Historical Events
- May 1 "Romance/Romance" opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 297 performances
- May 1 Two IRA attacks in and near Roermond, Netherlands, kills 3 British servicemen and wounds 3 more
- May 2 Baltimore Orioles sign a 15 year lease to remain in Baltimore and get a new park
- May 2 David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" premieres in NYC
Event of Interest
May 2 Jackson Pollock's "Search" sold for $4,800,000
Jackson Pollock
- May 3 4,200 kg Colombian cocaine in seized at Tarpon Springs Florida
- May 3 Jasper Johns' "Diver" sold for $4,200,000
- May 4 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- May 5 Eugene A Marino installed as 1st African American archbishop
- May 6 Graeme Hick scores 405 for Worcs v Somerset 35 fours 11 sixes
- May 6 Doughnutgate incident: NJ Devils' coach Jim Schoenfeld tells referee Don Koharski to 'eat another doughnut you fat pig!,' he is suspended
- May 7 114th Kentucky Derby: Gary Stevens on Winning Colors wins in 2:02.2
- May 7 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- May 8 "Oba Oba" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 46 performances
Election of Interest
May 8 Francois Mitterrand elected President of France
Francois Mitterrand
Event of Interest
May 8 Mike Tyson crashes his $183,000 Bently on Varick St in New York City
Mike Tyson
- May 8 Amateur referees work NJ Devil-Boston Bruin playoff games, as NHL referees walk-off, due to a restraining order brought by Devils
Event of Interest
May 9 Australia's new parliament house is opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Canberra
Elizabeth II
Event of Interest
May 11 Mario Andretti records fastest Indianapolis 500 lap (221.565 mph)
Mario Andretti
- May 11 NHL Clarence Campbell Conference Final: Edmonton Oilers beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 1
- May 12 "Carrie" opens at Virginia Theater NYC for 5 performances
- May 14 "Mail" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 36 performances
- May 14 1st non-pitcher (Jose Oquendo) in 20 years to get a decision in a baseball game, he & St Louis Cards lose to Braves 7-5 in 19 inn
- May 14 Carrollton bus collision: a drunk driver going the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky, United States hits a converted school bus carrying a church youth group. The crash and ensuing fire kill 27.
- May 14 NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: Boston Bruins beat New Jersey Devils, 4 games to 3
- May 15 "Carrie" closes at Virginia Theater NYC after 5 performances
- May 15 "Gospel at Colonus" closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 61 performances
Event of Interest
May 15 2nd American Comedy Award: Robin Williams & Tracey Ullman
Robin Williams
- May 15 USSR begins withdrawing its 115,000 troops from Afghanistan
- May 16 US Surgeon General C Everett Koop reports nicotine as addictive as heroin
- May 16 US Supreme Court rules trash may be searched without a warrant
- May 18 In just Oakland's 39th of the season, pitcher Dave Stewart breaks record with his 12th balk en route to 16
- May 19 Red Sox retire Bobby Doerr's #1
- May 19 Carlos Lehder Rivas, of Colombia's Medellin drug cartel, is convicted in Florida for smuggling more than 3 tons of cocaine into US
- May 20 Howard Stern fans disrupt WMMR's & John DeBella's "Louie Louie" parade
Event of Interest
May 20 Mike Schmidt hits his 535th HR, moving into 8th place
Mike Schmidt
- May 21 "Da'Butt" by EU hits #35
Event of Interest
May 21 "Fat" by Weird Al Yankovic hits #99
Weird Al Yankovic
LPGA Championship
May 22 LPGA Championship, Jack Nicklaus GC: Sherri Turner birdies final 2 holes to win her only major title, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Amy Alcott
Sherri Turner
- May 22 Károly Grósz succeeds party leader Janos Kádár in Hungary
- May 23 Maryland stops sale of cheap pistols on Jan 1, 1990
- May 23 41st Cannes Film Festival: "Pelle erobreren" directed by Bille August wins the Palme d'Or
- May 24 John Moschitta set record for fast talking: 586 words per minute
- May 24 Porntip Nakhirunkanok, 19, of Thailand, crowned 37th Miss Universe
- May 24 Power outage in Boston Garden in NHL's Stanley Cup finals
- May 24 Section 28 passed as law by Parliament in the United Kingdom prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality. Repealed 2001/2004
- May 25 32nd European Cup: PSV Eindhoven beats Benfica (0-0, 6-5 on penalties) at Stuttgart
- May 26 Stanley Cup Final, Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, AL: Edmonton Oilers beat Boston Bruins, 6-3 for 4 game series sweep
- May 27 Senate ratified a treaty eliminating medium-range nuclear missiles
- May 29 Graeme Hick scores his 1,000th run of 1st-class cricket season
- May 29 Pakistan President Zia ul-Haq dismisses government and disbands parliament
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Teodor Peterson, Swedish cross-country skier (silver, bronze medals 2014 Olympics), born in Umeå, Sweden
- May 2 Lara Liang, Russian-Taiwanese-American singer (Nan Quan Mama), born in California
- May 5 Jessica Dubroff, American aviator (attempting to become the youngest person to fly a light utility aircraft across the United States), born in Falmouth, Massachusetts (d. 1996)
- May 5 Brooke Hogan, American singer (Undiscovered), born in Tampa, Florida
- May 5 Skye Sweetnam, Canadian singer and songwriter (Sumo Cyco), born in Bolton, Ontario, Canada
- May 7 Natalie Mejia, member of the American R&B/Pop group Girlicious
- May 9 Skye Regan, Canadian Actress and Writer
- May 9 John Ryan Fitzpatrick, Canadian race truck driver
- May 12 Marcelo [Vieira da Silva Júnior], Brazilian football player (Real Madrid, Brazil national team), born in Rio de Janeiro
- May 15 Jessica Falkholt, Australian actress (Hope Morrison-Home and Away, born in Sydney, Australia (d. 2018)
- May 17 Nikki Reed, American actress
- May 18 Ryan Cooley, Canadian television actor
- May 20 Carla Humphries, Filipina actress
- May 21 Jonathan Howson, English footballer
- May 23 Morgan Pressel, American golfer (ANA Inspiration 2007), born in Tampa, Florida
- May 24 Billy Gilman, American singer (One Voice), born in Westerly, Rhode Island
- May 26 Joel Selwood, Australian footballer
- May 28 David Perron, Canadian ice hockey player
- May 29 Cheng Fei, Chinese gymnast (Olympic gold female team 2008), born in Huangshi, Hubei
- May 29 Steve Mason, Canadian NHL goaltender (Calder Memorial Trophy rookie of the year 2008-09), born in Oakville, Ontario
- May 31 Hope Partlow, American Singer
Famous Weddings
Wedding of Interest
May 28 Journalist Harry Reasoner (65) weds Lois Harriett Weber
Harry Reasoner
Wedding of Interest
May 28 Senator Bernie Sanders (46) weds social worker Jane O'Meara
Bernie Sanders
Famous Deaths
- May 1 Ben Lexcen, Australian yacht designer (Australia II 1983 America's Cup), dies of heart disease at 52
- May 1 Carroll Righter, American columnist and astrologer to the stars, dies prostate cancer at 88
- May 1 Paolo Stoppa, actor (Garibaldi, Visit, Freedom Fighters), dies
- May 3 Lev Pontryagin, Russian mathematician, dies at 79
- May 3 Walther Vanbeselaere, Flemish art historian, dies at 79
- May 5 George Rose, British actor and singer (Beacon Hill, Holocaust), dies at 68
- May 5 Tamara Pos, Suriname/Dutch activist
- May 5 Michael Shaara, American author (Killer angels), dies of a heart attack at 59
- May 8 Robert A Heinlein, sci-fi writer (Friday), dies of heart failure at 80
- May 10 Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (Long River), dies at 85
Kim Philby
May 11 Kim Philby, British spy and Soviet mole who was a member of the "Cambridge Five", dies at 76
Kim Philby
- May 12 Paul Osborn, American playwright (Mornings at 7), dies at 86
- May 13 Chet Baker, jazz trumpeter, fell to death out of a hotel window at 59
- May 14 Willem Drees, Dutch statesman of the Labour Party (PvdA) and Prime Minister of the Netherlands, dies at 101
- May 15 Andrew Duggan, American character actor (Secret War of Harry Frigg, Winds of War), dies of cancer at 64
- May 15 Greta Nissen, actress (Ambassador Bill), dies
- May 16 Kay Baxter, best bodybuilder in the world (1983-85), dies in car crash at 42
- May 16 Louise Wood, director of Girl Scouts of USA (1961-72), dies at 78
- May 16 Charles Keeping, English illustrator (b. 1924)
- May 18 Daws Butler, cartoon voice (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound), dies at 71
- May 19 Virginia Farmer, actresss (Cyrano de Bergerac), dies at 90
- May 20 René Defossez, Belgian composer, dies at 82
- May 21 Dino Conte Grandi, Italian Fascist politician and delegate to league of nations (1925-32), dies at 92
- May 21 Bruno Frei [Benedikt Freistadt], Austrian Marxist journalist, dies at 91
- May 22 Giorgio Almirante, Italian fascist (member of parliament (1948-87)), dies at 73
- May 23 David Schoenbrun, CBS broadcast bureau head (Wash, Paris), dies at 73
- May 23 Andreas Liebenberg, South African military commander, dies at 60
- May 24 James "Hamish" Hamilton, British publisher (Salinger/Mitford), dies at 87
- May 24 Tom Burtt, cricketer (NZ slow left-armer in 11 Tests 1947-53), dies
- May 25 Ernst Ruska, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- May 26 José Muñoz Molleda, Spanish composer and politician, dies at 83
- May 27 Florida Friebus, American actress (Bob Newhart Show), dies of a stroke at 79
- May 27 Melvin J "Cy" Oliver, US jazz composer/orchestra leader, dies at 77
- May 27 Renato Salvatori, actor (Burn, Luna, 2 Women), dies
- May 30 Ella Raines, American actress (Uncle Harry, Runaround, Impact, Brute Force), dies of throat cancer at 67