Events in History
- May 8 The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin opens
Scientific Discovery
May 8 Ernest Rutherford publishes his discovery of two different kinds of radiation (Alpha and Beta Particles)
- May 9 John Burr patents an improved rotary blade lawn mower in the US
- May 17 Victoria & Albert Museum foundation laid, London, England
- May 18 World Goodwill Day: 26 nations meet in 1st Hague Peace Conference
- May 20 First speeding infraction by a New York cabbie driving an electric car - 12mph down Lexington Street
- May 24 1st auto repair shop opens (Boston)
- May 31 -June 5] Conference of Bloemfontein fails
- May 31 Bronx acquires Keltch Memorial Park
Birthdays in History
- May 2 George Hamilton Combs, American politician and TV and radio commentator (Through the Curtain), born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 1977)
- May 8 Jan F. van Hall, Dutch sculptor/resistance fighter
- May 8 [Friedrich] August von Hayek, Aust/British economist (Road to Serfdom)
- May 11 Paulino Masip, Spanish playwright (d. 1963)
- May 12 Indra Devi, Latvian Yoga Instructor (d. 2002)
- May 14 Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist (d. 1993)
- May 15 Jean-Etienne Valluy, French general (d. 1970)
- May 20 John M Harlan, 91st Supreme Court justice (1955-71), born in Chicago, Illinois
- May 20 Alexander Deyneka, Ukrainian painter (d. 1969)
- May 24 Henri Michaux, Belgian-born French poet and writer (Miserable Miracle), born in Namur, Belgium (d. 1984)
- May 26 Otto E. Neugebauer, Austrian-American mathematician and historian, born in Innsbruck, Austria-Hungary (d. 1990)
Pieter Menten
May 26 Pieter Menten, Dutch war criminal, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1987)
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists