Historical Events
- May 1 India's Bombay state split into Gujarat & Maharashtra states
Historic Event
May 1 Russia shoots down Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane over Sverdlovsk
- May 1 7th National Film Awards (India): "Apur Sansar" wins the Golden Lotus
- May 2 Harry Belafonte's 2nd Carnegie Hall performance
- May 2 Allen Drury wins Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel "Advise and Consent"
- May 2 US House of Representative investigating committee, looking into payola questions in broadcasting
- May 3 Musical "Fantasticks" by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, premieres in NYC (world's longest running musical)
Historic Event
May 3 The Anne Frank House opens in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- May 4 1st great Delta dam closes, North-South Beveland
Historic Event
May 6 US President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960
- May 6 Students attack Dutch embassy in Jakarta
- May 6 Trotsky's murderer Jacques Mornard (Ramon Mercader) freed in Mexico
- May 7 Webster and Fain's musical "Christine", based on Hilda Wernher's novel "My Indian Family", closes at 46th St Theater, NYC, after 12 performances
- May 7 Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "Flower Drum Song" closes at St James Theater. NYC, after 602 performances and 1 Tony Award
- May 7 Musical review "From A to Z" closes at Plymouth Theater, NYC, after 21 performances
- May 7 86th Kentucky Derby: Bill Hartack on Venetian Way wins in 2:02.4
- May 7 Dodgers Larry & Norm Sherry are baseball's 10th brother battery
- May 7 LA Dodger Norm Sherry's 11th HR wins the game for brother Larry
Historic Event
May 7 Leonid Brezhnev replaces Kliment Voroshilov as President of USSR
- May 7 Michael Tal beats Mikhail Botvinnik 12½-8½ for world chess championship
- May 7 USSR announces Francis Gary Powers confesses to being a CIA spy
- May 8 1st performance of Ferde Grofé's "San Francisco Suite", with Grofé conducting, in San Francisco
- May 8 USSR & Cuba resume diplomatic relations
- May 9 Nigeria becomes a member of British Commonwealth
- May 9 US becomes the first country to legalize the birth control pill
Historic Event
May 10 John F. Kennedy wins presidential primary in West Virginia
'The Banality of Evil'
May 11 Israeli soldiers capture Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires
TV Show Appearance
May 12 Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra television special; Elvis sings Sinatra's 1957 Cy Coleman hit "Witchcraft", and Frank performs Presley's 1956 classic "Love Me Tender"
- May 13 1st launch of Delta satellite launching vehicle; it failed
- May 13 Phillies lose 3rd consecutive 1-0 game
- May 13 WOLE TV channel 12 in Aguadillo, PR
- May 14 "At the Drop of a Hat" closes at John Golden NYC after 216 performances
- May 14 USSR launch 1st (unmanned) space capsule
- May 14 Virgil Thomson's "Missa Pro Defunctis" premieres in Potsdam, NY
- May 15 Chic Cub Don Cardwell no-hits St Louis Cards, 4-0
Music History
May 15 Dmitri Shostakovich's 7th String quartet premieres in Leningrad
- May 15 KHVO TV channel 13 in Hilo, HI (ABC) begins broadcasting
- May 15 Sputnik 4 launched into Earth orbit; later recovery failed
- May 15 Taxes took 25% of earnings in US
- May 15 "L'Avventura", Italian film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, starring Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti. premieres at Cannes
- May 16 Big 4 summit in Paris collapses as USSR levels spy charges against US
- May 16 Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California
- May 17 1st atomic reactor system patented by J W Flora of Canoga Park, California
- May 18 Eillen Fulton begins playing Lisa on As the World Turns (for almost 30 yrs)
Theater Premiere
May 18 Jean Genet's play "Le Balcon" (The Balcony) premieres in Paris
Sports History
May 18 European Cup Final, Glasgow: Ferenc Puskás scores 4, Alfredo Di Stéfano 3 as Real Madrid routs Eintracht Frankfurt, 7-3; 5th consecutive title for Los Blancos
- May 19 Alan Freed & eight other DJs accused of taking radio payola
- May 19 Belgian parliament requires rest day for self employed
- May 19 SF Giants rookie Juan Marichal beats Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 on debut at Candlestick Park; first National League hurler since 1900 to debut with a one-hitter
- May 19 USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 33,222 m
- May 20 Baseball game in Milwaukee postponed due to dense fog
Cannes Film Festival
May 20 13th Cannes Film Festival: "The Sweet Life" directed by Federico Fellini wins the Palme d'Or
- May 21 85th Preakness: Bobby Ussery aboard Bally Ache wins in 1:57.6
Music History
May 21 Leontyne Price becomes the first African American to sing the lead at Teatro alla Scala in Milan in "Aida"
- May 22 Tsunami generated by a magnitude 9.4-9.6 earthquake in Chile strikes Hilo, Hawaii at 01:04 AM, severely damaging virtually all coastal towns between the 37th and 44th parallels
- May 22 A magnitude 9.4-9.6 earthquake strikes near the city of Valdivia in Chile, the strongest ever recorded, causing multiple tsunamis and killing 1,000-7,000 people
- May 23 "Finian's Rainbow" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 12 performances
- May 23 "Got A Girl" by The Four Preps hits #24
Historic Event
May 23 Israel announces capture of Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Argentina
- May 23 WGTV TV channel 8 in Athens-Atlanta, GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
- May 23 WKBM TV (now WLII) channel 11 in Caguas/San Juan, PR 1st broadcast
- May 23 WRCA radio changes call letters back to WNBC (NYC)
- May 24 1 millionth Dutch telephone installed
- May 25 George Crowe's record 11th pinch-hit HR
- May 27 Baltimore manager Paul Richards devises oversized catcher's mitt, used by Baltimore Oriole Clint Courtney
- May 27 Military coup overthrows democratic government of Turkey
Musical Finale
May 28 Frank Loesser's musical "Greenwillow", starring Anthony Perkins, closes at Alvin Theater, NYC, after 95 performances
- May 28 59th Men's French Championships: Nicola Pietrangeli beats Luis Ayala (3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3)
Sports History
May 28 59th Women's French Championships: Darlene Hard beats Yola Ramirez (6-3, 6-4)
#1 in the Charts
May 29 Everly Brothers single "Cathy's Clown" hits #1
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Greatest two-man duel in race history; winner Jim Rathmann and Rodger Ward battle out then-record 29 lead changes until Ward slows with tire trouble
Famous Birthdays
- May 2 Ravi Ratnayeke, Sri Lankan cricketer (Sri Lankan pace bowler & opening batsman), born in Colombo, Ceylon
- May 2 Stephen Daldry, English film director (Billy Elliot; The Hours), born in Dorset, England
- May 3 Amy Steel, American actress (April Fool's Day), born in Pennsylvania
- May 4 Martyn Moxon, English cricketer (England batsman in ten Tests 1986-89), born in Stairfoot, Barnsley, Yorkshire
- May 4 Andrew Denton, Australian television presenter and comedian, born in Sydney, Australia
- May 6 Bart de Boer, Dutch guitarist (Ivy Green)
- May 6 Julianne Phillips, American actress (Frankie Reed-Sisters), born in Lake Oswego, Oregon
- May 6 Larry Steinbachek, British rock synthesizer (Bronski Beat) (d. 2017)
- May 6 John Flansburgh, American alt-rock singer-songwriter, and guitarist (They Might Be Giants - "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"; "Birdhouse Of Your Soul"), born in Lincoln, Massachusetts
- May 6 Phyllis Treigle, American operatic soprano, born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- May 7 Arnon Ohad, co-pilot (El Al) plane that crashed on Bijlmer Amsterdam
- May 7 Adam Bernstein, American music video and television director, born in Princeton, New Jersey
- May 7 Almudena Grandes, Spanish novelist (Las edades de Lulú), born in Madrid, Spain
- May 8 Eric Brittingham, American rock bassist (Cinderella - "Heartbreak Station"; "Nobody's Fool"), born in Salisbury, Maryland
- May 8 Franco Baresi, Italian soccer defender (81 caps; AC Milan 532 games), born in Travagliato, Italy
- May 9 Iain Butchart, cricket all-rounder (Zimbabwe, Test v Pak 1995)
- May 9 Jim Reilly, Northern Irish drummer (Red Rockers), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
- May 9 Tony Gwynn, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (8-time NL batting champion), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2014)
- May 10 Merlene Ottey, Jamaican/Italian running star (Olympics)
- May 10 Tauseef Ahmed, cricketer (leading Pakistani off-spinner of 80's)
- May 10 Victoria Rowell, American actress (The Young & The Restless - "Drucilla"), born in Portland, Maine
- May 11 Jorgen Schult, German FR, discus thrower (world record 1986)
- May 12 Lisa Martin, Australian marathoner (Olympic-silver 1988), born in Gawler, South Australia
- May 13 Dick van de Toorn, Dutch actor (Pastorale), born in Haarlem, Netherlands
- May 14 Carlyle Best, cricketer (WI batsman late 80's)
- May 14 Frank Nobilo, New Zealand golfer, broadcaster (5 European Tour titles, CBS, Golf Channel), born in Auckland, NZ
- May 14 Anne Clark, British poet and avant garde recording artist, born in Croydon, Surrey, England
- May 14 Steve Williams, American professional wrestler, known as "Dr. Death", and USFL football player, born in Lakewood, Colorado (d. 2009)
- May 15 Rob Bowman, American film director
- May 16 Anne Parillaud, actress (Subway, Nikita, Innocent Blood), born in Paris, France
- May 17 Fiona Hutchison, actress (One Life to Live, Guiding Light), born in Miami, Florida
- May 17 Lou DiBella, American boxing promoter
Jari Kurri
May 18 Jari Kurri, Finnish NHL right wing (Edmonton Oilers), born in Helsinki, Finland
Yannick Noah
May 18 Yannick Noah, French tennis player (French Open 1983), born in Sedan, France
- May 19 Yazz [Yasmin Evans], singer (Fine Time), born in London, England
- May 19 Shujaat Khan, Indian sitar player, singer, and composer, born in Calcutta, India
- May 20 Susan Cowsill, American rock vocalist (The Cowsills - "We Can Fly"), born in Newport, Rhode Island
- May 20 Tony Goldwyn, American actor (Ghost, Scandal), born in Los Angeles, California
- May 20 John Billingsley, American actor
- May 21 Kent Hrbek, American baseball player (Minnesota Twins), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- May 21 Mohanlal, Indian actor, born in Elanthoor, India
Jeffrey Dahmer
May 21 Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (Milwaukee Cannibal), born in West Allis, Wisconsin (d. 1994)
- May 22 Hideaki Anno, Japanese film director and animator (Neon Genesis Evangelion), born in Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
- May 24 Pete Metzelaars, NFL tight end (Carolina Panthers, GB Packers, Lions)
- May 24 Kristin Scott Thomas, British actress (The English Patient, Mission: Impossible), born in Redruth, Cornwall, England
- May 24 Guy Fletcher, British musician and keyboardist (Dire Straits), born in Maidstone, Kent
- May 24 Ken Schaphorst, American jazz composer, performer, big band leader and educator (New England Conservatory), born in Abington, Pennsylvania
- May 25 Amy Klobuchar, American politician (D), senator for Minnesota (2007-), born in Plymouth, Minnesota
- May 25 Wallace Roney, American post-bop jazz trumpeter, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2020) [1]
- May 26 Rob Murphy, American baseball player
- May 27 Ray Armsetad, 4X400 runner (Olympic gold 1984), born in Kirksville, Missouri
- May 27 Vinodhan John, cricket pace bowler (Sri Lankan in 6 Tests 1983-84)
- May 27 Aleksandr Sidorenko, Ukrainian swimmer (Olympic gold USSR 400m IM 1980; World C'ship gold 200m IM 1982), born in Mariupol, Ukraine (d. 2022)
- May 28 Allan Green, cricketeer
- May 29 Adrian Paul, English actor (Dance to Win, Highlander), born in London, England
- May 30 Stephen "Tea Tower" Duffy, rocker (Lilac Time-Paradise Song)
- May 31 Chris Elliott, American screenwriter, comedian, and actor (David Letterman; Cabin Boy, Get A Life), born in NYC, New York
- May 31 Norm Johnson, American football place kicker (First-team All-Pro 1984; Pro Bowl 1984, 93; Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Inglewood, California
- May 31 Peter Winterbottom, British rugby union flanker (58 caps England, 7 British & Irish Lions; Headingley, Harlequins RFC, Hawkes Bay, Transvaal), born in Otley, England
Famous Weddings
- May 6 English Princess Margaret marries Antony Armstrong-Jones (later Lord Snowdon) at Westminster Abbey
Famous Deaths
- May 2 Caryl Chessman, American kidnapper and rapist, executed in gas chamber at San Quentin (California) State Prison after 12 years of appeals at 38
- May 5 Sulho Ranta, Finnish composer, dies at 58
- May 6 Paul Abraham, Hungarian composer (Blume von Hawaii), dies at 67
- May 6 Vern Bickford, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1949; no-hitter 1950; Boston / Milwaukee Braves), dies from cancer at 39
- May 8 Hugo Alfvén, Swedish violinist, conductor, and composer (Midsommarvaka - Midsummer Vigil), dies at 88
- May 8 J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (one of the founders of homotopy theory), dies at 55
- May 10 Yuri Olesha, Russian writer, dies at 61
John D. Rockefeller Jr
May 11 John D. Rockefeller Jr., American financier & philanthropist, dies of pneumonia at 86
- May 12 (Cecil) Armstrong Gibbs, English composer, dies of pneumonia at 70
- May 12 Prince Aly Khan [Ali Salman Aga Khan], Pakistani socialite, jockey, political ambassador and third husband to Rita Hayworth, dies from injuries sustained in a car accident at 48
- May 17 Ioannis Georgiadis, Greek fencer (Olympic 1896 gold), dies at 84
- May 23 Georges Claude, French engineer and inventor (neon light), dies at 89
- May 27 Edward Brophy, American character actor (Champ, Dumbo, Great Guy, The Cameraman, Doughboys), dies at 65
- May 27 George Zucco, British actor (Fog Island, Black Raven, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Captain Fury), dies at 74
- May 27 James Montgomery Flagg, American illustrator, dies at 82
Boris Pasternak
May 30 Boris Pasternak, Russian poet and novelist (Doctor Zhivago) (Nobel Prize 1958), dies at 70
