- May 1 Mr Potato Head first introduced by toy distributor Hasbro
- May 1 TWA introduces tourist class
- May 1 US Marines take part in an atomic explosion training in Nevada
- May 2 1st scheduled jet airliner passenger service began with a British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Comet from London to Johannesburg carrying 36 passengers [1]
- May 2 John Cage's "Water Music" - for a solo pianist, using a piano, a radio, whistles, water containers, and a deck of cards - premieres in New York City
- May 3 "Call Me Madam" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 644 performances
- May 3 1st landing by an airplane at geographic North Pole
Kentucky Derby
May 3 78th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro aboard Hill Gail wins his record fifth Derby
- May 5 "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" (also known as "Vitameatavegamin") episode of "I Love Lucy" premieres, garnering 68% of US television viewers
- May 5 Pulitzer prize awarded to Herman Wouk for his novel "The Caine Mutiny"
- May 7 The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer
- May 8 5th British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAs): "La Ronde" Best Film
- May 8 Revival of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle's musical "Shuffle Along" opens at Broadway Theater, NYC; runs for 4 performances
Of Thee I Sing
May 8 Revival of George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind's musical political satire "Of Thee I Sing", directed by Kaufman, opens at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC; runs for 72 performances
5th Cannes Film Festival
May 10 5th Cannes Film Festival: "The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice" directed by Orson Welles and "Two Cents Worth of Hope" directed by Renato Castellani jointly awarded the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
- May 10 Revival of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle's musical "Shuffle Along" closes at Broadway Theater, NYC, after 4 performances
- May 12 Charlton Playground named in Bronx
- May 12 Gaj Singh is crowned Maharaja of Jodhpur
Nehru Indian Premier
May 13 Jawaharlal Nehru becomes premier of India
- May 13 Ron Necciai of Pittsburgh Pirate's Bristol Twins Class D farm team, strikes out 27 in 9-innings, as he no-hits Welch Minors; 4 Minors do reach base
- May 13 The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, holds its first sitting
- May 15 Detroit Tiger Virgil Trucks no-hits Washington Senators, 1-0
Sports History
May 15 Johnny Longden becomes 2nd jockey to ride 4,000 winners
Stonehenge Dated
May 18 Professor Willard Libby says England's prehistoric monument of Stonehenge dates back to 1848 BC
Event of Interest
May 19 "Time" magazine features 'Theseus', an electrical learning machine built by American scientist Claude Shannon - the 1st example of AI [1]
- May 21 Booklyn Dodgers score 15 runs in their 1st inning to beat Cincinnati Reds 19-1
Event of Interest
May 21 Dutch Queen Juliana opens Amsterdam-Rhine Canal
- May 27 European Defense Community forms
- May 28 Memphis Kiddie Park opens in Brooklyn, Ohio; the park's Little Dipper roller coaster would become the oldest operating steel roller coaster in North America.
- May 28 The women of Greece are given the right to vote.
- May 29 2nd Round Conference between Dutch Antilles & Suriname ends
- May 30 Charlie Grimm succeeds Tommy Holmes as manager of Boston Braves
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Troy Ruttman at 22 years 80 days sets record for youngest 500 winner in history; his Kuzma-Offenhauser is last dirt track car to win at Indy
Authors
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Explorers
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