Events in Sport
- May 1 First one-day cricket competition is played (Gillette Cup), Lancashire beats Leicestershire by 101 at Old Trafford
- May 4 89th Kentucky Derby: Braulio Baeza aboard Chateaugay wins in 2:01.8
- May 4 Pitcher Bob Shaw sets record of 5 balks in a game
- May 11 LA Dodger Sandy Koufax 2nd no-hitter beats NY Giants, 8-0
- May 15 Tottenham Hotspur of England win 3rd European Cup winner's Cup against Atlético Madrid of Spain 5-1 at Rotterdam
- May 17 Houston Colt .45's Don Notterbart no-hits Phillies, 4-1
- May 18 88th Preakness: Bill Shoemaker aboard Candy Spots wins in 1:56.2
Event of Interest
May 22 Mickey Mantle hits a ball off Yankee Stadium's facade
Mickey Mantle
- May 25 Great Britain ends its amateur-professional classes in cricket
Tennis Open
May 26 French Championships Men's Tennis: Australian Roy Emerson beats home favourite Pierre Darmon 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
Roy Emerson
Birthdays in Sport
- May 1 Robert Seguso, American tennis player (4 x doubles major titles, gold medal doubles 1988 Olympics), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- May 2 Jos van Eck, Dutch soccer player (Sparta), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands
- May 2 Kenton Leonard, CFL cornerback (Calgary Stampeders), born in Point Coupee, Louisiana
- May 3 Jeff Hornacek, American basketball player and coach, born in Elmhurst, Illinois
- May 11 Mark Breland, American welterweight boxer (Olympic gold 1984), born in Brooklyn, New York
- May 12 Stefano Modena, Italian racing driver
- May 13 Wally Masur, England, tennis star
- May 14 Pat Borders, catcher (California Angels), born in Columbus, Ohio
- May 17 Jon Koncak, NBA center (Orlando Magic)
- May 18 Marty McSorley, Hamilton, NHL defenseman (LA Kings, NY Rangers)
- May 19 Filippo Galli, Italian footballer
- May 20 David Wells, pitcher (Baltimore Orioles, NY Yankees), born in Torrance, California
- May 21 Yelena Vodorezova, USSR, figure skater (Olympic-1976)
- May 24 Horace Holden Jr., American slalom double canoe (Olympic 11th 1996), born in Atlanta, Georgia
- May 24 Joe Dumars, American Basketball Hall of Fame guard (Detroit Pistons; 6-time NBA All-Star), born in Shreveport, Louisiana
- May 24 Ivan Capelli, Italian racing driver, born in Milan, Italy
- May 24 Rich Rodriguez, American football coach, born in Grant Town, West Virginia
- May 24 Ken Flach, American professional tennis player (4 Grand Slam titles, 2 mixed doubles), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 2018)
- May 26 Eddie Martin Jr, jockey
- May 28 Eugene Robinson, NFL safety (Seattle Seahawk, GB Packers-Super Bowl 31)
- May 29 Ukyo Katayama, Japanese auto racer, team manager (F1 95 starts), born in Tokyo, Japan
- May 29 Claude Loiselle, Canadian hockey center, executive (NHL 1994-2002), born in Ottawa, Ontario
Deaths in Sport
- May 2 Jack Crawford, cricketer (469 runs & 39 wickets in 12 Tests), dies
- May 10 Gene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb, American football player (b. 1931)
- May 12 Robert Kerr, Canadian runner (1908 Olympics), dies at 80
- May 18 Ernie Davis, American football player (1st African American to win Heisman Trophy - 1961), dies of leukemia aged 23