Historical Events
Gladiator
May 1 "Gladiator" directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix premieres in LA (Best Picture 2001)
Baseball Record
May 1 Barry Bonds is first MLB player to hit a homer into San Francisco Bay as Giants beat Mets, 10-3; hits 35 there during his SF career
Music History
May 1 Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli sings for Pope John Paul II in Rome
- May 2 Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands unveils the Man With Two Hats monument in Apeldoorn and the other in Ottawa on May 11, 2000. Symbolically linking both Netherlands and Canada for their assistance throughout World War II.
Event of Interest
May 2 President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military
Kentucky Derby
May 6 126th Kentucky Derby: Kent Desormeaux aboard Fusaichi Pegasus wins in 2:01.12
Music Concert
May 12 Ringo Starr's sixth All-Starr Band debuts in concert; members include: Todd Rundgren, Jack Bruce, Gary Brooker, Simon Kirke, and Timmy Cappello
- May 12 Tate Modern art gallery opens in the re-designed Bankside Power station by Herzog & de Meuron in London, England
- May 13 45th Eurovision Song Contest: Olsen Brothers for Denmark wins singing "Fly on the Wings of Love" in Stockholm
- May 13 In Enschede, the Netherlands, a fireworks factory explodes, killing 22 people, wounding 950, and resulting in approximately €450 million in damage
- May 14 "Yi Yi" Taiwanese film by Edward Yang debuts at Cannes
- May 14 46th British Academy Television Awards: "The League of Gentlemen" Best Comedy, "The Cops" Best Drama
- May 17 In the Philippines an explosion rocks Glorietta 2 injuring 13 persons, mostly teenagers. According to local authorities, the homemade bomb was placed in front of a toilet beside a video arcade.
- May 17 Turkish side Galatasaray defeat Arsenal 4–1 on penalties, becoming the first Turkish football team to win the UEFA Cup in Copenhagen
- May 20 125th Preakness: Jerry Bailey aboard Red Bullet wins in 1:56.00
- May 20 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (78,217): Chelsea beats Aston Villa, 1-0; Roberto Di Matteo scores 73' winner
- May 24 8th UEFA Champions League Final: Real Madrid beats Valencia 3-0 at Saint-Denis
- May 24 Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
Cannes Film Festival
May 25 53rd Cannes Film Festival: "Dancer in the Dark" directed by Lars von Trier and starring Björk (Best Actress) wins the Palme d'Or
Laureus Awards
May 25 Laureus World Sports Awards, Monte-Carlo Sporting, Monaco: Sportsman: Tiger Woods; Sportswoman: Marion Jones (rescinded); Team: Manchester United FC
- May 25 Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.
Knighthood
May 26 Arthur C. Clarke is knighted "for services to literature" at a ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka
- May 26 NHL Eastern Conference Final: New Jersey Devils beat Philadelphia Flyers, 4 games to 3
- May 27 NHL Western Conference Final: Dallas Stars beat Colorado Avalanche, 4 games to 3
- May 27 Super Rugby Final, Canberra: Crusaders claim their 3rd consecutive title with a 20-19 win over the ACT Brumbies; flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens kicks 5 penalties for the winners
- May 28 Indianapolis 500: reigning CART champion Juan Pablo Montoya leads for 167 laps to cruise to victory; first rookie winner since Graham Hill 1966
- May 28 Walk for Reconciliation takes place across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, part of Corroboree 2000, organized by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation [1]
Academy of Country Music Awards
May 30 35th Academy of Country Music Awards: Shania Twain, Faith Hill & Tim McGraw win
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Rema [Divine Ikubor], Nigerian rapper (Calm Down), born in Benin City, Nigeria
- May 2 Angel Sy, Filipina child actor, born in Bulacan, Philippines
- May 2 Thomas Dean, British swimmer (Olympic gold men's 200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay), born in London, England
- May 12 Sedona Prince, American basketball player (who highlighted gender inequality in US women's basketball), born in Hemet, California
- May 31 Gable Steveson, American wrestler (Olympic Gold freestyle 2020), born in Apple Valley, Minnesota
Famous Weddings
Angelina Jolie & Billy Bob Thornton
May 5 Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie (24) weds actor Billy Bob Thornton (44) at The Little Church of The West Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada
Marc Anthony
May 9 Puerto Rican actress and former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres (25) weds singer-songwriter Marc Anthony (31) in Las Vegas, Nevada; divorce in 2004
Manny Pacquiao
May 10 World champion professional boxer Manny Pacquiao (21) weds Jinkee Pacquiao
- May 20 "Benny and Joon" actress Mary Stuart Masterson (33) weds film director Damon Santostefano
Scott Weiland
May 20 "Stone Temple Pilots" front man Scott Weiland (32) weds model Mary Forsberg (25)
Famous Divorces
- May 25 Television producer and director Mark Tinker (49) divorces actress and painter Kristin Harmon (54) after 12 years of marriage
Famous Deaths
- May 1 Stephen "Steve" Reeves, American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist (Hercules, Goliath, Sandokan), dies from a blood clot at 74
- May 3 John Joseph Cardinal O'Connor, Catholic Archbishop of New York (b. 1920)
- May 3 Yoshinao Nakada, Japanese composer, dies at 76
- May 5 Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (Tour de France 1938, 48; Giro d'Italia 1936-7, 46), dies of a heart attack at 85
- May 6 Leonard Salzedo, British orchestral, ballet, and film composer (The Witch Boy; Requiem Sine Voxibus, Hammer Films), dies at 78
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (1909-2000)
May 7 American actor (Prisoner of Zenda; Gunga Din), and decorated US naval officer (WWII Beach Jumpers), dies of a heart attack at 90
- May 8 Alexander Chislenko, Russian-American transhumanist (b. 1959)
- May 8 Guadalupe "Pita" Amor, Mexican poet (b. 1918)
- May 8 Henry Nicols, American AIDS activist, dies as the result of a car accident at 26
- May 8 Karl-Rudi Griesbach, German composer, dies at 83
- May 10 Dédé Fortin, Quebec singer and songwriter (Les Colocs) (b. 1962)
- May 10 Jules Deschênes, Canadian Quebec Superior Court judge, dies at 76
- May 11 Paula Wessely, Austrian actress and producer (Masquerade), dies at 93
- May 12 Adam Petty, American auto racer (son of Kyle Petty; death leads to NASCAR mandate of steering wheel kill switch), dies in practice session accident at 19
- May 13 Olivier Greif, French classical composer (Lettres de Westerbork), dies at 50
- May 13 Paul Bartel, American actor (b. 1938)
- May 14 Obuchi Keizo, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)
- May 15 Ziki Robertson, 11th Baroness Wharton (née Myrtle Arbuthnot), British model and photographer (as Ziki Arnot), and politician (House of Lords, 1990-200), dies of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) - a rare brain disorder at 66
- May 16 Bodacious the Bull Famous rodeo bull (b. 1988)
- May 16 William Ferris, American composer and conductor (William Ferris Chorale, 1971-2000), dies while conducting a rehearsal of Verdi's Requiem at 63
- May 17 Donald Coggan, 101st Archbishop of Canterbury (1974-80), dies at 90
- May 18 Gideon William Waldrop, American composer and educator (Julliard School, 1961-85), dies at 80
- May 18 Maulana Yousuf Ludhianvi, Muslim scholar, dies at 68
- May 18 Steve Wolownik, American ethnomusicologist, balalaika player, arranger, and co-founder of the Balalaika and Domra Association of America, dies at 54
- May 19 Yevgeny Khrunov, Soviet cosmonaut, dies at 66
- May 20 Jean-Pierre Rampal, French classical flautist (The Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano), dies of heart failure at 72
- May 21 Barbara Cartland, English romance author (Camfield #69), dies at 98
John Gielgud (1904-2000)
May 21 British stage and screen actor and director (Arthur, Hamlet, Ages of Man), dies at 96
- May 21 Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (b. 1956)
- May 23 Marcus Hutson, American R&B singer (The Whispers - "And the Beat Goes On"; "Rock Steady"), dies of prostate cancer at 57
- May 24 Kurt Schork, American reporter (b. 1947)
- May 25 Nicholas Clay, English actor (Lady Chatterley's Lover), dies at 53
- May 27 Crawford Murray MacLehose of Beoch, British statesman (b. 1917)
- May 27 Kazimierz Leski, Polish engineer, fighter pilot, intelligence and counter-intelligence officer (b. 1912)
Maurice Richard (1921-2000)
May 27 Canadian NHL star (Montreal Canadiens, MVP-1947), dies of abdominal cancer and parkinson's disease at 78
- May 28 Eric Turner, American football safety (First-team All-Pro 1994; Pro Bowl 1994, 96; NFL interceptions co-leader 1994; Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens), dies of stomach cancer at 31
- May 30 Doris Hare, Welsh actress (b. 1905)
- May 30 Tex Beneke, American bandleader and musician (b. 1914)
- May 31 Joe Puma, American session and jazz guitarist (Herbie Mann; Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five; Chuck Wayne), dies at 72
- May 31 Johnnie Taylor, American R&B and multi-genre singer ("Disco Lady"; "I Believe In You"), dies at 66
- May 31 Tito Puente, American mambo and Latin jazz bandleader ("Oye Como Va"), dies at 77
