Events in History
Assassination Attempt
May 2 Gangster Frank Costello escapes an assassination attempt made by rival mobsters
Frank Costello
Event of Interest
May 4 Anne Frank Foundation forms in Amsterdam
Anne Frank
Event of Interest
May 6 Pulitzer prize awarded to John F. Kennedy (Profiles in Courage)
John F. Kennedy
Event of Interest
May 8 South Vietnamese President, Ngô Đình Diệm, arrives in the United States on a state visit
Ngô Đình Diệm
Event of Interest
May 15 18,000 people at Madison Square Garden for Billy Graham launching his crusade
Billy Graham
- May 15 1st British H-bomb explosion (over Christmas Island)
- May 16 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Invicti Athletae
- May 16 US launches its 3rd atomic submarine, USS Skate, at Groton, Connecticut
- May 16 Yanks involved in Copacabana Incident, leads to Billy Martin trade
- May 17 Prayer Pilgrimage, biggest civil rights demonstration to date (DC)
- May 17 School desegregation law, Brown v Board of education
- May 19 Adone Zoli forms Italian government
- May 21 French government of Mollet resigns
- May 22 South Africa's government approves race separation in universities
- May 24 Anti-American riots breakout in Taipei, Taiwan
- May 24 Heavy earthquake strikes Colombia
- May 28 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 29 Algerian rebels kill 336 collaborators
- May 29 Laos government of prince Suvanna Phuma resigns
- May 31 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Christmas Island (atmospheric)
Birthdays in History
- May 1 Dick Swett, (Rep-D-New Hampshire)
- May 1 Paul D Ronney, ScD/astronaut (STS 83 alt), born in Los Angeles, California
- May 2 Domonic L. Pudwill Gorie, American NASA astronaut (sk: STS-91), born in Lake Charles, Louisiana
- May 9 Fred Markham, 1st man to pedal a bike 65 mph
- May 11 Luca Urbani, MD/astronaut (STS 78-alt), born in Rome, Italy
- May 13 Claudie Andre-Deshays, French cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-24)
- May 13 Andrea Klump, German terrorist
- May 13 Carrie Lam, Chinese politician, Chief Executive of Hong Kong (2017-), born in Hong Kong
- May 14 William G Gregory, Lockport NY, Mjr USAF/Astronaut (STS 67)
- May 15 Juan José Ibarretxe, Basque Lehendakari (Prime Minister)
- May 21 Bruce Buffer, American Mixed Martial Arts Announcer
- May 21 Nadine Dorries, British politician
- May 22 Lisa Murkowski, American politician
- May 24 John G Rowland, (Rep-R-CT, 1985- )
- May 25 Edward Lee, American writer
- May 26 François Legault, French Canadian politician
- May 26 Pontso S.M. Sekatle, Lesotho academic and politician
- May 27 Siouxsie Sioux, [Susan Ballion], Kent England (Siouxsie & Banshees)
- May 28 Walter R. Tucker III, American politician (Rep-D-California 1993-95), born in Compton, California
- May 29 Jeb Hensarling, American politician
- May 30 Allison Roe, marathoner (NYC-1981), born in Auckland, New Zealand
- May 30 Hervé Leroux, French fashion designer and founder of Hervé Léger fashion house, born in Bapaume, France (d. 2017)
- May 31 Stephen Jones, British milliner
Deaths in History
Joseph McCarthy
May 2 Joseph McCarthy, anti-communist US senator (R-Wisc), dies at 48
Joseph McCarthy
- May 8 Johannes C B "Jan" Sluyters, Dutch painter, dies at 75
- May 9 Heinrich Campendonk, German painter/wood carver/glasier, dies at 67
- May 14 Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (b. 1884)
- May 16 Eliot Ness, American federal agent "The Untouchables" (put away Al Capone), dies of a heart attack at 54
- May 30 Toivo R Pekkanen, Finnish writer (Black Ecstasy), dies
- May 31 Leopold Staff, Polish poet (b. 1878)