Historical Events
- May 1 Messerschmitt Me 262 Sturmvogel, 1st jet bomber, makes 1st flight
- May 1 Pulitzer prize awarded to American Martin Flavin for his novel "Journey in the Dark"
- May 1 Surprise attack on Weteringschans Amsterdam, fails
- May 2 WABD (WNEW, now WNYW) TV channel 5 in NYC (DUM/MET/FOX) 1st broadcast
- May 3 "Meet Me in St Louis" opens on Broadway
- May 3 Meat rationing ends in US
Film Premier
May 3 "Going My Way", directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby premieres in New York (Best Picture 1945)
Bing Crosby
Film Release
May 4 "Gaslight", starring an 18-year-old Angela Lansbury in her film debut, is released
Angela Lansbury
Event of Interest
May 5 Mahatma Gandhi freed from prison
Mahatma Gandhi
- May 5 Soviet offensive against Sebastopol, Crimea
- May 6 70th Kentucky Derby: Conn McCreary aboard Pensive wins in 2:04.2
- May 6 KJR-AM in Seattle Washington swaps calls with KOMO
- May 7 German assault on Tito's hideout in Drvar Bosnia
- May 8 33 communist resistance fighter sentenced to death
- May 9 1st eye bank opens in New York
- May 9 Country singer Jimmie Davis becomes Governor of Louisiana
- May 9 Dutch resistance fighter Gerard Musch arrested
- May 9 Joe McCarthy returns as Yankee manager after an illness
- May 9 Russians recapture Crimea by taking Sevastopol
- May 10 Chinese offensive in West-Yunnan
- May 10 Smith v Allwright (excluding Blacks from primary voting) is illegal
- May 11 Opposition group surprise attack post office Washer
- May 11 Slomp Resistance fighter (Frits de Zwerver) freed from Arnhem prison
- May 12 900+ 8th US Air Force bombers attack Zwikau, Bohlen & Brux
- May 12 Crimea purged of Nazi troops
- May 12 German police arrest Dutch resistance member Gerrit van der Veen and later execute him
- May 13 69th Preakness: Conn McCreary aboard Pensive wins in 1:59.2
- May 14 91 German bombers harass Bristol
- May 14 British troops occupy Kohima
Assassination Attempt
Erwin Rommel
Adolf Hitler
Event of Interest
May 15 Eisenhower, Montgomery, Churchill & George VI discuss D-Day plan
Dwight D. Eisenhower
George VI
D-Day
May 17 General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th
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- May 17 Operation Straightline: Allies land in Dutch New Guinea
- May 18 Polish 2nd Army corps captures convent of Monte Cassino, Italy
- May 18 Expulsion of more than 200,000 Tartars from Crimea by Soviet Union begins, they are accused of collaborating with the Germans
- May 19 240 gypsies transported to Auschwitz from Westerbork, Netherlands
- May 19 German defense line in Italy collapses
- May 20 US Communist Party dissolves
Adolf Hitler
- May 23 British and Canadian troops occupy Pontecorvo, Italy
- May 23 Chinese counter offensive at Hunan front
- May 23 Operation Buffalo: Allied break out from Anzio bridgehead
- May 23 Polo Grounds host 1st NYC night game since 1941
- May 24 Enver Hoxha becomes head of Albania anti fascists
- May 24 Icelandic voters severe all ties with Denmark
- May 25 Partisan leader Tito escapes Germans surrounding Bosnia
- May 27 Allies land on Biak, Indonesia (operation Horlicks)
- May 27 Japanese advance in Hangkhou China
Event of Interest
May 27 Jean-Paul Sartres' "Huis Clos" premieres in Paris
Jean-Paul Sartre
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician
- May 2 Franz Innerhofer, Austrian writer (Beautiful Days), born in Krimml, Salzberg
- May 2 John Verity, English rocker (Argent), born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
- May 2 Bob Henrit, English pop drummer (Argent - Hold Your Head Up; Kinks), born in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England
- May 3 Ian Peter Leslie Smith, British journalist, born in Bristol, England (d. 1997)
- May 3 Pete Staples, English rocker (Troggs-Wild Thing), born in Andover, Hampshire, England
- May 4 Peggy Santiglia, American singer-songwriter (Angels), born in Belleville, New Jersey
- May 5 Jean-Pierre Leaud, actor (Detective), born in Paris, France
- May 5 John Rhys-Davies, Salisbury England, actor (Sir Edward-Quest, Sliders)
- May 5 Roger Raised, English actor (Nicholas Nickleby)
- May 5 Bo Larsson, Swedish footballer
- May 5 Roger Rees, Welsh Tony winning stage and screen actor (Cheers), born in Aberystwyth (d. 2015)
- May 6 Tommie Smith, American 200m dash (Olympic gold 1968), born in Clarksville, Texas
- May 6 Anton Furst, American production designer (d. 1991)
- May 6 Masanori Murakami, First Japanese baseball player in major leagues
- May 7 Alison Bauld, Australian composer, born in Sydney, Australia
- May 7 Sivi Aberg, Swedish actress (Batman TV show), born in Gävle, Sweden
- May 7 Eva Norvind, Norwegian-Mexican actress, born in Trondheim, Norway (d. 2006)
- May 7 Richard O'Sullivan, British comedy actor, born in Chiswick, London
- May 8 Gary Glitter, [Paul Gadd], England, rocker (Rock & Roll Part II)
- May 8 Bill Legend [William Fifield], British musician and rock drummer (T. Rex), born in Barking, Essex
- May 9 Don Dannemann, rocker (Cyrkle)
- May 9 Richard Furay, Ohio, rock vocalist (Buffalo Springfield, Poco)
- May 10 Abdul Kadir, cricketer (Pakistani batsman-keeper in 4 Tests 1964-65)
- May 10 Jackie Lomax, English singer-songwriter (Is This What You Want), born in Liverpool, England (d. 2013)
- May 10 Jim Abrahams, Shorewood WI, director (Hot Shots, Top Secret)
- May 10 Kathy Farrer, LPGA golfer
- May 10 Marie-France Pisier, Daclat, Vietnam, French actress and writer (Love on the Run, Cousin cousine)
- May 11 John Benaud, Australian cricketer (brother of Richie, Australian bat 1972-73), born in Auburn, New South Wales
- May 12 Eva Demski, German writer, born in Regensburg
- May 12 James Purify, US singer (I'm Your Puppet)
- May 13 Betsy Finley Ashton, broadcast journalist/author/lecturer
- May 13 Carolyn Franklin, American singer-songwriter (Angel), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 1988)
- May 13 Clive Radley, cricketer (England batsman in 8 Tests 1978)
- May 13 Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw, British explorer/genealogist
- May 13 Armistead Maupin, American author
- May 14 Francesca Annis, actress (Madame Bovary, Dune), born in London, England
- May 14 Gene Cornish, rock bassist/vocalist (Fotomaker, Rascals), born in Ottawa, Ontario
George Lucas
May 14 George Lucas, American director (Star Wars, Indiana Jones), born in Modesto, California
George Lucas
- May 14 Troy Shondell, rocker (Many Sides of Troy Shondell)
- May 15 Gunilla Hutton, Goteborg Sweden, actress (Petticoat Junction)
- May 15 Miruts Yifter 'Yifter the Shifter', Ethiopian runner (Olympic golds 1980), born in Adigrat (d. 2016)
- May 15 Ian "Tich" Amey, British rock musician (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich), born in Salisbury Wiltshire
- May 15 Bill Alter, Missouri State Senator
- May 16 Billy Cobham, Panamanian-American jazz drummer (Mahavishnu Orchestra), born in Colón, Panama
- May 16 Danny Trejo, American actor
- May 17 Arif Butt, Pakistani cricketer (pace bowler for Pakistan in three Tests 1964-65), born in Lahore, Punjab, British India (d. 2007)
- May 17 Canon P B Price, general secretary, USPG
- May 17 Jesse Winchester, singer/songwriter (Learn to Love it), born in Shreveport, Louisiana (d. 2014)
- May 17 Paul Crossley, concert pianist
- May 18 Albert Hammond, rocker (It Never Rains In Southern California ), born in London
- May 18 Peter Ryan, British national director (Police Training)
- May 18 W. G. Sebald, German-born writer (d. 2001)
- May 19 Peter Mayhew, British-American actor
- May 20 Boudouin de Groot, Dutch singer (Good night mister president)
- May 20 Cipa Dichter, pianist/wife of Misha Dichter, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- May 20 David M Walker, Capt USN/astron (STS 51-A 30, 53, 69), born in Columbus, Georgia
Joe Cocker
May 20 Joe Cocker, English rock vocalist (With a Little Help from My Friends), born in Sheffield England, (d. 2014)
Joe Cocker
- May 20 Keith Fletcher, cricket captain (Essex & England)
Dietrich Mateschitz
May 20 Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman and co-creator of Red Bull energy drink, born in Sankt Marein im Mürztal, Styria, Austria
Dietrich Mateschitz
- May 21 Janet Dailey, American author
- May 21 Manual Pina, fashion designer
- May 21 Marcie Blane, American singer, born in New York City
- May 21 Mary Robinson, President of Republic of Ireland (Labour, 1990- )
- May 21 Mike Degett, horse trainer
- May 23 John Newcombe, Australian tennis player (7 singles, 17 Grand Slam doubles), born in Sydney, Australia
- May 23 Giles Smith, TV journalist
- May 23 Ramon "Tiki" Fulwood, US drummer (Funkadelic, Knee Deep)
- May 24 Patti LaBelle, [Holt], singer (LaBelle-Lady Marmalade), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- May 25 Frank Oz, Hereford England, American muppetteer (Grover-Sesame Street, Muppet Show)
- May 25 Robert Michael Payton, pizza magnate
- May 25 John Bunnell, former Sheriff of Multnomah County, Oregon and TV personality
- May 25 Robert MacPherson, American mathematician
- May 26 Verden "Phally" Allen, keyboardist (Mott the Hoople)
- May 26 Sam Posey, American race car driver, TV commentator and author
- May 27 Christopher J Dodd, (Gov/Sen-D-CT, 1981- )
- May 28 Adriaan T "Ad" Zuiderent, poet/critic (On the Droge)
- May 28 Billy Vera, musician (& Beaters-At This Moment, Into the Night)
- May 28 Gladys Knight, singer, leader of Pips (Last Train), born in Atlanta, Georgia
Rudy Giuliani
May 28 Rudy Giuliani, American Mayor of New York City (Republican: 1994-2001) at the time of the September 11 attacks, born in NYC, New York
Rudy Giuliani
- May 28 Gary Stewart, American country singer (She's Actin' Single), born in Jenkins, Kentucky (d. 2003)
- May 28 Patricia Quinn, Lady Stephens, Northern-Irish actress, voice artist and singer (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
- May 28 Faith Brown, British actress and impressionist
- May 29 Helmut Berger, actor (Ash Wednesday, Damned, Picture of Dorian Gray)
- May 29 Quentin Davies, MP (C)
- May 30 Lenny Davidson, rocker (Dave Clark 5-Glad All Over), born in London, England
Famous Weddings
Wedding of Interest
May 4 Baseball player Ted Williams marries Doris Soule (divorced 1954)
Ted Williams
Wedding of Interest
May 21 Actor Burgess Meredith (36) weds actress Paulette Goddard (33) at David O Selznick's Beverly Hills home
Burgess Meredith
Wedding of Interest
May 29 Boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson (23) weds Edna Mae Holly
Sugar Ray Robinson
Famous Deaths
- May 9 Ethel Mary Smyth, composer, dies at 86
- May 11 Henk Hos, resistance fighter, executed at 37
- May 12 Arthur T Quiller-Couch [Q], British author/critic, dies at 80
- May 16 George Ade, US novelist/playwright (Counsel Widow), dies at 78
- May 16 Leone Sinigaglia, composer, dies at 75
- May 16 Max Brand, [Frederick Schiller Faust], western author, dies
- May 16 George Ade, American author (b. 1866)
- May 19 Godfrey Wilson, British Anthropologist of social change and colonial problems in Africa, commits suicide as a conscientious objector in WW II
- May 26 C M Francois, cricketer (WWII, 252 runs in 5 Tests for South Africa), dies
- May 26 Robert van Spaendonck, Dutch resistance fighter, dies at 27
- May 28 Katri Vala, Finnish poet, dies at 42
- May 30 Jessie Ralph, actress (Good Earth, San Francisco), dies at 79