- May 1 China and Russia sign $15 billion dollar trade deal
- May 1 Guggenheim Partners make the largest ever purchase of a sports franchise after buying the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2.1 billion
The Scream
May 2 A pastel version of "The Scream", by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch sells at auction for $119,922,500
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Event of Interest
May 2 Barcelona football player Lionel Messi breaks the European goal-scoring record with 68 goals
Lionel Messi
- May 3 59th National Film Awards (India): "Deool" wins the Golden Lotus
- May 4 14 decapitated bodies and 9 hung from a bridge are found in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico
- May 5 Japan shuts down its nuclear reactors leaving the country without nuclear power for the first time since 1970
- May 5 17 people are killed and 47 missing after a flash flood in Nepal
- May 5 138th Kentucky Derby: Mario Gutierrez aboard Ill Have Another wins in 2:01.83
- May 5 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,102): Chelsea beats Liverpool, 2–1; Didier Drogba scores winner for Blues' 7th title
Election of Interest
May 6 François Hollande elected 24th President of France
François Hollande
Event of Interest
May 7 Vladimir Putin sworn in for third six-year term as President of Russia
Vladimir Putin
- May 7 Paeleoclimatological research claims dinosaur flatulence may have warmed the earth
Appointment of Interest
May 8 Dmitry Medvedev is confirmed as Russian Prime Minister by the State Duma, after being nominated by Vladimir Putin
Dmitry Medvedev
Vladimir Putin
Event of Interest
May 9 United States President Barack Obama officially states his support for same-sex marriage
Barack Obama
- May 10 The Red Cross suspends all humanitarian work in Pakistan after a worker was kidnapped and killed
- May 10 Two bombings in Damascus, Syria, kill 55 people and injure 370
- May 11 Chinese scientists break world record by transferring photons over 97 kilometers using quantum teleportation
- May 12 The discovery of a missing Mayan calendar piece disproves 2012 Armageddon
- May 13 49 dismembered bodies are found on a Mexican highway as part of the Mexican drug war
- May 13 Torrential rain in Hunan Province, China, destroys a bridge, 3,500 homes and displaces 28,000 people
- May 13 Manchester City win the English Premier League for the first time
- May 13 Manchester City beats QPR 3-2 at City of Manchester Stadium to win English Premier League title on goal difference from Manchester United; Citizens recover from 2–1 down with 2 stoppage-time goals; first EPL title decided on goal difference
- May 13 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Matt Kuchar wins by 2 strokes ahead of Ricky Fowler, Zach Johnson, Martin Laird and Ben Curtis
- May 14 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons agree to end mass hunger strike
- May 14 Stanford University scientists develop prototype bionic eye
- May 15 Eurozone economy narrowly avoids recession
- May 15 Greece's fifth attempt to a form a coalition government fails and new June elections are scheduled
- May 19 137th Preakness: Mario Gutierrez aboard Ill Have Another wins in 1:55.94
- May 19 UEFA Champions League Final, Munich: Chelsea beats Bayern Munich, 4-3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time; Blues' first title
- May 20 6.0 magnitude earthquake kills 6 and injures dozens in northern Italy
- May 20 Tomislav Nikolić elected president of Serbia
- May 21 120 people are killed and 350 injured by a suicide bomb in Sana'a, Yemen
- May 21 13 people are killed and 22 people injured after a bus falls 80 metres off a cliff in Albania
- May 22 14 people die and 30 are injured in train collision in India
- May 22 Philip Philips is crowned the eleventh American Idol
- May 22 NHL Western Conference Finals: Los Angeles Kings beat Phoenix Coyotes, 4 games to 1
- May 25 Up to 116 people are massacred, including women and children, by the Syrian army in Houla, in the Homs province
Event of Interest
May 26 Pope Benedict XVI's butler is arrested for allegedly leaking confidential documents
Benedict XVI
- May 26 57th Eurovision Song Contest: Loreen for Sweden wins singing "Euphoria" in Baku
- May 27 A NATO airstrike kills a family of eight, including six children, in Afghanistan
- May 27 Indianapolis 500: Dario Franchitti wins in 2:58.51.2532 (269.934 km/h)
- May 27 65th Cannes Film Festival: "Amour" directed by Michael Haneke wins the Palme d'Or
- May 27 58th British Academy Television Awards: "Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle" Best Comedy, "The Fades" Best Drama
- May 27 IPL Cricket Final, M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Chennai Super Kings by 5 wickets; Manvinder Bisla top scores, 89 (48)
- May 27 Senior PGA Championship Men’s Golf, The GC at Harbor Shores: Englishman Roger Chapman wins first of 2 Champions Tour major titles of the year by 2 strokes from John Cook
- May 29 Thousands march in protest in Johannesburg against Brett Murray's controversial painting The Spear
- May 29 Facebook's problematic public listing could cost those involved $115 million from technical glitches
- May 29 A 5.9 magnitude earthquake kills 24 people near Bologna, northern Italy
- May 29 Indonesian police make the biggest drug bust in ten years after seizing over a million ecstasy pills valued at $45 million
- May 30 A number of nations including Germany, Turkey and Canada, expel Syrian diplomats following the Houla massacre
- May 30 Vishwanathan Anand wins his fifth World Chess Championship
- May 31 Egypt formally ends its 31 year state of emergency