Historical Events
- May 1 The planet Pluto is officially named by 11 year-old Venetia Burney
- May 2 Des Moines (Western League) defeats Wichita 13-6 to open 1st ballpark with permanently installed lights
Historic Event
May 5 Amy Johnson takes off - first woman to fly solo from England to Australia
Sports History
May 9 55th Preakness: Earl Sande aboard Gallant Fox wins in 2:00.6
Historic Event
May 12 Pulitzer prize awarded to Marc Connelly (Green Pastures)
- May 15 Ellen Church becomes 1st female airline stewardess aboard a United flight from San Francisco to Cheyenne
- May 16 6th Walker Cup: US, 10-2
- May 17 56th Kentucky Derby: Earl Sande aboard Gallant Fox wins in 2:07.6
- May 19 White women win voting rights in South Africa
- May 20 1st airplane catapulted from a dirigible, Charles Nicholson, pilot
- May 20 University of California dedicates $1,500 to research on prevention & cure of athlete's foot
Baseball Record
May 22 Yankees' future Baseball Hall of Fame 1st baseman Lou Gehrig becomes first to hit 3 HRs three times as NY outscores Philadelphia A's, 20-13; teams combine for then-record 10 homers
- May 24 Amy Johnson becomes the 1st woman to fly solo from England to Australia
- May 24 21 year old Australian cricket master batsman Don Bradman scores 252 not out in a tour match for Australia v Surrey at Kennington Oval, London
- May 24 NY Yankees' legendary slugger Babe Ruth homers in both games of a doubleheader (beat Philadelphia A's 10-6 & 11-1); gives him 9 HR's in one week
- May 26 Supreme Court rules buying liquor does not violate the Constitution
- May 27 Richard Drew invents masking tape
- May 28 Georges Forbes succeeds Joseph Ward as premier of New Zealand
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Polesitter Billy Arnold takes lead on lap 3 and never gives it up; total 198 laps stands as all-time Indy 500 race record; accompanied by riding mechanic Spider Matlock
- May 31 Philadelphia Athletics's Max Bishop draws 8 walks in a doubleheader to set MLB record
- May 31 Don Bradman batting for Australia v Hampshire at Southampton is 47 not out at stumps, bringing his aggregate to 1,001 runs, the first cricket touring overseas batsman to complete 1,000 runs by end of May
- May 31 Building begins on Albert Canal in Belgium
- May 31 Comet 73P/1930 (Schwassmann-Wachmann 3) approaches 0.0617 AUs of Earth
Sports History
May 31 British Amateur Championship, Men's Golf, St. Andrews Links: Bobby Jones scores a 7 & 6 win over Englishman Roger Wethered for the first leg of his Grand Slam
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Little Walter [Marion Walter Jacobs], blues singer-songwriter and harmonica player, born in Marksville, Louisiana (d. 1968)
- May 1 Ollie Matson, Pro/College Football Hall of Fame halfback (First-team All-Pro 1952, 54–59; Pro Bowl 1952, 54–58; NFL 1950s All Decade Team), born in Trinity, Texas (d. 2011)
- May 1 Richard Riordan, mayor of Los Angeles (R, 1993-2001), born in NYC, New York
- May 2 Marco Pannella, Italian politician and activist, born in Teramo (d. 2016)
- May 2 Bernard Slade [Newbound], Canadian screenwriter (The Flying Nun; The Partridge Family), and playwright (Same Time, Next Year; Romantic Comedy), born in St. Catherines, Ontario (d. 2019)
- May 3 Juan Gelman, Argentine poet, born in Buenos Aires (d. 2014)
- May 4 Roberta Peters, American operatic soprano (NY Metropolitan Opera, 1950-85), born in The Bronx, New York City (d. 2017)
- May 4 Ronald "Ron" Pickering, British athletics coach and BBC sports commentator, born in Hackney, England (d. 1991)
- May 4 Katherine Jackson [Kattie B Screws], American matriarch of the Jackson family, born in Clayton, Alabama
- May 5 Michael J. Adams, USAF pilot (X-15), born in Sacramento, California (d. 1967)
- May 5 Joyce Collins, American jazz and film and television session pianist, singer, and educator, born in Battle Mountain, Nevada (d. 2010)
- May 7 Horst Bienek, German writer and director (The First Polka), born in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany (d. 1990)
- May 7 Totie Fields [Sophie Feldman], American comedienne, born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1978)
- May 8 Doug Atkins, American College/Pro Football HOF defensive end (Uni of Tennessee; NFL C'ship 1954, 63; First-team All-Pro 1963; 8×Pro Bowl; Cleveland Browns, Chivago Bears, NO Saints), born in Humbolt Tennessee (d. 2015)
- May 8 Heather Harper, Northern Irish operatic soprano (Britten's War Requiem), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland (d. 2019)
- May 8 Alex Shigo, American Biologist and Plant Pathologist known for his study of tree decay and contributions to modern arboricultural practices, born in Duquesne, Pennsylvania (d. 2006)
- May 8 Gary Snyder, American beat poet (Turtle Island - Pulitzer Prize, 1975; Rip Rap and Cold Mountain Poems), born in San Francisco, California
- May 9 Joan Sims, British actress ("Carry on" films, As Time Goes By), born in Laindon, Essex, England (d. 2001)
- May 10 June Knox-Mawer, British radio host/novelist (World of Islands)
Pat Summerall
May 10 Pat Summerall, American NFL player (NY Giants) and CBS sportscaster, born in Lake City, Florida (d. 2013)
- May 10 Scott Muni, American radio DJ (d. 2004)
- May 11 Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Caribbean poet (Born to Slow Horses) and academic, born in Bridgetown, Barbados (d. 2020)
- May 11 M J Hamlin, Principal/Vice-Chancellor (Dundee University)
- May 11 Stanley L Elkin, American writer/professor (Living End), born in Brooklyn, New York
- May 11 Edsger Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (d. 2002)
- May 11 Bud Ekins, American stuntman (d. 2007)
- May 11 William Carey, American businessman and philanthropist (W.P. Carey & Co. LLC), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 2012)
- May 11 Gordon Langford [Colman], British composer and arranger of brass, choral, and orchestral music (Facets of Glass; Rhapsody for Trombone), born in Edgware, England (d. 2017)
- May 12 Pat McCormick, American diver (4 x Olympic gold women's springboard & platform 1952, 56), born in Seal Beach, California
- May 13 Mike Gravel, American politician (US Senator (D) - Alaska, 1969-81), and peace activist (Pentagon Papers), born in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 2021)
- May 13 Vernon Shaw, President of Dominica (1998-2003) (d. 2013)
- May 14 Edward Regan, American Republican politician and Comptroller of New York (1979-93), born in Plainfield, New Jersey (d. 2014)
- May 14 Phillipo Seed, social work academic
- May 15 Jasper Johns, painter/sculptor (Green Target), born in Augusta, Georgia
- May 16 Desmond Langley, British army officer and Governor of Bermuda, born in London (d. 2008)
- May 16 Don Conicannon, government minister
- May 16 Friedrich Gulda, Austrian classical and jazz pianist and composer (Ineffable; Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2000)
- May 16 Brian Davies, Rugby League player, born in Brisbane, Australia (d. 2012)
- May 18 Barbara Goldsmith, American author (Little Gloria Happy At Last), born in NYC, New York (d. 2016)
- May 18 Don Leslie Lind, American USN Commander, and pilot, and NASA astronaut (STS-51-B), born in Midvale, Utah
- May 18 Fred[erick Thomas] Saberhagen, American sci-fi author (Book of Swords)
- May 18 Warren Rudman, American politician (Sen-R-NH, 1980-93), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2012)
- May 19 Hans Kox, Dutch composer (Dorian Gray; Symphony No. 4 - "Tasmanian"), and educator, born in Arnhem, Netherlands (d. 2019)
- May 19 Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright (A Raisin in the Sun), and writer (To Be Young Gifted And Black), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1965)
- May 20 James McEachin, American actor and author (Perry Mason, Harry-Tenafly), born in Rennert, North Carolina
- May 20 Robert Bunyard, Commandant (British Police Staff College)
Malcolm Fraser
May 21 Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, Prime Minister of Australia (Liberal, 1975-83), born in Toorak, Victoria
- May 21 Stanley Wells, English scholar of Shakespeare (Shakespeare Institute U of Birmingham), born in Hull, England
- May 22 Dieuwke de Graaff-Nauta, Dutch politician (State Secretary for the Interior 1986-94), born in Sneek, Netherlands (d. 2008)
- May 22 Kenny Ball, English jazz musician, born in Ilford, Essex (d. 2013)
Harvey Milk
May 22 Harvey Milk, American politician and gay activist, born in Woodmere, New York (d. 1978)
- May 22 Marisol (Maria Sol) Escobar, Venezuelan sculptor, born in Paris, France (d. 2016)
- May 22 LaSalle Leffall Jr., American surgeon, medical educator, and 1st black president of the American Cancer Society (1978), and the American College of Surgeons (1995), born in Tallahassee, Florida (d. 2019)
- May 23 Richard Anuszkiewicz, American artist 'new wizard of op', born in Erie, Pennsylvania (d. 2020)
- May 23 Friedrich Achleitner, German poet
- May 24 Hans-Martin Linde, German flute and recorder virtuoso, born in Werne, Germany
- May 24 Ivor Richardson, New Zealand judge (NZ Court of Appeals), born in Ashburton, New Zealand (d. 2014)
- May 24 Robert Bateman, Canadian naturalist, painter, teacher, and environmentalist, born in Toronto, Ontario
- May 25 Sonia Rykiel, French fashion designer, born in Paris, France (d. 2016)
- May 27 Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer (Joanna tentata), born in Tallinn, Estonia (d. 2010)
- May 27 John Barth, novelist (Sot-Weed Factor)
- May 27 William S. Sessions, American director of FBI (1987-93), born in Fort Smith, Arkansas (d. 2020)
- May 28 Edward Seaga, PM (Jamaica)
- May 28 Julian Slade, English popular composer (Salad Days), born in London (d. 2006)
- May 28 Lawrence "Tricky" Lofton, American jazz trombonist, born in Houston, Texas
- May 29 Eddy Choong, Malaysian badminton player (Thomas Cup 1955), born in Penang, British Malaya (d. 2013)
- May 30 David Evatt Tunley, Australian composer, born in Australia
- May 30 Mark Birley, British nightclub owner (d. 2007)
- May 30 Robert Ryman, American painter
Clint Eastwood
May 31 Clint Eastwood, American actor (Dirty Harry)/mayor (Carmel, California), born in San Francisco, California
- May 31 William Taylor, British Chairman of Convocation (London University)
Famous Deaths
Fridtjof Nansen
May 13 Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian Arctic explorer and diplomat (Nobel Peace Prize 1922), dies at 68
- May 13 Helene Lange, German feminist (honoured with the Grand Prussian State Medal), dies at 82
- May 14 Władysław Orkan [Franciszek Ksawery Smaciarz], Polish author (Nowele Zebrane), dies at 54
- May 17 Herbert David Croly, US founder (New Republic), dies at 61
- May 18 João Marcelino Arroio, Portuguese composer (Amor de Perdiçâo), dies at 68
- May 23 R. D. Banerji, Indian archaeologist and historian (discovered ancient Indus city of Mohenjo-daro), dies at 45 [1]
- May 25 Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1848)
