Historical Events
- May 1 Cyprus becomes a British Crown Colony
Jimmie Foxx MLB Debut
May 1 Future Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Jimmie Foxx makes his MLB debut at 17 for Philadelphia A's; pinch-hits a single in 9-4 loss v Washington
John Scopes Arrested for Teaching Evolution
May 5 Dayton teacher John T. Scopes arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee
- May 5 Yankee Everett Scott is benched, ending his 1,307-game playing streak
- May 6 Ty Cobb hits his 5th HR in 2 games tying Cap Ansons record of 1884
- May 7 1st projection planetarium opens at Deutsche Museum in Munich, Germany
- May 7 MBA Pittsburgh Pirate shortstop Glenn Wright makes an unassisted triple play
- May 7 Phillies have their 8th game postponed in a row
50th Preakness
May 8 50th Preakness: Clarence Kummer aboard Coventry wins in 1:59
- May 8 French colonial army beats Rifkabylen in Morocco
- May 9 Cornerstone for Hebrew University, Jerusalem, laid
- May 10 To control demonstrations against foreigners, British troops in Shanghai fire into a crowd, leading to a boycott against British goods
- May 11 Communist Party of Holland splits
- May 11 Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Region constituted in RSFSR
- May 12 Uzbekistan & Kirgizistan become autonomous Soviet republics
Mrs Dalloway
May 14 Virginia Woolf's novel "Mrs Dalloway" is published by The Hogarth Press
51st Kentucky Derby
May 16 51st Kentucky Derby: Earl Sande aboard Flying Ebony wins in 2:07.6
Speaker Hits 3,000
May 17 Cleveland Indian Tris Speaker gets his 3,000th hit
- May 21 George Lloyd, Baron Lloyd of Dolobran, becomes British High Commissioner in Egypt
- May 21 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsun leaves Spitsbergen with 2 seaplanes for the North Pole
- May 26 Future Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder Ty Cobb is first to collect 1,000 extra-base hits when he doubles in Detroit Tigers' 8-1 win against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park
- May 30 British mariners shoot on demonstrators
- May 30 In China protests erupt against the Great Powers infringing on Chinese sovereignty.
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Race winner Peter DePaolo becomes first driver to complete 500 miles in under 5 hours, and have an average over 100 mph; Norman Batten drives 21 laps of relief while DePaolo has his hands bandaged due to blisters
- May 30 Peter DePaolo became 1st man to average over 100 mph at Indy
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Chuck Bednarik, Pro/College Football HOF center/linebacker (Uni of Pennsylvania; NFL C'ship 1949, 60; 10 × First-team All-Pro; 8 × Pro Bowl; Philadelphia Eagles), born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (d. 2015)
Scott Carpenter (1925-2013)
May 1 American astronaut (Mercury 7-Aurora 7), born in Boulder, Colorado
- May 2 David Ironside, South African cricketer (South African swing bowler in 3 Tests v NZ 1953-54), born in Lourenco Marques, Mozambique (d. 2005)
- May 2 John Neville, English theatre and film actor, born in Willesden, London (d. 2011)
- May 2 Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor (McCoy, Saunders-Soap), born in Woodbury, New Jersey (d. 2007)
- May 2 Svatopluk Havelka, Czech composer, born in Vrbice, Karviná, Czech Republic (d. 2009)
- May 4 Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman and CEO of American International Group (AIG), born in New York City
- May 4 Peter Blum, Afrikaan poet (Capricorn), born in Trieste, Italy (d. 1990)
- May 5 Bob Cerv, American baseball player (Yankees), born in Weston, Nebraska (d. 2017)
- May 5 Leo Ryan, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California), born in Lincoln, Nebraska (d. 1978)
- May 5 Mykola Plaviuk, Ukrainian president (1978-81), born in Rusiv, Ukraine (d. 2012)
- May 6 Patrick Meaney, British businessman and CEO (Rank Organization), born in Wandsworth, London (d. 1992)
- May 8 Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Tanzania politician, 2nd President of Tanzania (1985-1995), 3rd President of Zanzibar (1984-85), born in Kivure, Pwani Region, British Tanganyika
- May 8 Bettina Graziani [Simone Bodin] French model, one of the first supermodels, born in Normandy, France (d. 2015)
- May 8 Charles Jauncey, Baron Jauncey of Tullichettle, Scottish judge and advocate, born in Edinburgh (d. 2007)
- May 9 Peter Leng, British Army officer (Master General of the Ordnance, Command of the British Army forces in Northern Ireland) (d. 2009)
- May 10 Edward Fursdon, British Major-General (handover Rhodesia to the Zimbabwean government), born in London, England (d. 2007)
- May 11 Edward J. King, 66th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 2006)
- May 11 Rhodes Boyson, British politician and author (Black Papers), born in Haslingden, Lancashire (d. 2012)
- May 11 William Glasser, psychiatrist (reality therapy, choice theory), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2013)
- May 12 John Simon, American author, literary and theater critic (NY Times), born in Subotica, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (d. 2019)
Yogi Berra (1925-2015)
May 12 American Baseball HOF catcher, coach and manager (18 x MLB All-Star; 13 x World Series; NY Yankees; AL MVP 1951, 54, 55), and Purple Heart recipient, born in St. Louis, Missouri
- May 13 Anthony Milner, British composer, born in Bristol, England (d. 2002)
- May 14 Al Porcino, American big band jazz and session trumpeter (Woody Herman, Stan Kenton), born in New York City (d. 2013)
- May 14 Patrice Munsel [Munsil], American operatic soprano (Metropolitan Opera, 1943-58; Patrice Munsel Show), born in Spokane, Washington (d. 2016)
- May 14 Tristram Ogilvie Cary, British-Australian composer, electronic music pioneer, and educator, born in Oxford, England (d. 2008)
- May 15 Andrei Yakoulevich Eshpai, Soviet composer, born in Kozmodemyansk, Mari Autonomous Region, Soviet Union (d. 2015)
- May 15 Emmanuel Ghent, Canadian American electronic music composer (Phosphones), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2003)
- May 15 Jos Jacobs, Belgian director (Madonna of Nedermunster), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1995)
- May 15 Mary Lyon, English geneticist (X-chromosome inactivation), born in Norwich, Norfolk (d. 2014)
- May 16 Bobbejaan Schoepen, Belgian singer, entertainer and professional whistler, born in Boon, Belgium (d. 2010)
- May 16 Nancy Roman, American, NASA's first chief of astronomy 'Mother of the Hubble', born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 2018)
- May 18 Nigel Howard, English cricket batsman and captain (4 Tests; Lancashire, MCC), born in Gee Cross, Hyde, Cheshire (d. 1979)
- May 19 Guy Provost, French Canadian actor (d. 2004)
Malcolm X (1925-1965)
May 19 African American human rights activist and Muslim minister, born in Omaha, Nebraska
Pol Pot (1925-1998)
May 19 Cambodian dictator (1976-79), revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge (1963-97) and perpetrator of the Cambodian genocide, born in Prek Sbauv, Kampong Thom, Cambodia
- May 20 Chester Ludgin, American operatic baritone (New York City Opera, 1957-91; San Francisco Opera, 1962-85), born in Brooklyn, New York City (d. 2003) [1]
- May 20 D. French Slaughter Jr, American politician (Rep-R-VA, 1985-91), born in Culpeper, Virginia (d. 1998)
- May 22 James King, American tenor, born in Dodge City, Kansas (d. 2005)
- May 22 Jean Tinguely, Swiss sculptor artist (movement objects), born in Fribourg, Switzerland (d. 1991)
- May 23 Joshua Lederberg, American molecular biologist, Nobel laureate (d. 2008)
- May 23 Malcolm "Mac" Wiseman, American bluegrass singer, born in Crimora, Virginia (d. 2019)
- May 24 Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and film director (Witches, Offbeat, Jet Storm), born in Västerås, Västmanland (d. 1994)
- May 24 Pedro Gonzales-Gonzalez, American actor (Rio Bravo), born in Aguilares, Texas (d. 2006)
- May 25 Aldo Clementi, Italian composer, born in Catania, Sicily (d. 2011)
- May 25 Don Liddle, American baseball player, born in Mount Carmel, Illinois (d. 2000)
- May 25 Jeanne Crain, American actress (Man Without a Star, Pinky), born in Barstow California (d. 2003)
- May 25 Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet (Balún Canán), born in Mexico City (d. 1974)
- May 26 Alec McCowen, English actor (Never Say Never Again), born in Tunbridge Wells (d. 2017)
- May 27 Tony Hillerman, American writer (Navajo Tribal Police), born in Sacred Heart Oklahoma (d. 2008)
- May 27 Vere Harmsworth, 3rd Viscount Rothermere, English press magnate (The Mail on Sunday), born in London, England (d. 1998)
Bülent Ecevit (1925-2006)
May 28 four term Turkish Prime Minister (between 1974 and 2002), born in Istanbul, Turkey
- May 28 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German baritone (Doktor Faust), born in Zehlendorf, Germany (d. 2012)
- May 28 Martha Vickers [MacVicker], American actress (Alimony; The Man I Love; Ruthless), born in Ann Arbor, Michigan (d. 1971)
- May 29 Anthony Grant, British MP, (d. 2016)
- May 29 Kenneth Couzens, British Deputy Chairman of British Coal Board and significant figure during Miners Strike (d. 2004)
- May 30 Claude Prey, French composer, born in Fleury sur Andelle (d. 1998)
- May 30 Eddy Bruma, Surinamese politician, lawyer and writer, born in Paramaribo, Suriname (d. 2000)
- May 30 Gerard Toorenaar, Dutch controversial police officer (political commissar in Amsterdam 1975-79), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1994)
Famous Deaths
- May 7 William Hesketh Lever, First Viscount Leverhulme (b. 1851)
- May 8 Frank L. Gillespie, American founder of Supreme Life Insurance Company, dies at 48
- May 12 Alfred Milner, British governor (Cape Colony) and colonial administrator, dies at 71
- May 12 Amy Lowell, American imagist poet (Pulitzer Prize for Poetry) 1926, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 51
- May 12 Artur Napoleão dos Santos, Portuguese pianist, composer, and music publisher, dies at 82
- May 13 Boris Savinkov, Russian writer and revolutionary, dies in prison under mysterious circumstances at 46
- May 14 Henry Rider Haggard, British author (King Solomon's Mines, She, Dawn), dies at 68
- May 19 Viking Eggeling, Swedish artist/filmmaker (Symphonie Diagonale), dies at 44
John French (1852-1925)
May 22 1st Earl of Ypres and British WWI field marshal, dies at 72
- May 30 Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian (The Third Reich), dies at 49
