- May 1 Austria signs pact with Vatican
- May 1 Philippine legislature accepts US proposal for independence
- May 1 Water state kingdom dismisses NSB-leader Anton Mussert
Red Sox's Record Inning
May 6 Red Sox score 12 runs in 4th inning including record 4 consecutive triples hit by Carl Reynolds, Moose Solters, Rick Ferrell, & B Walters
- May 7 Part of Khabarovsk becomes a Jewish Autnomous Region
Juliana Canal
May 7 Princess Juliana of the Netherlands opens Juliana Canal between Maastricht and Maasbracht
- May 7 Pulitzer prize awarded to Sidney Kingsley for his play "Men in White"
- May 7 World's largest pearl (6.4 kg) found at Palawan, Philippines
- May 11 Great dust bowl storm sweeps across the American and Canadian prairies traveling as far as the East Coast
Cocktails For Two
May 12 "Cocktails For Two" by Duke Ellington hits #1
- May 12 59th Preakness: Robert Jones aboard High Quest wins in 1:58.2
- May 15 Karlis Ulmanis names himself fascist dictator of Latvia
- May 15 US Department of Justice offers $25,000 reward for Dillinger, dead or alive
- May 18 Trans-Word Airlines (TWA) begins commercial service
- May 19 Military coup by Colonel Damian Veltsjev in Bulgaria
- May 19 Sherlock Holmes crossword puzzle in "Saturday Review of Literature"; males who solved puzzle became members of Baker Street Irregulars [1]
- May 21 Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes first US city to fingerprint its citizens
Bonnie and Clyde Killed
May 23 American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow - Bonnie and Clyde, are killed by police in an ambush near Sailes, Louisiana
- May 23 The Auto-Lite Strike culminates in the "Battle of Toledo", a five-day melée between 1,300 troops of the Ohio National Guard and 6,000 picketers
- May 24 Colombia & Peru sign accord about harbor city Leticia
Cantata Profana
May 25 Béla Bartók's "Cantata Profana - The Nine Enchanted Stags" premieres in London, England, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Wireless Chorus conducted by Aylmer Buesst
- May 26 Century of Progress Exposition reopens in Chicago
Hobbs Last 1st Class Century
May 28 Jack Hobbs scores his 197th (or 199th) and last 1st class cricket century at 51 years and 163 days of age [1]
- May 28 Near Callander, Ontario, the Dionne quintuplets are born to Olivia and Elzire Dionne, later becoming the first quintuplets to survive infancy
- May 28 The Glyndebourne festival in Sussex, England, inaugurated
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Indianapolis native Bill Cummings accompanied by riding mechanic Earl Unversaw wins race where only 12 of 33 entrants finish
- May 31 The Barmen Declaration is published by a group of church leaders in Germany including Karl Barth to help Christians withstand the challenges of the Nazi party
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies