Historical Events
- May 1 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Music History
May 1 Mick Fleetwood (of Fleetwood Mac) files for bankruptcy
- May 1 NFL Draft: Nebraska wide receiver Irving Fryar first pick by New England Patriots
Historic Publication
May 1 Danielle Steel’s romance novel “Full Circle” is published
Music Premiere
May 2 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Sunday in the Park with George", a fictionalized version of painter Georges Seurat's relationship with his grandson, starring Mandy Patinkin, opens at Booth Theater, NYC; runs for 604 performances, wins a Pulitzer Prize for Drama
- May 2 MLB Cleveland Indians' infielder Andre Thornton ties record for most walks (6 in 16 innings)
Baseball Record
May 2 New York Yankee Don Mattingly's single breaks up Chicago White Sox pitcher Lamarr Hoyt's perfect game bid, at Comiskey Park
- May 2 US performs underground nuclear test "Orkney" at Nevada Test Site, with an estimated 250 ton yield
- May 4 Dave Kingman's fly ball never comes down (stuck in Metrodome ceiling)
- May 5 110th Kentucky Derby: Laffit Pincay Jr.aboard Swale wins in 2:02.4
- May 5 NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: New York Islanders beat Montreal Canadians, 4 games to 2
- May 5 29th Eurovision Song Contest: Herreys for Sweden wins singing "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" in Luxembourg
Sports History
May 6 Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr hits for cycle
- May 6 Jose Napoleon Duarte wins El Salvador presidential election
Agent Orange in Vietnam
May 7 $180m out-of-court settlement reached in Agent Orange suit
- May 8 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
Sports History
May 8 Minnesota Twins Kirby Puckett debuts with 4 singles
Historic Event
May 9 Alexander Calder's "Big Crinkly" sells for $852,000
- May 9 Chicago White Sox beat Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, in 25 innings (started 5/8)
- May 10 Intl Court of Justice rules on US blockade of Nicaragua
- May 11 Johan Cruijff quits soccer
- May 11 Tigers set best 30 game start record (26-4)
- May 11 Transit of Earth as seen on Mars
- May 12 Discovery moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) for mating of STS 41-D
- May 12 France performs nuclear test
- May 12 Joe Lucius scores his 13th hole-in-one on same hole
Historic Event
May 12 South African prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife Winnie Mandela for the 1st time in 22 years
Sports History
May 13 Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff''s last competitive match
Sports History
May 16 MLB Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton hits a grand slam homer off Fernando Valenzuela, in 7-2 win against Dodgers, in Los Angeles
Music Single
May 16 "When Doves Cry" single released by Prince Rogers Nelson (Billboard Song of the Year, 1984)
Historic Event
May 17 Prince Charles calls proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend," sparking controversy on the role of the Royal Family and course of modern architecture.
- May 17 Marvin Creamer becomes 1st known person to sail around the world without navigational instruments, arriving back in Cape May, New Jersey, after 513 days
Music History
May 19 "King Of Suede" by Weird Al Yankovic hits #62
Sports History
May 19 109th Preakness: Puerto Rican jockey Ángel Cordero Jr., aboard Gate Dancer wins his second Pimlico classic
- May 19 STS 41-D vehicle moves to launch pad
Sports History
May 19 Stanley Cup Final, Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, AL: Wayne Gretzky scores twice as Edmonton Oilers beat NY Islanders, 5-2 for a 4-1 series win; Oilers first SC title
Sports History
May 19 Pat LaFontaine scores 2 goals within 22 sec in an NHL playoff game
- May 20 "On Your Toes" closes at Virginia Theater NYC after 505 performances
Sports History
May 20 Boston's Roger Clemens beats Twins, 5-4, for his 1st victory
- May 23 Detroit Tigers win AL record tying 16th straight road game
Film Release
May 23 "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", 2nd in the film series, directed by Stephen Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford, opens in the US
- May 23 37th Cannes Film Festival: "Paris, Texas" directed by Wim Wenders wins the Palme d'Or
Film Premiere
May 23 Crime epic film "Once Upon a Time in America" directed by Sergio Leone starring Robert De Niro and James Woods premieres at Cannes
- May 24 Revival of musical "The Wiz" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater, NYC; runs for 13 performances
- May 24 Det Tigers win AL record 17th straight road game
- May 25 Detroit Tigers lose to Seattle 7-3 ends record tying 17 consecutive wins
- May 25 Red Sox trade pitcher Dennis Eckersley to Cubs for Bill Buckner
- May 26 Floods kill 14 in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Historic Event
May 26 US President Ronald Reagan rules out US military intervention in Iran-Iraq war
- May 27 Beth Henley's "Miss Firecracker contest" premieres in NYC
Sports History
May 27 Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria wins 3 singles tennis matches in one day; Italian Open 1984, beats Virginie Ruzici, Carling Basset and Chris Evert in the final 6-3 6-3; only 7th player to beat Evert on clay
Sports History
May 27 Indianapolis 500: 1979 champion Rick Mears wins second Indy 500 two laps ahead of the field after contenders Tom Sneva and Mario Andretti drop out in second half of the race
Historic Event
May 28 George Soros founds the Soros Foundation Budapest to help countries free themselves from communism
Sports History
May 29 Boston Red Sox retires #9 (Ted Williams) & #4 (Joe Cronin)
- May 30 Bomb explodes in rebel leader Eden Pastora's headquarters in Nicaragua
- May 30 NL suspends Mario Soto 5 days for Reds-Cubs fight on May 27th
- May 30 28th European Cup: Liverpool beats Roma (1-1, 4-2 on penalties) at Rome
- May 31 57th National Spelling Bee: Daniel Greenblatt wins spelling luge
- May 31 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 31 Viv Richards hits 189* (170 balls) v England, ODI cricket record
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Keiichiro Koyama, Japanese J-pop singer (NEWS), born in Sagamihara, Japan
- May 1 Farah Fath, American actress
- May 1 Mišo Brečko, Slovenian soccer defender (77 caps; FC Köln, FC Nürnberg), born in Trbovlje, Slovenia
- May 1 David Backes, American ice hockey center (NHL All Star 2011; Olympic silver 2010; St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- May 1 Alexander Farnerud, Swedish soccer midfielder (8 caps; Strasbourg, Young Boys), born in Landskrona, Sweden
- May 2 Saulius Mikoliūnas, Lithuanian footballer, born in Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR
- May 2 Thabo Sefolosha, Swiss basketball player, born in Vevey, Switzerland
- May 3 Cheryl Burke, American professional dancer (Dancing with the Stars), born in San Francisco, California
- May 3 Nam Sang-mi, South Korean actress and model, born in Yeongju, South Korea
- May 4 Manjural Islam, Bangladeshi test cricket player, born in Khulna, Bangladesh (d. 2007)
- May 4 Kevin Slowey, American baseball player, born in Conroe, Texas
- May 4 Montell Owens, American football player, born in Wilmington, Delaware
- May 5 Wade MacNeil, Canadian guitarist (Alexisonfire), born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- May 5 Eve Torres, American actress and professional wrestler (3 times WWE Divas Champion), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- May 7 Alex Smith, American football player
- May 7 Drew Stanton, American football player
- May 7 James Loney, American baseball player
- May 8 Nadine Chandrawinata, Indonesian actress, producer and model (2006 Miss Universe Pageant)
- May 8 Martin Compston, Scottish actor (Line of Duty), born in Greenock, Scotland
- May 9 Prince Fielder, American baseball first baseman (6 x MLB All Star, NL HR leader 2007, MLB RBI leader 2009, Milwaukee Brewers), born in Ontario, California
- May 10 Edward Mujica. Venezuelan baseball player
- May 11 Andrés Iniesta Luján, Spanish football player (Barcelona, Spanish national team), born in Fuentealbilla, Spain
- May 12 Emily Beecham, English actress (Little Joe), born in Manchester, England
- May 14 Gary Ablett Jr, Australian Rules Football midfielder (Brownlow Medal 2009, 13; 8-time All Australian; Geelong, Gold Coast), born in Moriac, Victoria
- May 14 Michael Rensing, German footballer
Mark Zuckerberg
May 14 Mark Zuckerberg, American internet entrepreneur and co-founder of Facebook, born in White Plains, New York
- May 15 Sérgio Jimenez, Brazilian racing driver
- May 16 Mickie Knuckles, American female professional wrestler
- May 16 Pania Rose, Australian fashion model, born in Perth, Western Australia
- May 16 Darío Cvitanich, Argentine football player, born in Baradero, Argentina
- May 16 Tomáš Fleischmann, Czech ice hockey player, born in Kopřivnice, Czechoslovakia
- May 16 Jensen Lewis, American baseball player, born Cincinnati, Ohio
- May 16 Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player, born Alberta, Canada (d. 2011)
- May 17 Christian Bolaños, Costa Rican footballer, born in Hatillo, Costa Rica
- May 17 Lena Waithe, American screenwriter, actress and producer (Master of None), born in Chicago, Illinois
- May 18 Niki Terpstra, Dutch cyclist, born in Beverwijk, Netherlands
- May 18 Joakim Soria, Mexican baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 2008, 10; Kansas City Royals), born in Monclova, Mexico
- May 18 Simon Pagenaud, French auto racer (IndyCar champion 2016; Indianapolis 500 2019), born in Poitiers, France
- May 19 Marcedes Lewis, American NFL tight end (Pro Bowl 2010; Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers), born in Los Alamitos, California
- May 20 Kenny Vasoli, American rock singer-songwriter, and musician (Vacationer), born in Abington, Pennsylvania
- May 21 Lorena Ayala, Spanish-Dutch model and beauty queen
- May 21 Brandon Fields, National Football League punter, born in Southfield, Michigan
- May 21 Gary Woodland, American golfer (US Open 2019), born in Topeka, Kansas
- May 22 Joe Lauzon, American martial artist
- May 23 Adam Wylie, actor (Picket Fences)
- May 24 Sarah Hagan, American actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), born in Austin, Texas
- May 24 Brodney Pool, American football player (Cleveland Browns), born in Corpus Christi, Texas
- May 25 Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir, Icelandic actress and beauty queen who won 2005 Miss World, born in Reykjavík, Iceland
- May 25 Marion Raven, Norwegian singer and songwriter (M2M), born in Lørenskog, Norway
- May 25 Kyle Brodziak, Canadian ice hockey player, born in St. Paul, Alberta, Canada
- May 25 Shawne Merriman, American football player, born in Washington, D.C.
- May 25 Kostas Martakis, Greek singer, born in Athens, Greece
- May 27 Kalle Spjuth, Swedish bandy player
- May 28 Beth Allen, New Zealand actress
- May 29 Carmelo Anthony, American basketball forward (10-time NBA All Star), born in Brooklyn, New York
Laverne Cox
May 29 Laverne Cox, American actress and LGBT advocate, born in Mobile, Alabama
Famous Weddings
Chrissie Hynde
May 5 American rock singer-songwriter Chrissie Hynde (32) weds Scottish 'Simple Minds' singer Jim Kerr (25), in a horse-drawn carriage in New York City; divorce in 1990
Annette Bening
May 26 Actress Annette Bening (25) weds J. Steven White
Famous Deaths
- May 1 Gordon Jenkins, American arranger and orchestra leader (Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra), dies of Lou Gehrig's disease at 73
- May 1 Jüri Lossmann, Estonian athlete (Olympic silver marathon 1920), dies at 93
- May 2 Jack Barry, american game show emcee (Joker's Wild), dies of cardiac arrest at 66
- May 2 Piet van Aken, Flemish writer (Klinkaart, Het begeren), dies at 64
- May 4 Diana Dors [Fluck], British actress and singer (Berserk!; Steaming), dies of cancer at 52
- May 4 Larry Stock, American singer-songwriter ("Blueberry Hill"; "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You"), dies at 87
- May 4 Bob Clampett, American cartoonist (b. 1913)
- May 6 Bonner Pink, Conservative Party politician
- May 6 Mary Cain, Mississippi newspaper editor and politician (b. 1904)
- May 8 Gino Bianco, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1916)
- May 10 Joaquin Agostinho, Portuguese cyclist, dies at 41
- May 10 Robert Moore, American director and actor (Murder by Death, Marshall-Diana), dies from AIDS-related pneumonia at 56
- May 10 Jean-Louis Viale, French jazz drummer, dies at 51
- May 12 Doris May, American silent film actress (Peck's Bad Boy), dies at 81 of heart failure
- May 13 Stanislaw Ulam, Polish mathematician, dies at 75
- May 14 Walter Rauff, German colonel (b. 1906)
- May 14 Elmer Riddle, American baseball pitcher (NL wins leader 1943; Cincinnati Reds), dies at 69
- May 15 Lionel Charles Robbins, British economist, dies at 85
- May 15 Francis Schaeffer, American theologian, philosopher, and pastor (b. 1912)
- May 16 Andy Kaufman, American comedian and actor (Latka-Taxi), dies of cancer at 35
- May 16 Irwin Shaw, American writer (Rich Man, Poor Man), dies at 71
- May 16 Wessel Couzijn, Dutch sculptor and cartoonist (Auschwitz-monument), dies at 71
- May 19 John Betjeman, poet (Mount Zion) and English Poet Laureate (1972-1984), dies at 77
- May 20 Peter Bull, British actor and author (The African Queen, Tom Jones, Dr Strangelove), dies of a heart attack at 72
- May 21 Andrea Leeds, actress (Stage Door, Earthbound), dies of cancer at 70
- May 21 Ann Little, actress (Roaring Road), dies at 93
- May 22 John Marley [Mortimer Marlieb], American actor (Cat Ballou; Love Story; The Godfather), dies following unsuccessful open-heart surgery at 76
- May 24 Vincent J. McMahon, American professional wrestling promoter (b. 1914)
- May 25 Piet Ketting, Dutch pianist, conductor and composer, dies at 79
- May 28 Eric Morecambe [John Bartholomew], British comedian (Morecambe & Wise, Picadilly Palace), dies of a heart attack at 58
