Events in History
- May 1 US gives Poland credit of $95 million
- May 1 Vanguard TV-1 booster test reaches 195 km
Historic Event
May 2 Eugene O'Neill's stage drama "A Moon for the Misbegotten" premieres at the Bijou Theatre, NYC; runs for 68 performances
Assassination Attempt
May 2 Gangster Frank Costello escapes an assassination attempt made by rival mobsters
Historic Event
May 4 Anne Frank Foundation forms in Amsterdam
- May 5 Adolf Scharf elected president of Austria
Historic Event
May 6 Italian government of Antonio Segni resigns
Historic Event
May 6 Pulitzer prize awarded to John F. Kennedy (Profiles in Courage)
Election of Interest
May 6 Rajendra Prasad re-elected President of India for a second term in a landslide
Historic Event
May 8 South Vietnamese President, Ngô Đình Diệm, arrives in the United States on a state visit
Historic Event
May 15 Evangelist Billy Graham launches his "crusade" in front of 18,000 people at Madison Square Garden in NYC
UK Tests a Hydrogen Bomb
May 15 Operation Grapple: Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb near Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean
Historic Event
May 21 French government of Guy 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, American politician and diplomat (Rep-D-New Hampshire 1991-5), born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
- 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 Andrea Klump, German terrorist (attempt to murder Jewish emigrants in Hungary)
- May 13 Carrie Lam, Chinese politician, Chief Executive of Hong Kong (2017-22), born in Hong Kong
- May 13 Claudie Andre-Deshays, French cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-24)
- May 14 William G Gregory, American USAF Major and astronaut (STS 67), born in Lockport New York
- May 15 Juan José Ibarretxe, Basque Lehendakari (Prime Minister)
- May 21 Nadine Dorries, British politician (C), born in Liverpool, England
- May 22 Lisa Murkowski, American politician (U.S. Senator from Alaska), born in Ketchikan, Territory of Alaska
- May 24 John G. Rowland, American politician (86th Governor of Connecticut), born in Waterbury, Connecticut
- May 25 Edward Lee, American writer (Mr. Torso), born in Washington, D.C.
- May 26 François Legault, French Canadian politician
- May 26 Pontso S.M. Sekatle, Lesotho academic and politician
- May 28 Walter R. Tucker III, American politician (Rep-D-California 1993-95), born in Compton, California
- May 29 Jeb Hensarling, American politician (Rep-R-Texas 2013-19), born in Stephenville, Texas
- May 30 Hervé Leroux, French fashion designer and founder of Hervé Léger fashion house, born in Bapaume, France (d. 2017)
- May 31 Stephen Jones, English milliner (John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood), born in the Wirral Peninsula, England
Deaths in History
Joseph McCarthy (1909-1957)
May 2 American Senator (Rep - Wisconsin) who claimed communists infiltrated the US government, dies of acute hepatitis, exacerbated by chronic alcohol abuse at 48
- May 5 Joseph W Kennedy, American chemist (Manhattan Project; 1 of 4 discoverers of plutonium), and educator, dies of stomach cancer at 40
- May 7 Wilhelm Filchner, German explorer who led the German Antarctic expedition of 1911–12, dies at 79
- May 8 Jan Sluyters, Dutch painter (Moderne Kunstkring), dies at 75
- May 9 Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan business magnate & philanthropist, dies at 69
- May 9 Heinrich Campendonk, German painter & wood carver, dies at 67
- May 14 Marie Vassilieff [Mariya Vassiliéva], Russian-French Left Bank artist, dies at 73
- 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)
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists