- May 2 Leicester City win the English Premier League title after starting the season at 5,000-1 odds
- May 2 World Snooker Championship: Briton Mark Selby beats Ding Junhui of China 18-14, at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
- May 3 Ted Cruz suspends his campaign to be the Republican Presidential nominee
- May 4 John Kasich bows out of the race for US Republican Presidential nominee
- May 5 Fort McMurray wildfires: Canadian province of Alberta declares a state of emergency as evacuation of 80,000 people continues
- May 7 142nd Kentucky Derby: Nyquist ridden by Mario Gutierrez wins in 2:01.31
- May 8 Sadiq Khan (L) is elected Mayor of London, - 1st Muslim mayor of a major Western city
- May 9 Rodrigo Duterte wins Philippine presidential election, promising war on drug trade and killing of criminals
Event of Interest
May 9 Boris Johnson resigns as Mayor of London, succeeded by Sadiq Khan
Boris Johnson
- May 10 Indian fertility clinic announces that a 70 year old woman has successfully gave birth to a baby boy
- May 11 Brazilian senate votes to suspend President Dilma Rousseff and put her on trial for budgetary violations
- May 12 Michel Temer, former vice-president, becomes Brazilian interim President after a vote to impeach Dilma Rousseff
- May 14 61st Eurovision Song Contest: Ukraine's Jamala wins singing "1944"
Event of Interest
May 14 Gabriel Medina becomes the first surfer ever to land the move "Backflip" in competition
Gabriel Medina
- May 19 EgyptAir flight MS804 goes missing over the Mediterranean on route Paris to Cairo
- May 21 Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, leader of the Afghan Taliban is reportably killed by a US drone in Pakistan
- May 21 141st Preakness Stakes: Kent Desormeaux aboard Exaggerator wins in 1 minute 58 seconds
- May 22 69th Cannes Film Festival: "I, Daniel Blake," directed by Ken Loach wins the Palme d'Or
Event of Interest
May 22 US President Barack Obama arrives in Vietman for a 3 day tour
Barack Obama
- May 22 Independent Alexander Van der Bellen defeats Freedom Party's Norbert Hofer by just 31,000 votes to become President in Austrian elections
Event of Interest
May 22 TV series "Preacher", developed by Evan Goldberg, Sam Catlin, and Seth Rogen, premieres on AMC
Seth Rogen
Event of Interest
May 24 Bill Cosby is ordered to stand trial in a sexual assault case in Norristown
Bill Cosby
- May 27 3 ships in 3 days sink carrying immigrants across the Mediterraneann, drowning over 700 people
- May 28 Harambe, a gorilla form Cincinnati Zoo, is shot after dragging a 3 year old boy who had slipped into it's enclosure
- May 30 Former Chad dictator Hissène Habré convicted of crimes against humanity by the Extraordinary African chambers, 1st ex-head of state convicted of the charge