- Change theme
Search by Keyword
Search by Date
This Day On History
| Date | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1st of May 0305 | EVENT | Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. |
| 1st of May 0880 | EVENT | The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches. |
| 1st of May 1328 | EVENT | Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton : the Kingdom of England recognises the Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state. |
| 1st of May 1576 | EVENT | Stefan Batory, the reigning Prince of Transylvania, marries Anna Jagiellon and they become the co-rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. |
| 1st of May 1707 | EVENT | The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. |
| 1st of May 1751 | EVENT | The first cricket match is played in America. |
| 1st of May 1753 | EVENT | Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. |
| 1st of May 1759 | EVENT | Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain. |
| 1st of May 1776 | EVENT | Establishment of the Illuminati in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria), by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt. |
| 1st of May 1778 | EVENT | American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. |
| 1st of May 1785 | EVENT | Kamehameha I, the king of Hawai?i, defeats Kalanikupule and establishes the Kingdom of Hawai?i. |
| 1st of May 1786 | EVENT | Opening night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna, Austria. |
| 1st of May 1794 | EVENT | War of the Pyrenees: The Battle of Boulou ends, in which French forces defeat the Spanish and regain nearly all the land they lost to Spain in 1793. |
| 1st of May 1840 | EVENT | The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom. |
| 1st of May 1844 | EVENT | Hong Kong Police Force, the world's second, Asia's first modern police force is established. |
| 1st of May 1846 | EVENT | The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple. |
| 1st of May 1851 | EVENT | Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition in London. |
| 1st of May 1852 | EVENT | The Philippine peso is introduced into circulation. |
| 1st of May 1862 | EVENT | American Civil War: The Union Army completes the Capture of New Orleans. |
| 1st of May 1863 | EVENT | American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins. |
| 1st of May 1865 | EVENT | The Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance |
| 1st of May 1869 | EVENT | The Folies Bergere opens in Paris. |
| 1st of May 1875 | EVENT | Alexandra Palace reopens after the 1873 fire burnt it down. |
| 1st of May 1884 | EVENT | Moses Fleetwood Walker became the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States. |
| 1st of May 1884 | EVENT | Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States. |
| 1st of May 1885 | EVENT | The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opened for business. |
| 1st of May 1886 | EVENT | Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day culminating in the Haymarket Affair. |
| 1st of May 1893 | EVENT | The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago. |
| 1st of May 1894 | EVENT | Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C. |
| 1st of May 1898 | EVENT | Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manila Bay : the United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war. |
| 1st of May 1900 | EVENT | The Scofield mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history. |
| 1st of May 1901 | EVENT | The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York. |
| 1st of May 1915 | EVENT | The RMS Lusitania departs from New York City on her two hundred and second, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, rousing American sentiment against Germany. |
| 1st of May 1925 | EVENT | The All-China Federation of Trade Unions is officially founded. Today it is the largest trade union in the world, with 134 million members. |
| 1st of May 1925 | EVENT | The first Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer is held at the University of Toronto, Canada. |
| 1st of May 1927 | EVENT | The Union Labor Life Insurance Company is founded by the American Federation of Labor. |
| 1st of May 1927 | EVENT | The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris. |
| 1st of May 1930 | EVENT | The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named. |
| 1st of May 1931 | EVENT | The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City. |
| 1st of May 1933 | EVENT | The Roca-Runciman Treaty between Argentina and Great Britain is signed by Julio Argentino Roca, Jr., and Sir Walter Runciman. |
| 1st of May 1940 | EVENT | The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war. |
| 1st of May 1941 | EVENT | World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk. |
| 1st of May 1945 | EVENT | World War II: A German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany". |
| 1st of May 1945 | EVENT | The Yugoslav partisans free Trieste. |
| 1st of May 1946 | EVENT | Start of 3 year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians. |
| 1st of May 1946 | EVENT | The Paris Peace Conference concludes that the islands of the Dodecanese should be returned to Greece by Italy. |
| 1st of May 1947 | EVENT | Portella della Ginestra massacre against May Day celebrations in Sicily by the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano; 11 persons are killed and 33 wounded. |
| 1st of May 1948 | EVENT | The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il-sung as leader. |
| 1st of May 1950 | EVENT | Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth. |
| 1st of May 1956 | EVENT | A doctor in Japan reports an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease. |
| 1st of May 1956 | EVENT | The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public. |
| 1st of May 1957 | EVENT | 34 of 35 people aboard are killed when a Vickers Viking airliner crashed in Hampshire England. |
| 1st of May 1960 | EVENT | Formation of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. |
| 1st of May 1960 | EVENT | Cold War: U-2 incident : Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis. |
| 1st of May 1961 | EVENT | The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections. |
| 1st of May 1965 | EVENT | Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between ROC and PRC, takes place. |
| 1st of May 1970 | EVENT | Protests erupt in Seattle, Washington, following the announcement by U.S. President Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country. |
| 1st of May 1971 | EVENT | Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service. |
| 1st of May 1977 | EVENT | 36 people are killed in Taksim Square, Istanbul, during the Labour Day celebrations. |
| 1st of May 1978 | EVENT | Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone. |
| 1st of May 1982 | EVENT | The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee. |
| 1st of May 1982 | EVENT | Operation Black Buck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during Falklands War. |
| 1st of May 1983 | EVENT | Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis is awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. |
| 1st of May 1987 | EVENT | Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. |
| 1st of May 1989 | EVENT | Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States. |
| 1st of May 1990 | EVENT | The former Philippine Episcopal Church (supervised by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America) is granted full autonomy and raised to the status of an Autocephalous Anglican Province and renamed the Episcopal Church of the Philippines. |
| 1st of May 1991 | EVENT | Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics steals his 939th base, making him the all-time leader in this category. However, his accomplishment is overshadowed later that evening by Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers, when he pitches his seventh career no-hitter, breaking his own record. |
| 1st of May 1994 | EVENT | Three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. |
| 1st of May 1995 | EVENT | Croatian forces launch Operation Flash during the Croatian War of Independence. |
| 1st of May 2001 | EVENT | Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares the existence of "a state of rebellion", hours after thousands of supporters of her arrested predecessor, Joseph Estrada, storm towards the presidential palace at the height of the EDSA III rebellion. |
| 1st of May 2003 | EVENT | 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended". |
| 1st of May 2004 | EVENT | Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin. |
| 1st of May 2006 | EVENT | The Puerto Rican government closes the Department of Education and 42 other government agencies due to significant shortages in cash flow. |
| 1st of May 2007 | EVENT | the Los Angeles May Day melee occurs, in which the Los Angeles Police Department's response to a May Day pro-immigration rally become a matter of controversy. |
| 1st of May 2008 | EVENT | The London Agreement on translation of European patents, concluded in 2000, enters into force in 14 of the 34 Contracting States to the European Patent Convention. |
| 1st of May 2009 | EVENT | Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden. |
| 1st of May 2011 | EVENT | Pope John Paul II is beatified. |
| 1st of May 2011 | EVENT | United States President Barack Obama announces that U.S. forces have killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. |
| 1st of May 1218 | BIRTHDAY | John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257) |
| 1st of May 1218 | BIRTHDAY | Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1291) |
| 1st of May 1225 | BIRTHDAY | Jean de Joinville, French writer (d. 1317) |
| 1st of May 1285 | BIRTHDAY | Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1326) |
| 1st of May 1582 | BIRTHDAY | Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643) |
| 1st of May 1585 | BIRTHDAY | Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill, Belarusian saint (d. 1612) |
| 1st of May 1591 | BIRTHDAY | Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German Jesuit missionary (d. 1666) |
| 1st of May 1594 | BIRTHDAY | John Haynes, Massachusetts colonial magistrate |
| 1st of May 1672 | BIRTHDAY | Joseph Addison, English politician and writer (d. 1719) |
| 1st of May 1730 | BIRTHDAY | Sir Joshua Rowley, 1st Baronet, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1790) |
| 1st of May 1738 | BIRTHDAY | King Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii (d. 1819) |
| 1st of May 1764 | BIRTHDAY | Benjamin Henry Latrobe, English born American architect (d. 1820) |
| 1st of May 1769 | BIRTHDAY | Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Anglo-Irish statesman (d. 1852) |
| 1st of May 1803 | BIRTHDAY | James Clarence Mangan, Irish poet (d. 1849) |
| 1st of May 1804 | BIRTHDAY | Aleksey Khomyakov, Russian poet (d. 1860) |
| 1st of May 1824 | BIRTHDAY | Alexander William Williamson, English chemist (d. 1904) |
| 1st of May 1825 | BIRTHDAY | George Inness, American painter (d. 1894) |
| 1st of May 1827 | BIRTHDAY | Jules Breton, French painter (d. 1906) |
| 1st of May 1829 | BIRTHDAY | Jose de Alencar, Brazilian novelist (d. 1877) |
| 1st of May 1829 | BIRTHDAY | Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys, English Pre-Raphaelite painter (d. 1904) |
| 1st of May 1831 | BIRTHDAY | Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and suffragist (d. 1903) |
| 1st of May 1847 | BIRTHDAY | Henry Demarest Lloyd, American journalist (d. 1903) |
| 1st of May 1848 | BIRTHDAY | Adelsteen Normann, Norwegian painter (d. 1919) |
| 1st of May 1850 | BIRTHDAY | Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Governor General of Canada (d. 1942) |
| 1st of May 1851 | BIRTHDAY | Laza Lazarevic, Serbian writer and psychiatrist (d. 1891) |
| 1st of May 1852 | BIRTHDAY | Calamity Jane, American Wild West performer (d. 1903) |
| 1st of May 1852 | BIRTHDAY | Santiago Ramon y Cajal, Spanish neuroscientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1934) |
| 1st of May 1857 | BIRTHDAY | Theo Van Gogh, Dutch art dealer (d. 1891) |
| 1st of May 1864 | BIRTHDAY | Anna Jarvis, American founder of Mother's Day (d. 1948) |
| 1st of May 1872 | BIRTHDAY | Sidonio Pais, Portuguese military and politician (d. 1918) |
| 1st of May 1872 | BIRTHDAY | Harry Leon Wilson, American novelist (d. 1939) |
| 1st of May 1881 | BIRTHDAY | Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French palaeontologist and philosopher (d. 1955) |
| 1st of May 1884 | BIRTHDAY | Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, British politician, naval officer and racing driver (d. 1964) |
| 1st of May 1885 | BIRTHDAY | Ralph Stackpole, American sculptor, painter (d. 1973) |
| 1st of May 1887 | BIRTHDAY | Alan Gordon Cunningham, British army officer (d. 1983) |
| 1st of May 1896 | BIRTHDAY | Mark Wayne Clark, American general (d. 1984) |
| 1st of May 1896 | BIRTHDAY | J. Lawton Collins, American general (d. 1987) |
| 1st of May 1896 | BIRTHDAY | Herbert Backe, German Nazi politician (d. 1947) |
| 1st of May 1900 | BIRTHDAY | Ignazio Silone, Italian author and Politician (d. 1978) |
| 1st of May 1901 | BIRTHDAY | Antal Szerb, Hungarian author and historian (d. 1945) |
| 1st of May 1901 | BIRTHDAY | Heinz Eric Roemheld, American film composer (d. 1985) |
| 1st of May 1905 | BIRTHDAY | Henry Koster, German film director (d. 1988) |
| 1st of May 1905 | BIRTHDAY | Paul Desruisseaux, French Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician (d. 1982) |
| 1st of May 1906 | BIRTHDAY | Horst Schumann, Nazi physician (d. 1983) |
| 1st of May 1907 | BIRTHDAY | Kate Smith, American singer (d. 1986) |
| 1st of May 1907 | BIRTHDAY | Oliver Hill, civil rights attorney (d. 2007) |
| 1st of May 1908 | BIRTHDAY | Giovanni Guareschi, Italian journalist (d. 1968) |
| 1st of May 1908 | BIRTHDAY | Morris Kline, American mathematician (d. 1992) |
| 1st of May 1909 | BIRTHDAY | Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet, winner of the Lenin Peace Prize, 9 times nominee for the Nobel Prize (d. 1990) |
| 1st of May 1910 | BIRTHDAY | Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Astronomer/astro-physicist; noted UFO investigator (d. 1986) |
| 1st of May 1912 | BIRTHDAY | Otto Kretschmer, German U-Boat commander (d. 1998) |
| 1st of May 1913 | BIRTHDAY | Louis Nye, American comedian and actor (d. 2005) |
| 1st of May 1913 | BIRTHDAY | Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (d. 1980) |
| 1st of May 1915 | BIRTHDAY | Archie Williams, American athlete (d. 1993) |
| 1st of May 1916 | BIRTHDAY | Glenn Ford, Canadian actor (d. 2006) |
| 1st of May 1917 | BIRTHDAY | Danielle Darrieux, French singer and actress |
| 1st of May 1917 | BIRTHDAY | John Beradino, American actor and baseball player (d. 1996) |
| 1st of May 1917 | BIRTHDAY | Ahron Soloveichik, Orthodox Jewish rabbi (d. 2001) |
| 1st of May 1918 | BIRTHDAY | Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (d. 1977) |
| 1st of May 1918 | BIRTHDAY | Jack Paar, American television host (d. 2004) |
| 1st of May 1919 | BIRTHDAY | Manna Dey, Indian singer |
| 1st of May 1919 | BIRTHDAY | Dan O'Herlihy, Irish film actor (d. 2005) |
| 1st of May 1919 | BIRTHDAY | Mohammed Karim Lamrani, Prime Minister of Morocco |
| 1st of May 1919 | BIRTHDAY | Lewis Hill, American pacifist and founder of Pacifica Radio (d. 1957) |
| 1st of May 1923 | BIRTHDAY | Joseph Heller, American novelist (d. 1999) |
| 1st of May 1924 | BIRTHDAY | Art Fleming, American game show host (d. 1995) |
| 1st of May 1924 | BIRTHDAY | Karel Kachyna, Czech film director (d. 2004) |
| 1st of May 1924 | BIRTHDAY | Terry Southern, American screenwriter (d. 1995) |
| 1st of May 1925 | BIRTHDAY | Chuck Bednarik, American football player |
| 1st of May 1925 | BIRTHDAY | Scott Carpenter, American astronaut |
| 1st of May 1926 | BIRTHDAY | Peter Lax, Hungarian mathematician |
| 1st of May 1928 | BIRTHDAY | Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racer (d. 2002) |
| 1st of May 1929 | BIRTHDAY | Ralf Dahrendorf, German-born sociologist and politician (d. 2009) |
| 1st of May 1929 | BIRTHDAY | Sonny James, American country music singer and songwriter |
| 1st of May 1930 | BIRTHDAY | Richard Riordan, American politician, former mayor of Los Angeles |
| 1st of May 1930 | BIRTHDAY | Little Walter, American blues singer (d. 1968) |
| 1st of May 1934 | BIRTHDAY | Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, Mexican politician |
| 1st of May 1934 | BIRTHDAY | Shirley Horn, American jazz singer and pianist (d. 2005) |
| 1st of May 1934 | BIRTHDAY | Joan Hackett, American actress (d. 1983) |
| 1st of May 1935 | BIRTHDAY | Ann Robinson, American actress |
| 1st of May 1937 | BIRTHDAY | Una Stubbs, English actress |
| 1st of May 1939 | BIRTHDAY | Judy Collins, American folk singer |
| 1st of May 1939 | BIRTHDAY | Victor Davies, Canadian composer |
| 1st of May 1939 | BIRTHDAY | Max Robinson, American broadcast journalist (d. 1988) |
| 1st of May 1940 | BIRTHDAY | Bobbie Ann Mason, American novelist and literary critic |
| 1st of May 1940 | BIRTHDAY | Elsa Peretti, Italian jewelry designer |
| 1st of May 1943 | BIRTHDAY | Vassal Gadoengin, Nauruan politician (d. 2004) |
| 1st of May 1944 | BIRTHDAY | Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician |
| 1st of May 1945 | BIRTHDAY | Rita Coolidge, American singer |
| 1st of May 1946 | BIRTHDAY | Joanna Lumley, English actress |
| 1st of May 1946 | BIRTHDAY | John Woo, Hong Kong director |
| 1st of May 1947 | BIRTHDAY | Sergio Infante, Chilean poet and writer |
| 1st of May 1948 | BIRTHDAY | Patricia Hill Collins, American black-feminist and scholar |
| 1st of May 1949 | BIRTHDAY | Tim Hodgkinson, English composer and musician (Henry Cow) |
| 1st of May 1949 | BIRTHDAY | Paul Teutul, Sr., founder of Orange County Choppers |
| 1st of May 1949 | BIRTHDAY | Jim Clench, Canadian bassist (April Wine and Bachman : Turner Overdrive) (d. 2010) |
| 1st of May 1950 | BIRTHDAY | Dann Florek, American actor |
| 1st of May 1950 | BIRTHDAY | Danny McGrain, Scottish footballer |
| 1st of May 1951 | BIRTHDAY | Antony Worrall Thompson, English celebrity chef |
| 1st of May 1953 | BIRTHDAY | Glen Ballard, American songwriter and record producer |
| 1st of May 1954 | BIRTHDAY | Ray Parker Jr., American singer and songwriter |
| 1st of May 1954 | BIRTHDAY | Joel Rosenberg, science fiction author |
| 1st of May 1955 | BIRTHDAY | Martin O'Donnell, American composer |
| 1st of May 1955 | BIRTHDAY | Nick Feldman, English musician |
| 1st of May 1956 | BIRTHDAY | Catherine Frot, French actress |
| 1st of May 1956 | BIRTHDAY | Phil Foglio, American cartoonist and comic book artist |
| 1st of May 1957 | BIRTHDAY | Kow Otani, Japanese composer |
| 1st of May 1959 | BIRTHDAY | Lawrence Seeff, South African cricketer |
| 1st of May 1960 | BIRTHDAY | Steve Cauthen, American jockey |
| 1st of May 1961 | BIRTHDAY | Marilyn Milian, current judge on The People's Court |
| 1st of May 1962 | BIRTHDAY | Ted Sundquist, General Manager of the Denver Broncos |
| 1st of May 1962 | BIRTHDAY | Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress |
| 1st of May 1964 | BIRTHDAY | Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater |
| 1st of May 1964 | BIRTHDAY | Lady Sarah Chatto, daughter of Princess Margaret |
| 1st of May 1966 | BIRTHDAY | Olaf Thon, German football player |
| 1st of May 1966 | BIRTHDAY | Charlie Schlatter, American actor |
| 1st of May 1967 | BIRTHDAY | Tim McGraw, American musician |
| 1st of May 1968 | BIRTHDAY | Sol Kyung-gu, South Korean actor |
| 1st of May 1968 | BIRTHDAY | D'arcy Wretzky, American musician (The Smashing Pumpkins) |
| 1st of May 1968 | BIRTHDAY | Denise Masino, American Female bodybuilder |
| 1st of May 1968 | BIRTHDAY | Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer |
| 1st of May 1969 | BIRTHDAY | Billy Owens, American basketball player |
| 1st of May 1969 | BIRTHDAY | Wes Anderson, American director and writer |
| 1st of May 1971 | BIRTHDAY | Ethan Albright, American football player |
| 1st of May 1971 | BIRTHDAY | Ajith Kumar, Indian film actor |
| 1st of May 1972 | BIRTHDAY | Julie Benz, American actress |
| 1st of May 1972 | BIRTHDAY | Earl Va'a, Samoan rugby player |
| 1st of May 1973 | BIRTHDAY | Mike Jesse, German footballer |
| 1st of May 1973 | BIRTHDAY | Curtis Martin, American football player |
| 1st of May 1973 | BIRTHDAY | Oliver Neuville, German footballer |
| 1st of May 1974 | BIRTHDAY | Kellie Crawford, Australian singer (Hi-5) |
| 1st of May 1975 | BIRTHDAY | Alexey Smertin, Russian footballer |
| 1st of May 1975 | BIRTHDAY | Marc-Vivien Foe, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003) |
| 1st of May 1975 | BIRTHDAY | Jodhi May, British actress |
| 1st of May 1975 | BIRTHDAY | Austin Croshere, American basketball player |
| 1st of May 1976 | BIRTHDAY | Darius McCrary, American actor |
| 1st of May 1977 | BIRTHDAY | Vera Lischka, Austrian swimmer, politician |
| 1st of May 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Nick Traina, American singer (Link 80) (d. 1997) |
| 1st of May 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Sachie Hara, Japanese actress |
| 1st of May 1979 | BIRTHDAY | Mauro Bergamasco, Italian rugby player |
| 1st of May 1979 | BIRTHDAY | Ben Easter, American actor |
| 1st of May 1979 | BIRTHDAY | Michael Harvey, British musical artist |
| 1st of May 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Jan Heylen, Belgian racing driver |
| 1st of May 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Jay Reatard, American musician (d. 2010) |
| 1st of May 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Ana Claudia Talancon, Mexican actress |
| 1st of May 1981 | BIRTHDAY | Alexander Hleb, Belarusian footballer |
| 1st of May 1981 | BIRTHDAY | Derek Asamoah, Ghanaian footballer |
| 1st of May 1981 | BIRTHDAY | Wes Welker, American football player |
| 1st of May 1982 | BIRTHDAY | Tommy Robredo, Spanish tennis player |
| 1st of May 1982 | BIRTHDAY | Darijo Srna, Croatian football player |
| 1st of May 1983 | BIRTHDAY | The Human Tornado (Craig Williams), American professional wrestler |
| 1st of May 1983 | BIRTHDAY | Alain Bernard, French swimmer |
| 1st of May 1984 | BIRTHDAY | Patrick Eaves, American ice hockey player |
| 1st of May 1984 | BIRTHDAY | David Backes, American ice hockey player |
| 1st of May 1984 | BIRTHDAY | Keiichiro Koyama, Japanese musician (NEWS) |
| 1st of May 1984 | BIRTHDAY | Farah Fath, American actress |
| 1st of May 1984 | BIRTHDAY | Alexander Farnerud, Swedish footballer |
| 1st of May 1984 | BIRTHDAY | Mark Seaby, Australian Rules footballer |
| 1st of May 1985 | BIRTHDAY | Drew Sidora, American actress |
| 1st of May 1986 | BIRTHDAY | Christian Benitez, Ecuadorian footballer |
| 1st of May 1986 | BIRTHDAY | Adam Casey, Australian footballer |
| 1st of May 1986 | BIRTHDAY | Brent Stanton, Australian rules footballer |
| 1st of May 1987 | BIRTHDAY | Shahar Pe'er, Israeli tennis player |
| 1st of May 1987 | BIRTHDAY | Glen Coffee, American football player |
| 1st of May 1987 | BIRTHDAY | Marcus Drum, Australian Rules Football |
| 1st of May 1987 | BIRTHDAY | Matt Di Angelo, English actor |
| 1st of May 1988 | BIRTHDAY | Anushka Sharma, Indian actress and model |
| 1st of May 1988 | BIRTHDAY | Nicholas Braun, American actor |
| 1st of May 1989 | BIRTHDAY | Tim Urban, American singer |
| 1st of May 1991 | BIRTHDAY | Creagen Dow, American actor |
| 1st of May 1997 | BIRTHDAY | Ariel Gade, American actress |
| 1st of May 0408 | DEATH | Arcadius, Eastern Roman emperor (Born 337/338) |
| 1st of May 1118 | DEATH | Edith of Scotland, first wife of Henry I of England (Born c.1080) |
| 1st of May 1308 | DEATH | Albert I of Habsburg (Born 1255) |
| 1st of May 1539 | DEATH | Isabella of Portugal, queen of Spain and empress of Germany (Born 1503) |
| 1st of May 1555 | DEATH | Pope Marcellus II (Born 1501) |
| 1st of May 1572 | DEATH | Saint Pope Pius V (Born 1504) |
| 1st of May 1731 | DEATH | Johann Ludwig Bach, German composer (Born 1677) |
| 1st of May 1738 | DEATH | Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, English statesman (Born c.1669) |
| 1st of May 1772 | DEATH | Gottfried Achenwall, German statistician (Born 1719) |
| 1st of May 1813 | DEATH | Jean-Baptiste Bessieres, French marshal (killed in combat) (Born 1768) |
| 1st of May 1873 | DEATH | David Livingstone, Scottish missionary (Born 1813) |
| 1st of May 1899 | DEATH | Ludwig Buchner, German philosopher and physician (Born 1824) |
| 1st of May 1904 | DEATH | Antonin Dvorak, Czech composer (Born 1841) |
| 1st of May 1913 | DEATH | John Barclay Armstrong, Texas Ranger and U.S. Marshal (Born 1850) |
| 1st of May 1920 | DEATH | Princess Margaret of Connaught (Born 1882) |
| 1st of May 1935 | DEATH | Henri Pelissier, French cyclist (Born 1889) |
| 1st of May 1937 | DEATH | Snitz Edwards, American actor (Born 1868) |
| 1st of May 1943 | DEATH | Johan Oscar Smith, Norweigian Christian leader and founder of Brunstad Christian Church (Born 1871) |
| 1st of May 1945 | DEATH | Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda (Born 1897) |
| 1st of May 1963 | DEATH | Lope K. Santos, Filipino writer, father of the Filipino language (Born 1879) |
| 1st of May 1965 | DEATH | Spike Jones, American band leader, musician, and comedian (Born 1911) |
| 1st of May 1968 | DEATH | Harold Nicolson, British diplomat, author and politician (Born 1886) |
| 1st of May 1968 | DEATH | Jack Adams, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager (Born 1895) |
| 1st of May 1970 | DEATH | Crown Prince Euimin, Crown Prince of Korea (Born 1897) |
| 1st of May 1973 | DEATH | Asger Jorn, Danish painter (Born 1914) |
| 1st of May 1976 | DEATH | T.R.M. Howard, civil rights leader, entrepreneur, surgeon (Born 1908) |
| 1st of May 1976 | DEATH | Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet who fought the military junta in Greece (Born 1939) |
| 1st of May 1978 | DEATH | Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (Born 1903) |
| 1st of May 1982 | DEATH | William Primrose, Scottish violist (Born 1903) |
| 1st of May 1985 | DEATH | Denise Robins (aka Francesca Wright, Ashley French, Harriet Gray, Julia Kane) British romance novelist (Born 1897) |
| 1st of May 1986 | DEATH | Hylda Baker, English comedy actress (Born 1905) |
| 1st of May 1986 | DEATH | Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and record producer (Born 1916) |
| 1st of May 1989 | DEATH | Sally Kirkland, fashion editor at LIFE (Born 1912) |
| 1st of May 1989 | DEATH | Douglass Watson, American actor (Born 1921) |
| 1st of May 1990 | DEATH | Sergio Franchi, Italian tenor (Born 1926) |
| 1st of May 1992 | DEATH | Sharon Redd, American house music and urban contemporary singer (Born 1945) |
| 1st of May 1993 | DEATH | Pierre Beregovoy, French Prime Minister (Born 1925) |
| 1st of May 1993 | DEATH | Ranasinghe Premadasa, President of Sri Lanka (Born 1924) |
| 1st of May 1994 | DEATH | Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (Born 1960) |
| 1st of May 1996 | DEATH | Luana Patten, American actress (Born 1938) |
| 1st of May 1998 | DEATH | Eldridge Cleaver, American activist (Born 1935) |
| 1st of May 2000 | DEATH | Steve Reeves, American actor (Born 1926) |
| 1st of May 2003 | DEATH | Miss Elizabeth, American wrestler (Born 1960) |
| 1st of May 2006 | DEATH | Rob Lacey, Christian author (Born 1962) |
| 1st of May 2006 | DEATH | Big Hawk, American rapper (Born 1969) |
| 1st of May 2006 | DEATH | Johnny Paris, American saxophonist (Johnny and the Hurricanes) (Born 1940) |
| 1st of May 2008 | DEATH | Anthony Mamo, Malta's first President (Born 1909) |
| 1st of May 2008 | DEATH | Deborah Jeane Palfrey, Washington, D.C. prostitution service owner (Born 1956) |
| 1st of May 2008 | DEATH | Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, last surviving member of the 20 July Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944 (Born 1917) |
| 1st of May 2009 | DEATH | Danny Gans, American entertainer (Born 1956) |
| 1st of May 2010 | DEATH | Rob McConnell, Canadian jazz composer/arranger and valve trombonist (Born 1935) |
| 1st of May 2010 | DEATH | Helen Wagner, American Actress (Born 1918) |
| 1st of May 2011 | DEATH | Ted Lowe, English snooker commentator (Born 1920) |