Music History
May 1 Elton John performs for 1st time in Israel, kicking off a mini-tour of 5 shows in six nights
Music Awards
May 2 14th Academy of Country Music Awards: Kenny Rogers and Barbara Mandrell win
- May 3 MLB Cleveland Indian Bobby Bonds hits his 300th HR (2nd to have 300 HRs & 300 stolen bases)
- May 3 Martin Sherman's "Bent" premieres in London
- May 3 1979 NFL Draft: Tom Cousineau from Ohio State first pick by Buffalo Bills
Election of Interest
May 4 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to be elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- May 4 NASA launches Fltsatcom-2
- May 5 105th Kentucky Derby: Ron Franklin on Spectacular Bid wins in 2:02.4
- May 5 Masterpiece Radio Theater begins broadcasting
- May 5 Voyager 1 passes Jupiter
- May 6 Fred Markham set a bicycle speed record of 818 kph over 200 m
- May 6 Louis LaRusso II's "Knockout" premieres in NYC
- May 6 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- May 7 5th UNCTAD-conference opens in Manila
- May 7 Gary Roenicke hits into Orioles 13th triple play (Oakland)
- May 8 Radio Shack releases TRSDOS 2.3
- May 9 Iranian-Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is the 1st Jew executed by the Islamic government firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran
- May 10 Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing
- May 10 John McMullen becomes CEO of Houston Astros
- May 10 Vivekananda (Sri Lanka) completes nonstop cycle ride of 187 hrs, 28 min, around Vihara Maha Devi Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka [From May 2]
Sports History
May 12 Chris Evert's 125-match winning streak on clay comes to an end
- May 13 "Utter Glory... Morrissey Hall" opens & closes at Mark Hellinger NYC
Historic Event
May 13 Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and family sentenced to death in Tehran
- May 14 "Kids Are All Right" rockumentary film featuring The Who premieres at the Cannes Film Festival
- May 14 "Stalker", Russian film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, starring Alexander Kaidanovsky and Anatoli Solonitsyn, is released
- May 16 FC Barcelona of Spain wins 19th European Cup Winner's Cup against Fortuna Düsseldorf of West Germany 4-3 in Basel
- May 16 NL approves Astros sales from Ford Motors to John J McMullen for $19M
- May 17 Coldest temperature ever recorded in Hawaii - 12°F (-11°C), on top of Mauna Kea
- May 17 Emmy 6th Daytime Award presentation, "Ryan's Hope" wins Outstanding Daytime Drama Series
- May 17 Phillies beat Cubs, 23-22, on 50 hits with 11 HRs
- May 19 "In The Navy" by Village People hits #3
- May 19 104th Preakness: Ron Franklin aboard Spectacular Bid wins in 1:54.2
- May 20 "I Love My Wife" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 864 performances
- May 20 Elton John is the 1st western pop star to tour USSR
White Night Riots
May 21 Dan White convicted of the voluntary manslaughter of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and openly gay councilor Harvey Milk. The conviction on a lesser charge outraged the gay community and led to the White Night riots.
Election of Interest
May 22 Canadians elect conservatives, Joseph Clark replaces Pierre Trudeau as the 16th Prime Minister of Canada
- May 22 Commencement of 1st ICC Trophy (PNG v East Africa & Singapore v Argentina)
Film & TV History
May 22 1st ACE Cable Awards: "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" by Jim Henson and HBO
Sports History
May 24 Billy Martin issues a public apology to Reno sportswriter Ray Hagar
- May 24 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Cannes Film Festival
May 24 32nd Cannes Film Festival: "Apocalypse Now" directed by Francis Ford Coppola and "Die Biechtrommel" directed by Volker Schlondorff jointly awarded the Palme d'Or
Film Release
May 25 Horror film "Alien", directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver is released
Music History
May 26 "Dancin' Fool" by Frank Zappa hits #45
Historic Event
May 27 Pope John Paul II ordains John J O'Connor as a bishop
Television Premiere
May 28 ABC premiere of TV's "The House on Garibaldi Street", based on the 1960 capture of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina
- May 29 Bishop Abel Muzorewa is sworn in as Zimbabwe's 1st black Prime Minister
- May 29 Radio's 1st rock network "Source" premieres
- May 29 CBS premiere of Melissa Anderson's modern "Survival of Dana", her first "bad girl" role, in which Anderson's title character leaves her North Dakota town for Los Angeles after her parents' divorce
- May 30 Pat Underwood makes his pitching debut for Detroit beats brother Tom
- May 30 Percom Data Company Inc release Microdos for Radio Shack's TRS-80
- May 30 Ted Coombs begins a 5,193 mile roller skate from LA to NYC
- May 30 23rd European Cup: Nottingham Forest beats Malmo FF 1-0 at Munich
- May 31 "I Remember Mama" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 108 performances
- May 31 Radio City Music Hall (NYC) reopens