Historical Events in May 2012

May 2 'The Scream', by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (a pastel version) sells at auction for $119,922,500

May 2 Barcelona football player Lionel Messi breaks the European goal-scoring record with 68 goals

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 6 François Hollande elected 24th President of France

May 6 Greek parliamentary election results in 60% support for parties opposed to austerity measures
May 7 NATO air strike kills 14 and woulds 6 civilians in Afghanistan's Badghis Province

May 7 Vladimir Putin sworn in for third six-year term as President of Russia

May 7 Paeleoclimatological research claims dinosaur flatulence may have warmed the earth

May 8 Dmitry Medvedev is confirmed as Russian Prime Minister by the State Duma, after being nominated by Vladimir Putin

May 9 Mark Rothko's "Orange, Red, Yellow" becomes the most expensive contemporary art piece to be sold at auction for $86.9 million dollars
May 9 A Russian passenger jet disappears with 45 people on board

May 9 United States President Barack Obama officially states his support for same-sex marriage

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 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 20th UEFA Champions League Final: Chelsea beats Bayern Munich (1-1, 4-3 on penalties) at Munich
May 20 6.0 magnitude earthquake kills 6 and injures dozens in northern Italy
May 20 Tomislav Nikolić elected president of Serbia

May 20 20th Billboard Music Awards: Adele, 21 win

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

May 25 A SpaceX Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to dock at the International Space Station

May 25 NHL Eastern Conference Finals: New Jersey Devils beat New York Rangers, 4 games to 2
May 26 A gunman in the Finnish town of Hyvinkaa kills 2, wounds 7

May 26 Pope Benedict XVI's butler is arrested for allegedly leaking confidential documents

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 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