Events in History
- May 2 Cin Fred Tooney & Chic's Hippo Vaughn pitch duel no-hitter, Vaughn gives up 2 hits & a run in 10th, so Cin wins 1-0
- May 4 A flotilla of US destroyer ships arrive in Queenstown, Ireland, to aid in convoying ships to England
Historic Event
May 5 Eugene Bullard gains his pilot's license from Aéro-Club de France and becomes the 1st African-American military pilot (French Air Service)
- May 10 Atlantic ships get destroyer escorts to stop German attacks
- May 13 1st appearance of Mary to 3 shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal
- May 15 The first officer's training camp is opened in the US, as the country prepares for war
- May 18 Erik Satie, Leonide Massine and Pablo Picasso's ballet "Parade" premieres in Paris
- May 18 US Congress passes Selective Service Act, authorizing the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through compulsory enlistment
Historic Event
May 18 First units of the American Expeditionary Force, commanded by General John J. Pershing, is ordered to France
- May 20 Turkish government authorizes Jews to return to Tel Aviv & Jaffa
- May 21 Leo Pinckney, 1st American drafted during WWI
- May 21 The Great Fire of Atlanta: at least 10,000 people were displaced, but there was only one fatality
- May 23 Dutch 2nd Chamber approves 1908 conscription draft
- May 27 Race riot in East St Louis Illinois, 1 black killed
Birthdays in History
- May 1 Ahron Soloveichik, Orthodox Jewish rabbi, born in Khislavichi, Russia (d. 2001)
- May 3 Kiro Gligorov, 1st President of the Republic of Macedonia (1991-99), born in Štip, Kingdom of Serbia (d. 2012)
- May 7 William Geoffrey Biddle, English bomb disposal expert, born in Bromley, Kent, England (d. 1997)
- May 11 Hon Montague Woodhouse, Greek resistance organiser
- May 13 Wilhelmus Wijen [Broeder Pius], social worker (Curacao)
- May 14 Herta Ryder, literary agent
- May 18 Charles Wintour, English journalist (The Evening Standard), born in Dorset, England (d. 1999)
- May 20 Richard Cobb, British historian, born in Frinton-on-Sea (d. 1996)
- May 20 Guy Favreau, French Canadian lawyer, politician and judge , born in Montréal, Quebec (d. 1967)
- May 20 Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)
- May 21 Ronald Colville, Scottish businessman and Governor of the Bank of Scotland, born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1996)
- May 22 Jean-Louis Curtis [Albert Laffitte], French novelist (The Forests of the Night), born in Orthez, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France (d. 1995)
- May 23 Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist, born in West Hartford, Connecticut (d. 2008)
- May 24 Derek Hodgson, British high court judge, born in Whitefield, Manchester (d. 2002)
- May 24 Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway, British judge (d. 2013)
- May 24 Theodore Hesburgh, president (University of Notre Dame), born in Syracuse, New York (d. 2015)
- May 24 Florence Knoll Bassett, American furniture designer (Knoll), born in Saginaw, Michigan (d. 2019)
- May 28 Barry Commoner, biologist (Science & Survival), born in Brooklyn, New York
- May 28 Gerald Cash, Governor-General of the Bahamas, born in Nassau, Bahamas (d. 2003)
John F. Kennedy
May 29 John F. Kennedy, 35th US President (1961-1963) and Senator (D-Mass), born in Brookline, Massachusetts (d. 1963)
Weddings in History
Walter Lippmann
May 24 Writer Walter Lippmann (27) weds Faye Albertson
Deaths in History
- May 1 Jose E Rodo, Uruguayan writer (Motivos de proteo), dies
Charles Brooke
May 17 Charles Brooke, 2nd White Rajah of Sarawak (1868-1917), dies at 87
- May 17 Belva Ann Lockwood, American attorney (1st lady to argue in Supreme Court), dies at 86
- May 20 Philipp von Ferrary, Italian philatelist (b. 1850)
- May 20 Valentine Fleming, Scottish politician (b. 1887)
- May 23 Ranavalona III, Queen of Madagascar (1883-1897) last sovereign of Madagascar, dies in exile in Algeria at 55
- May 25 Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet, dies at 25