Dictator Yuan Shikai
May 1 Yuan Shikai's cabinet replaces China's provisional constitution with a constitutional compact granting the President dictatorial powers over China's military, finances, foreign policy, and the rights of Chinese citizens
Mother's Day Proclaimed
May 9 US President Woodrow Wilson proclaims Mother's Day
- May 14 Chic Jim Scott no-hits Cleve, gives up 2 hits in 10th & loses 1-0
- May 15 Bolivia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- May 15 Henri Rabaud's opera "Marouf, savetier de Caire" premieres in Paris
- May 15 US Colonel Edward House sails for Europe to persuade major powers to reduce armies and navies; from Germany, House reports: 'Everybody's nerves are tense; it only needs a spark to set the whole thing off'
- May 16 American Horseshoe Pitchers Association organizes in Kansas City
- May 16 Ewing Field baseball park opens near Masonic Street, San Francisco. Relocated a year later.
- May 21 39th Preakness: Andy Schuttinger aboard Holiday wins in 1:53.8
- May 21 Greyhound Bus Co begins in Minnesota
- May 23 Dutch socialist Henk Sneevliet co-founds The Indies Social Democratic Association (Communist Party) in Dutch Indonesia
- May 25 British House of Commons passes the Irish Home Rule Bill
- May 29 Norwegian ship Storstad collides with Canadian ship Empress of Ireland on St Lawrence River; 1,024 die
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Frenchman René Thomas driving for Louis Delâge wins ahead of Arthur Duray of Belgium
- May 30 The new and then largest Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sets sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.
- May 31 Chicago White Sox Joe Benz no-hits Cleveland Indians, 6-1
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