jerry Morgan, American politician (Senator-R-Kansas 2011-), born in South Bend, Kansas
- May 29 Pankaj Kapoor, Indian actor (Ek Doctor Ki Maut, Raakh), born in Ludhiana, Punjab
- May 29 Randy Walker, American football fullback (Miami University) and coach (Miami University 1990-98, Northwestern University 1999-2005), born in Troy, Ohio (d. 2006)
- May 29 Robert Beaser, American composer, born in Boston, Massachusetts
- May 31 Anders Hilborg, Swedish contemporary classical composer (Eleven Gates; Cold Heat), born in Sollentuna, Sweden
- May 31 Paul Franklin, American session and touring steel guitarist (Barbara Mandrell; Vince Gill), born in Detroit, Michigan
- May 31 Thomas Mavros, Greek soccer striker (36 caps; Panionios FC, AEK Athens), born in Athens, Greece
- May 31 Vicki Sue Robinson, American stage and screen actress, and pop singer ("Turn the Beat Around"), born in Harlem, New York (d. 2000)
Famous Weddings
Imelda Marcos & Ferdinand Marcos
May 1 Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos (36) weds Imelda Romualdez (24) in a Catholic church
Kirk Douglas
May 28 "The Bad and the Beautiful" actor Kirk Douglas (37) weds for German-Belgian-American publicist Ann Buydens (24) (second time for each) at Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, until his death in 2020
Famous Deaths
- May 2 Pauline Manifarges, Dutch contralto singer, dies at 82
- May 3 Tom Tyler [Vincent Markowski], American actor (Stagecoach; She Wore a Yellow Ribbon), dies from heart failure at 50
- May 4 Pauline de Haan-Manifarges, Dutch concert and opera contralto singer, dies at 82
- May 10 George Hirst, English cricketer (36,323 1st-class runs, 2739 wickets), dies at 82
- May 14 Heinz Guderian, German general during WWII, dies at 65
- May 15 William March, American writer (Company K), dies at 60
- May 16 Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor (Vienna State Opera; Berlin State Opera), dies at 61
- May 16 Werner Bischof, Swiss photographer (Magnum), dies accidentally in a road accident at 38
- May 19 Aart A. van Schelven, Dutch church historian (Willem of Orange), dies at 73
- May 21 János Hammerschlag, Hungarian composer, dies at 68
- May 22 Charles "Chief" Bender, American Baseball HOF pitcher (only indigenous American in BHOF; World Series 1910, 11, 13; no-hitter 1910; Philadelphia A's), dies at 70
- May 23 H R Bromley-Davenport, cricketer (batted in 4 Tests for England), dies
Robert Capa (1913-1954)
May 25 Hungarian war photographer and photojournalist, dies of injuries from a landmine explosion at 40
- May 26 Franz Pfemfert, German journalist and writer, dies at 74
- May 26 Lionel Conacher, Canadian Hockey HOF defenceman (Stanley Cup 1934 Chicago Black Hawks, 1935 Montreal Maroons) and politician (MP Trinity), dies from a heart attack at 54
- May 27 Herzmanovsky-Orlando, writer, dies
- May 28 Achille Longo, Italian composer and pedagogue, dies at 54
- May 30 Ahmad Amin, Egyptian historian and author (My Life), dies at 67
