Historical Events
Event of Interest
May 3 Soviet leader Yuri Andropov decreases nuclear weapons in Europe
- May 3 US bishops condemn nuclear weapons
- May 4 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
- May 5 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 7 109th Kentucky Derby: Ed Delahoussaye wins aboard Sunny's Halo for consecutive Derby victories (1982 Gato Del Sol)
- May 7 August Hoffman performs record 29,051 consecutive sit-ups
- May 7 NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: New York Islanders beat Boston Bruins, 4 games to 2
- May 9 18th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, Ronnie Milsap, and Sylvia win
- May 10 Lee Chin Yong performs 170 continuous chin-ups in Seoul
Television Finale
May 10 TV sitcom "Laverne & Shirley" last airs on ABC-TV
- May 11 Aberdeen of Scotland win 23rd European Cup Winner's Cup against Real Madrid of Spain 2-1 in Gothenburg
Dance a Little Closer
May 11 Alan Jay Lerner and Charles Strouse's musical "Dance a Little Closer" opens & closes at Minskoff Theater, NYC, after 1 performance
- May 11 Comet C/1983 H1 (IRAS-Araki-Alcock) approaches 0.0312 AUs of Earth
- May 12 Julie Lynne Hayek representing California crowned 32nd Miss USA
Sports History
May 13 Reggie Jackson is 1st major leaguer to strike out 2,000 times
- May 14 "She Blinded Me with Science" by Thomas Dolby hits #5
- May 15 Madison Hotel (Boston) destroyed by implosion
- May 16 Lebanese parliament accepts peace accord with Israel
Music History
May 16 NBC broadcasts "Motown 25", a concert celebrating the anniversary of Motown Record held in Pasadena, California in March; performers include: The Miracles; The Temptations; The Four Tops; Diana Ross and the Supremes; The Jackson 5; and Michael Jackson, who unveils his "moonwalk" dance move
- May 16 Sudan People's Liberation Army and Movement rebels against the Sudanese government
- May 17 Israel & Lebanon sign a peace treaty
- May 17 Stanley Cup Final, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY: 4 consecutive titles for NY Islanders; sweep Edmonton Oilers in 4 games with a 4-2 Game 4 win
- May 18 Senate revises immigration laws, gives millions of illegal aliens legal status under an amnesty program
- May 19 36th Cannes Film Festival: "Narayama Bushiko" directed by Shohei Imamura wins the Palme d'Or
- May 19 NASA launches Intelsat V satellite, no. 506
Music History
May 19 Weird Al Yankovic gives live performance at Wax Museum in Washington, D.C.
- May 20 "Every Breath You Take" single released by The Police (Billboard Song of the Year, 1983)
Boxing Title Fight
May 20 American heavyweight boxer Larry Holmes beats countryman Tim Witherspoon by split decision to retain his WBC title at the Dunes Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas
Boxing Title Fight
May 20 Michael Dokes & Mike Weaver fight to a draw in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
Sports History
May 20 MLB Philadelphia Phillies Steve Carlton passes W Johnson with 2nd most strike outs
- May 21 "Bang The Drum All Day" single by Todd Rundgren hits #63
- May 21 108th Preakness: Donald Miller Jr on Deputed Testamony wins in 1:55.4
- May 21 Challenger moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida), for mating for STS-7 mission
#1 in the Charts
May 21 David Bowie's "Let's Dance" single goes #1
- May 22 Toronto Blue Jay Cliff Johnson hits record 18th pinch hit HR
- May 23 Radio Moscow announcer Vladimir Danchev praises Afghanistan Muslims standing up to Russia; he is removed from the air
- May 24 Fred Sinowatz succeeds Bruno Kreisky as Chancellor of Austria
- May 24 Supreme Court rules government can deny tax breaks to schools that racially discriminated against students
Return of the Jedi
May 25 "Return of the Jedi" (Star Wars Episode VI), produced by George Lucas first released
- May 25 1st US National Missing Children's Day is proclaimed
- May 25 27th European Cup: Hamburg beats Juventus 1-0 at Athens
- May 25 Fire in Nassermeer, Egypt, kills 357
- May 25 France performs nuclear test
- May 25 Kirk Gibson (Tigers) & Jorge Orta (Blue Jays) hit inside park HRs
- May 26 29th Walker Cup: US, 13½ - 10½
- May 26 LA Lakers set NBA playoff game record of fewest free throws
- May 26 NASA launches Exosat
- May 26 Space Shuttle Challenger moves to launch pad for STS-7
- May 26 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 27 Former EPA official Rita Lavelle indicted for contempt of Congress
- May 28 "Ricky", parody song by Weird Al Yankovic hits #63
- May 29 Indianapolis 500: Tom Sneva wins his first Indy 500; represents record 7th Indy victory for chief mechanic George Bignotti
- May 29 Yuri Dumchev of USSR throws discus a record 71.86 m
Baseball History
May 30 AL President Lee MacPhail suspends Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for one week, for his public criticism of umpires
- May 30 Surrey all out for 14 vs Essex, their lowest score ever
- May 31 37th NBA Championship: Philadelphia 76ers sweep LA Lakers in 4 games
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Alain Bernard, French swimmer (Olympic gold 100m freestyle 2008, 4x100 freestyle relay 2012), born in Aubagne, France
- May 2 Christa Rigozzi, Swiss model (Miss Switzerland 2006), born in Monte Carasso, Ticino, Switzerland
- May 2 Mon Laferte [Norma Monserrat Bustamante Laferte], Chilean singer-songwriter, born in Viña del Mar, Chile
- May 3 Joseph Addai, American football player, born in Houston, Texas
- May 3 Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer and goalkeeper, born in Budapest (d. 2015)
- May 3 Myriam Fares, Lebanese singer, Arab female artist who performs choreographed dance routines while singing, born in Kfar Chellal, Lebanon
- May 3 Romeo Castelen, Dutch footballer, born in Paramaribo, Suriname
- May 4 Trisha Krishnan, Indian actress (Mounam Pesiyadhe), born in Chennai, India
Henry Cavill (40 years old)
May 5 English actor (Superman), born in Jersey, Channel Islands
- May 6 Adrianne Palicki, American actress (Friday Night Lights, Agents of Shield), born in Toledo, Ohio
- May 6 Dani Alves da Silva, Brazilian football player (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil national team), born in Juazeiro, Brazil
- May 8 Matt Willis, British pop singer, bassist (Busted), and television personality, born in Tooting, London, England
- May 8 Vicky McClure, English actress (Line of Duty), born in Nottingham, England
- May 9 Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
- May 9 Tyler Lumsden, American baseball player
- May 10 Gustav Fridolin, Swedish politician
- May 10 Natalia Zabala, Miss Spain 2007
- May 11 Frédéric Xhonneux, Belgian decathlete
Holly Valance (40 years old)
May 11 Australian actress (Felicity "Flick" Scully-Neighbours) and singer, born in Melbourne, Victoria
- May 11 Matt Leinart, American College Football Hall of Fame quarterback (Heisman Trophy 2004, USC; NFL: Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans) and broadcaster (Fox Sports), born in Santa Ana, California
- May 12 Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer, born in Kavala, Greece
- May 12 Domhnall Gleeson, Irish actor (Harry Potter films, The Revenant), born in Dublin, Ireland
- May 12 Nathan Fielder, Canadian comedian (Nathan for You), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
- May 13 Anita Görbicz, Hungarian handball player
- May 13 Casey Donovan, Australian pop singer (Australian Idol, 2004), born in Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia
- May 13 Grégory Lemarchal, French singer, born in La Tronche, France (d. 2007)
- May 13 Timnit Gebru, Eritrean-Ethiopian computer scientist (Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute), born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- May 13 Yaya Touré, Ivorian footballer (Barcelona), born in Bouaké, Ivory Coast
- May 14 Amber Tamblyn, actress (Emily Bowen-Gen Hospital), born in Santa Monica, California
- May 14 Anahí [Puente], Mexican novella actress and pop singer (RBD), born in Mexico City
- May 14 Tom Welham, British musiciangutarist (Thirteen Senses; The Story), born in the UK
- May 15 Devin Bronson, American guitarist and songwriter (Avril Lavigne), born in Seattle, Washington
- May 16 Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player
- May 16 Mince Fratelli [Gordon McRory], Scottish drummer (The Fratellis - Costello Music; Here We Stand), born in Glasgow, Scotland)
- May 16 Nancy Ajram, Lebanese Arab-pop singer ("Betfakkar Fe Eih" (What Are You Thinking About); "Mitagalak"), and television personality (Arab Idol; The Voice Kids), born in Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
- May 17 Channing Frye, American basketball player
- May 17 Jeremy Sowers, American baseball player
- May 17 Nicky Hofs, Dutch footballer
- May 18 Gary O'Neil, English footballer (Portsmouth), born in Beckenham, England
- May 18 Vince Young, American football player, born in Houston, Texas
- May 19 Jessica Fox, British actress
- May 20 Jr. NTR, Indian film actor
- May 22 John Hopkins, Anglo-American motorcycling racer
- May 23 Alex Shelley, American professional wrestler
- May 23 Cristiano Bilanzola, Canadian musician and filmmaker, born in Hamilton, Ontario
- May 23 Heidi Range, British pop singer (Atomic Kittens; Sugababes - "Angels with Dirty Faces"), born in Liverpool, England
- May 23 Jennifer Bellor, American orchestral and jazz composer (Reflections at Dusk), born in northern New York State
- May 24 Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, Anglo-Australian videogame creator and critic, born in Rugby, Warwickshire, England
- May 25 Kunal Khemu, Indian actor (Kalyug), born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
- May 27 Bobby Convey, American soccer player
- May 28 Steve Cronin, American soccer goalkeeper
- May 29 Julie Campiche, Swiss jazz harpist and composer, born in Geneva, Switzerland
- May 29 Rama Claproth, Indonesian blues guitarist, born in Bandung, Indonesia
- May 29 Richard Jackson, American actor (Ryan Meyers-Saved by the Bell), born in Redlands, California
- May 31 David Hernandez, American pop singer (American Idol), born in Phoenix, Arizona
- May 31 Reggie Yates, English television presenter and filmmaker (Doctor Who), born in London, England
Famous Deaths
- May 2 Ernesto de la Guardia, President of Panama (1956-60), dies at 78
- May 2 Marius Duintjer, Dutch architect (Kolenkit), dies at 74
- May 2 Norm Van Brocklin, American Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback (NFL MVP 1960; First-team All-Pro 1960; 9 × Pro Bowl; LA Rams, Philadelphia Eagles) and coach (Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons), dies from a heart attack at 57
- May 3 Armando José Fernandes, Portuguese neoclassical composer, dies at 76
- May 3 Vaughn Taylor, American actor (Jailhouse Rock, Johnny Jupiter), dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 72
- May 4 Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor (La Fenice) and composer, dies at 72
- May 5 Horst Schumann, Nazi physician, dies at 77
- May 5 John Williams, British actor (Family Affair, Dial M for Murder), dies at 80
- May 5 Olin Dutra, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1932, US Open 1934), dies at 82
- May 6 Kai Winding, Danish-American Jazz musician and trombonist ("Georgia On My Mind"), dies of a brain tumor at 60
- May 7 Peter Edel, writer, dies
- May 8 John Fante, Italian-American author and screenwriter (Wait Until Spring, Bandini, Ask the Dust, Full of Life), dies at 74
- May 10 John P Strijbos, writer (Called that Bird), dies at 92
- May 11 Zenna Henderson, American sci-fi author (Anything Box), dies at 65
- May 14 Miguel Alemán Valdés, Mexican attorney and President of Mexico (1946-52), dies at 80
- May 14 Roger J. Traynor, American judge (b. 1900)
- May 15 James Van Der Zee, African-American photographer, dies at 96
- May 16 Carel Brons, Dutch composer, dies at 52
- May 19 Jean Rey, Belgian politician (President of the European Commission 1967-70), dies at 80
- May 20 Clair Bee, American College Basketball and Basketball Hall of Fame coach (Long Island University undefeated 1936, 39; National Invitation Tournament 1939, 41), dies at 87
- May 21 Finn Einar Mortensen, Norwegian composer, music critic, and educator, dies at 61
- May 21 Kenneth Clark, English art historian (Civilisation), dies at 79
- May 23 Albert Claude, Belgian biologist and physician (Nobel 1974), dies at 84
- May 25 Black Jack Stewart, Canadian NHL hockey player (b. 1917)
- May 25 Jean Rougeau, French Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1925)
- May 25 Sydney Box, British film producer and screenwriter (The Seventh Veil), dies at 76
- May 27 (Arnoldus) Arnold van Wyk, South African concert pianist and composer (Nagmusiek - Night Music), dies at 67
- May 28 Erastus Corning 2nd, American politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany, New York (b. 1909)
- May 29 Arvīds Pelše, Soviet Latvian leader (First Secretary of the Latvian SSR, CPSU Politburo member), dies at 84
- May 30 Alfred Gruenther, American general (NATO commander 1953-56), dies at 84
Jack Dempsey (1895-1983)
May 31 American boxer (world heavyweight champion 1919-26), dies of heart failure at 86
