What Happened in May 1976

Historical Events

Event of Interest

May 3 Pulitzer prize awarded to Saul Bellow (Humboldt's Gift)

Novelist Saul Bellow — Novelist
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 9 Sally Little wins LPGA Ladies Masters at Moss Creek Golf Tournament
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
May 16 Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens sweep Philadelphia Flyers in 4 games
May 16 Sue Roberts wins LPGA American Defender Golf Classic

Television Awards

May 17 28th Emmy Awards: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Jack Albertson & M Learned win

Actress Mary Tyler Moore — Actress
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 23 Amy Alcott wins '76 LPGA Golf Classic
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

Heavyweight Boxing Champion Muhammad Ali — Heavyweight Boxing Champion
Muhammad Ali

May 24 In the Judgment of Paris, wine testers rate wines from California higher than their French counterparts, challenging the notion of France being the foremost producer of the world's best wines
May 27 "Something's Afoot" opens at Lyceum Theater NYC for 61 performances

Event of Interest

May 28 29th Cannes Film Festival: "Taxi Driver" directed by Martin Scorsese wins the Palme d'Or

Film Director Martin Scorsese — Film Director
Martin Scorsese

Event of Interest

May 29 "One Piece At A Time" by Johnny Cash hits #29

Country Singer Johnny Cash — Country Singer
Johnny Cash

May 29 Only HR of Joe Niekro's 22-year career, comes off brother Phil
May 30 22nd LPGA Championship won by Betty Burfeindt
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, Sylvester's son/actor (Rocky V)
May 5 Anastasios Pantos, Greek footballer
May 5 Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentine footballer
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 9 Faye Johnstone, archer (Olympics 1996), born in Auckland, New Zealand
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 12 Matthew P Newmark, actor (Joseph Carroll-Guns of Paradise)
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 Eric DuBose, Bradenton Fl, baseball pitcher (Olympic bronze 1996)
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 José Guillén, Dominican baseball player
May 17 Lee-Hom Wang, American-born Taiwanese musician and composer
May 18 Ron Mercer, NBA guard (Boston Celtics)
May 19 Kevin Garnett, NBA forward (Minnesota Timberwolves), 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 Melanie Joyce Bell, Miss America-New Jersey (1997), born in Vernon, New Jersey
May 23 Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer
May 24 Alessandro Cortini, Italian musician
May 24 Catherine Cox, Australian netballer
May 24 Bob Maesen, Belgian flatwater canoer
May 25 Tarik Glenn, offensive tackle (Indianapolis Colts)
May 25 Cillian Murphy, Irish actor
May 25 Ethan Suplee, American actor
May 25 Sandra Nasic, German singer (Guano Apes)
May 26 Benji Gregory, Encino California, actor (Brian Tanner-Alf)
May 26 Markus Wieland, hockey defenseman (Team Germany 1998)
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 footballer
May 29 Jerry Hairston Jr., American baseball player
May 29 Yūsuke Iseya, Japanese model and actor
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

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, college fullback (Stanford), dies at 72
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 8 Alan Baxter, dies at 67
May 8 Ulrike Meinhof, lead Germany Red Army Faction, dies
May 9 Raymond Chevreuille, Belgian composer, dies at 74
May 9 Valentino Bucchi, composer, dies at 59
May 9 Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (b. 1920)
May 10 George Curzon, dies at 77
May 10 Elias Aslaksen, Leader of Smith's Friends (b. 1888)
May 11 Alvar Aalto, architect (Finlandia House), dies at 78
May 11 Camille Schmit, composer, dies at 68
May 11 J Anaya, Bolivian military/ambassador to France, murdered
May 14 Keith Relf, rock vocalist (Yardbirds), electrocuted at 33
May 15 Samuel Eliot Morison, US historian (Admiral of Ocean Sea), dies at 88
May 20 Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1911)
May 20 Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan politician, member of the Christian-Democrat party, and Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz "disappeared"
May 21 Sulo Nikolai Salonen, composer, dies at 77
May 24 Henk Lankhorst [Hendrik Johannes Lankhorst], Dutch politician (PSP), dies at 62
May 24 Melle J Oldeboerrigter ("Melle"), painter/cartoonist, dies at 65
May 26 Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (Holzweg), dies at 86
May 26 Juan Maino, Chilean leader of MAPU, "disappeared"
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 31 Jacques Monod, French biochemist, dies
May 31 Martha Mitchell wife of former Att Gen John Mitchell, dies in NY at 57

1975
On This Day
1977