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
- May 5 Adolf Scharf elected president of Austria
Event of Interest
May 6 Italian government of Antonio Segni resigns
Antonio Segni
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 Evangelist Billy Graham launches his "crusade" in front of 18,000 people at Madison Square Garden in NYC
Billy Graham
UK Tests a Hydrogen Bomb
May 15 Operation Grapple: Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb near Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean
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- May 16 US launches its 3rd atomic submarine, USS Skate, at Groton, Connecticut
- 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 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, (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, 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
May 2 Joseph McCarthy, American Senator (Rep - Wisconsin) who claimed communists infiltrated the US government, dies at 48
Joseph McCarthy
- May 7 Wilhelm Filchner, German explorer who led the German Antarctic expedition of 1911–12, dies at 79
- May 8 Johannes C B "Jan" Sluyters, Dutch painter, 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)