Historical Events
- May 1 125th Kentucky Derby: Chris Antley wins aboard Charismatic for his second Derby victory (1991 on Strike The Gold)
Television Debut
May 1 Animated series "SpongeBob SquarePants", created by Stephen Hillenburg, debuts on Nickelodeon
Stephen Hillenburg
- May 2 Panamanian election, 1999: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama
Event of Interest
May 2 John Elway announces his retirement from the NFL
John Elway
- May 3 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is slammed by an F5 tornado killing forty-two people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado was one of 66 from the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak.
- May 3 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time in its history at 11,014.70.
- May 3 Stephen Hendry defeats Mark Williams 18-11 to win the World Snooker Championship for a record seventh time.
Film Premier
May 4 "The Mummy" film directed by Stephen Sommers starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah premieres in the US
Rachel Weisz
Music Awards
May 5 34th Academy of Country Music Awards: Garth Brooks, Faith Hill & Tim McGraw win
Garth Brooks
Faith Hill
Papal Visit
May 7 Pope John Paul II travels to Romania becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.
John Paul II
- May 7 Jury finds "The Jenny Jones Show" and Warner Bros. liable in death of Scott Amedure, after purposely deceiving Jonathan Schmitz to appear on a same-sex crush episode. Schmitz later kills Amedure, jury awards Amedure's family $25 million
- May 8 Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel military college.
- May 9 45th British Academy Television Awards: "Father Ted" Best Comedy, "The Cops" Best Drama
- May 12 Sir David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament.
- May 13 Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is elected 10th President of Italy
- May 15 124th Preakness: Chris Antley wins aboard Charismatic for the second leg of an unsuccessful Triple Crown campaign
- May 18 "Millennium" 3rd studio album by the Backstreet Boys is released - one of the best-selling albums of all time, over 30 million copies sold
Film Release
May 19 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, directed by George Lucas, starring Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and Liam Neeson is released in cinemas
- May 19 Lazio of Italy win 39th European Cup Winner's Cup against Mallorca of Spain 2-1 in Birmingham
- May 19 Andrew Motion is appointed British Poet Laureate for 10 years, the first to request a definite term
- May 21 All My Children star Susan Lucci finally wins a Daytime Emmy after being nominated 19 times, the longest period of unsuccessful nominations in television history
- May 23 52nd Cannes Film Festival: "Rosetta" directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne wins the Palme d'Or
- May 24 Venezuela enters the Antarctic Treaty System.
- May 25 The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report detailing People's Republic of China's nuclear espionage against the U.S. over prior two decades
- May 26 7th UEFA Champions League Final: Manchester United beats Bayern Munich 2-1 at Barcelona
Event of Interest
May 27 The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo
Slobodan Milosevic
Event of Interest
May 28 In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper" is put back on display
Leonardo da Vinci
- May 28 Two Swedish police officers are murdered with their own fire arms by the bank robbers Jackie Arklöv and Tony Olsson after a dramatic car chase
- May 29 Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule
- May 29 Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station.
- May 29 44th Eurovision Song Contest: Charlotte Nilsson for Sweden wins singing "Take Me to Your Heaven" in Jerusalem
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Kenny Bräck wins in 3:15:51.182 (246.513 km/h)
- May 30 Canterbury Crusaders retain their Super 12 Rugby title with a 24-19 win over Otago Highlanders at Carisbrook, Dunedin; flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens kicks 3 penalties, a conversion and dropped goal for the winners
- May 31 NHL Eastern Conference Final: Buffalo Sabres beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 1
Famous Birthdays
- May 23 James Charles [Dickinson], American internet personality and model (Cover Girl), born in Bethlehem, New York
Famous Weddings
- May 1 "Dixie Chicks" singer Emily Erwin (26) weds singer-songwriter Charlie Robison (34) at Lone Star State in Texas
- May 1 "As Good As It Gets" actor Greg Kinnear (35) weds British model Helen Labdon (29)
- May 8 "ER" actor Goran Visnjic (34) weds Croatian artist Ivana Vrdoljak
- May 14 "Sunset Beach" actor Clive Robertson (33) weds actress Libby Purvis (30) at sunset on Necker Island
Wedding of Interest
May 21 NFL legend Deion Sanders (31) weds model Pilar Biggers in Paradise Island, Bahamas
Deion Sanders
Wedding of Interest
May 30 "The Goodbye Girl" actor Richard Dreyfuss (51) weds accountant Janelle Lacey in Los Angeles
Richard Dreyfuss
Famous Deaths
- May 2 Oliver Reed, English actor (b. 1938)
- May 2 Edward Portman, 9th Viscount Portman, British landowner and multimillionaire, dies at 65
- May 3 Joe Adcock, American baseball player (b. 1927)
- May 3 Steve Chiasson, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1967)
- May 8 Dirk Bogarde [Derek van den Bogaerde] British writer and actor (Death in Venice, Servant), dies at 78
- May 8 Ed Gilbert, American actor (The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries), dies at 67
- May 8 Dana Plato, American actress (b. 1964)
- May 9 Ivan M. Niven, Canadian-American mathematician, dies at 83
- May 10 Shel Silverstein, American writer (Now Here's My Plan: A Book of Futilities), dies at 68
- May 12 Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baaz, Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia 1993-1999 (b. 1910)
- May 12 Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist and illustrator (The New Yorker), dies at 84
- May 12 Penny Santon [Pierina Burlando], American actress (Fletch, Roll Out, Matt Houston), dies at 82
- May 13 Gene Sarazen, American golfer (7 major titles), dies of pneumonia at 97
- May 17 Bruce Fairbairn, Canadian record producer and musician (b. 1949)
- May 17 Henry Jones, American actor (Vertigo, Phyllis, Falcon Crest, Gun Shy), dies from complications from a fall at 86
- May 18 Augustus Pablo, Jamaican singer (b. 1954)
- May 18 Betty Robinson, American runner (b. 1911)
- May 18 Freddy Randall, English jazz trumpeter, dies at 78
- May 19 James Blades, English percussionist (b. 1901)
- May 19 Candy Candido [Jonathan Joseph Candido], American actor and radio performer (Peter Pan, The Great Mouse Detective), dies at 85
- May 20 Robert Rhodes James, British politician historian (Gallipoli), dies at 66
- May 21 Karnail "Bugz" Pitts, American rapper (D12) (b. 1979)
- May 21 Vanessa Brown [Smylla Brind], Austrian-born American actress (My Favorite Husband), dies at 71
- May 23 Owen Hart, Canadian-American professional wrestler, dies at 34
- May 26 Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor (b. 1906)
- May 26 Waldo Semon, American inventor (b. 1898)