Historical Events
- May 1 102nd Kentucky Derby: Angel Cordero Jr wins aboard Bold Forbes, the second of 3 Derby successes
- May 1 Empress Lilly, replica of a paddle steamer, dedicated at Walt Disney World, Florida
- May 3 Panama 747SP lands after record flight around world (46:26)
Event of Interest
May 3 Pulitzer prize awarded to Saul Bellow (Humboldt's Gift)
Saul Bellow
- May 4 "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" opens at Mark Hellinger NYC for 7 performances
- May 5 Train collision at Schiedam, Netherlands, kills 24
- May 6 An earthquake strikes Friuli in Northern Italy, causes 989 deaths and the destruction of entire villages
- May 8 "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" closes at Mark Hellinger NYC after 7 performances
- May 8 The rollercoaster Revolution (roller coaster), the first steel coaster with a vertical flip, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain
- May 9 "So Long 174th St" closes at Harkness Theater NYC after 16 performances
- May 11 Emmy 3rd Daytime Award presentation
- May 11 Last broadcast of "Marcus Welby, MD" on ABC-TV
- May 12 20th European Cup: Bayern Munich beats Saint-Etienne 1-0 at Glasgow
- May 13 9th & final ABA championship: NY Nets beat Denver Nuggets, 4 games to 2
- May 14 Lowell Thomas ends 46 years as radio network reporter
- May 14 Oil tanker Urqui Ola explodes off Spanish coast
- May 15 101st Preakness: John Lively aboard Elocutionist wins in 1:55
- May 15 Fonz Song by Heyettes hits #91
- May 15 Kentucky Moonrunner by Cledus Maggard hits #85
- May 15 The Ulster Volunteer Force launch gun and bomb attacks on 2 pubs in County Armagh, killing 4 Catholic civilians and wounding many more; a British Army soldier is later convicted for taking part in the attacks
- May 15 The Provisional Irish Republican Army kill 3 Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers in County Fermanagh and 1 in County Down
Event of Interest
May 16 Stanley Cup Final, The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA: Guy Lafleur and Pete Mahovlich each have a goal and 2 assists as Montreal Canadiens beat Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3 for a 4 games series sweep
Guy Lafleur
Emmy Awards
May 17 28th Emmy Awards: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Jack Albertson & M Learned win
Mary Tyler Moore
- May 17 Earthquake in Uzbekistan: thousands killed
- May 19 Gold ownership legalized in Australia
- May 19 Senate establishes permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
- May 19 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- May 20 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
- May 22 NASA launches space vehicle S-179
- May 22 St Louis Cardinal Reggie Smith hits 3 HR
- May 24 1st commercial SST flight to North America (Concorde to Washington, D.C.)
Boxing Title Fight
May 24 Muhammad Ali TKOs Richard Dunn in 5 for heavyweight boxing title in Munich
Muhammad Ali
Event of Interest
May 28 29th Cannes Film Festival: "Taxi Driver" directed by Martin Scorsese wins the Palme d'Or
Martin Scorsese
Event of Interest
May 29 "One Piece At A Time" by Johnny Cash hits #29
Johnny Cash
- May 29 Only HR of Joe Niekro's 22-year career, comes off brother Phil
- May 30 LPGA Championship Women's Golf, Pine Ridge GC: Betty Burfeindt wins her only major title, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Judy Rankin
- May 30 Bobby Unser sets world record for fastest pit stop (4 seconds)
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Johnny Rutherford wins in 1:42:52.466 (239.350 km/h)
- May 31 The Who set the record for the loudest concert of all time, 120 decibels at 50 metres, at The Valley in Charlton
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Darius McCrary, actor (Edward Winslow-Family Matters)
- May 3 Jeff Halpern, American ice hockey player, born in Potomac, Maryland
- May 4 Heather Kozar, playmate (Jan, 1998), born in Akron, Ohio
- May 4 Ben Grieve, American baseball player, born in Arlington, Texas
- May 4 Jason Michaels, American baseball player, born in Tampa, Florida
- May 5 Sage Stallone, American actor (Rocky V) and the eldest son of Sylvester Stallone, born in Los Angeles, California
- May 5 Anastasios Pantos, Greek footballer, born in Korydallos, Greece
- May 5 Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentine footballer (Argentine national team FIFA World Cups), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- May 6 Lindsay Page, figure skater (1997 E Great Lakes Sr-3rd), born in Madison, Wisconsin
- May 7 Nicholas Butcher, field hockey midfielder/forward (Olympics 1996), born in Los Angeles, California
- May 8 Oleg Tverdovsky, Donetsk Ukr, NHL defenseman (Winnipeg Jets)
- May 8 Martha Wainwright, Canadian American musician and songwriter
- May 8 Ian "H" Watkins, pop singer (Steps)
- May 10 Stuart Braithwaite, Scottish musician (Mogwai)
- May 10 Rob Malda, American internet writer/editor (Slashdot)
- May 10 Udo Mechels, Belgian singer
- May 10 Aggeliki Tsiolakoudi, Greek javelin thrower
- May 11 Lloyd Pierce, American basketball head coach (Atlanta Hawks 2019), born in San Jose, California
- May 13 Mark Delaney, Welsh footballer
- May 14 Terrance Cauthen, lightweight boxer (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Trenton, New Jersey
- May 14 Hunter Burgan, American musician (AFI)
- May 14 Brian Lawrence, American baseball player
- May 14 Martine McCutcheon, British actress
- May 15 Adolfo Bautista, Mexican footballer
- May 15 Jacek Krzynówek, Polish footballer
- May 15 Ryan Leaf, American football player
- May 17 Anna Windsor, Australian swimmer (Olympics 1996), born in Sydney, New South Wales
- May 17 Daniel Komen, Nyaru Kenya, 5k runner
- May 17 Peter Devine, American fencer-foil (Olympics 1996), born in NYC, New York
- May 17 Lee-Hom Wang, American-born Taiwanese musician and composer
- May 19 Kevin Garnett, American basketball forward (15-time NBA All Star), born in Greenville, South Carolina
- May 20 Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- May 20 Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
- May 21 Deron Miller, American rock musician
- May 21 Kardinal Offishall, Canadian rapper
- May 22 Christian Vande Velde, cyclist (Olympics 1996), born in Chicago, Illinois
- May 23 Kelly Marie Monaco, playmate (April, 1997), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- May 23 Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer
- May 24 Alessandro Cortini, Italian musician (Nine Inch Nails), born in Bologna, Italy
- May 24 Catherine Cox, Australian netballer, born in Whangarei, New Zealand
- May 24 Bob Maesen, Belgian flatwater canoer, born in Neerpelt, Pelt, Belgium
- May 25 Tarik Glenn, American football offensive tackle (Indianapolis Colts), born in Cleveland, Ohio
- May 25 Cillian Murphy, Irish actor (28 Days Later), born in Douglas, County Cork, Ireland
- May 25 Ethan Suplee, American actor (American History X), born in Manhattan, New York
- May 25 Sandra Nasić, German singer (Guano Apes), born in Göttingen, Germany
- May 26 Benji Gregory, American actor (Brian Tanner-Alf). born in Encino, California
- May 26 Scott Humphries, Greely Colo, tennis star (1995 doubles Binghampton)
- May 26 Justin Pierre, American singer (Motion City Soundtrack)
- May 27 Richard Park, Seoul Kor, NHL center (Pitts Penguins)
- May 27 RJD2, American hip-hop producer
- May 28 Liam O'Brien, American voice actor
- May 28 Alexei Nemov, Russian gymnast
- May 28 Glenn Morrison, Rugby League Player
- May 29 David Buckner, American musician (Papa Roach)
- May 29 Caçapa, Brazilian soccer defender (Brazil 3 caps, Lyon), born in Lavras, Brazil
- May 29 Jerry Hairston Jr., American baseball infielder/outfielder, broadcaster (Baltimore Orioles), born in Des Moines, Iowa
- May 29 Yūsuke Iseya, Japanese model and actor
- May 29 Yegor Titov, Russian soccer midfielder, coach (Russia 41 caps), born in Moscow, Russia
- May 30 Omri Hairi Katz, actor (Marshall Teller-Eerie Indiana), born in Los Angeles, California
- May 30 Magnus Norman, Swedish tennis player
Colin Farrell
May 31 Colin Farrell, Irish actor (In Bruges, Minority Report), born in Dublin, Ireland
Colin Farrell
- May 31 Matt Harpring, American basketball player
Famous Weddings
- May 10 "KISS" former lead guitarist Ace Frehley (25) weds Janette Trerotola
Famous Deaths
- May 1 Rex O'Malley, British actor (Camille, Zara, Midnight, Thief), dies at 75
- May 1 Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet who fought the military junta in Greece (b. 1939)
- May 1 T.R.M. Howard, civil rights leader, entrepreneur, surgeon (b. 1908)
- May 3 David Bruce [Marden Andrew McBroom], American actor (The Mad Ghoul, Flying Tigers), dies from a heart attack at 60
- May 3 Ernie Nevers, American College, Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback, coach (Stanford, Chicago Cardinals), dies of heart & kidney ailments at 72
- May 4 Henri Bosco, French author and poet (Gogol), dies at 87
- May 5 Thomas Burnett Swann, American sci-fi author (Day of Minotaur), dies at 47
- May 6 Karel M J F Cruysberghs, Flemish author (On the Pulpit), dies at 85
- May 7 Alan Baxter, American actor (Big Town Girl, Rags to Riches), dies at 67
- May 8 Ulrike Meinhof, lead Germany Red Army Faction, dies
- May 8 Fred McLeod, Scottish golfer (US Open 1908), dies at 94
- May 9 Raymond Chevreuille, Belgian composer, dies at 74
- May 9 Valentino Bucchi, Italian composer, dies at 59
- May 9 Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian poet & writer (Dikt, Jonas), dies at 55
- May 10 George Curzon, dies at 77
- May 10 Elias Aslaksen, Leader of Smith's Friends (b. 1888)
- May 11 Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (Finlandia House), dies at 78
- May 11 Camille Schmit, Belgian composer, dies at 68
- May 12 Rudolf Kempe, German conductor (Tonhalle Orch 1965-72), dies at 65
- May 14 Keith Relf, British musician and vocalist (the Yardbirds-For Your Love, Renaissance), electrocuted while playing an improperly earthed electric guitar at 33
- May 15 Samuel Eliot Morison, American historian (Admiral of the Ocean Sea), dies at 88
- May 20 Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player, dies at 64
- May 20 Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan politician, member of the Christian-Democrat party, and Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz "disappeared"
- May 21 Sulo Nikolai Salonen, Finnish composer, dies at 77
- May 21 Harold Blair, Australian tenor and Aboriginal activist, dies at 51
- May 24 Henk [Hendrik Johannes] Lankhorst, Dutch politician (PSP), dies at 62
- May 24 Melle Oldeboerrigter, Dutch painter and cartoonist, dies at 65
Martin Heidegger
May 26 Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (Being & Time), dies at 86
Martin Heidegger
- May 26 Juan Maino, Chilean leader of MAPU, "disappeared"
- May 26 Edgar Moon, Australian tennis player (Australian C'ships 1930), dies at 71
- May 27 Ruth McDevitt, actress (Jo-All in the Family), dies at 80
- May 28 Steffan Danielsen, Faroese painter (b. 1922)
- May 30 Max Carey, American baseball player, dies at 86
- May 30 Vic Ghezzi, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1941), dies of cancer at 65
- May 31 Jacques Monod, French biochemist, dies
- May 31 Martha Mitchell wife of former Att Gen John Mitchell, dies in NY at 57