Kentucky Derby
May 1 91st Kentucky Derby: Bill Shoemaker wins aboard Lucky Debonair, the third of his 4 Derby victories
- May 1 Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between ROC and PRC, takes place.
- May 1 Stanley Cup, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Dick Duff has a goal and 2 assists as Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0 in Game 7 to take title 4-3
- May 1 USSR launches Luna 5; later impacts on Moon
- May 2 "New Faces of 1965" opens at Booth Theater NYC for 52 performances
- May 2 Early Bird satellite goes into commercial service
- May 3 1st use of satellite TV, Today Show on Early Bird Satellite
- May 3 Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with the US
- May 3 Don Steele, begins a 40+ year radio career at KRTH (Los Angeles California)
- May 3 KTCI TV channel 17 in St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN (PBS) 1st broadcast
- May 3 Pulitzer prize awarded to Irwin Unger (Greenback Era)
Baseball Record
May 4 San Francisco Giants Willie Mays hit 512th career home run breaking Mel Ott's 29 year-old National League record, off of Los Angeles Dodgers Claude Osteen at Candlestick Park [1]
Sports History
May 6 Jerry Sloan is selected by the Baltimore Bullets as the fourth overall pick of the 1965 NBA draft
- May 7 WAOW TV channel 9 in Wausau, Wisconsin (ABC) begins broadcasting
- May 8 1st shut put over 70' (Randy Matson 70' 7")
- May 9 Luna 5 launched (USSR) 1st attempt to soft land on Moon (fails)
- May 9 The Beatles attend a Bob Dylan concert, at the Royal Albert Hall in London
- May 11 1st of 2 cyclones in less than a month kills 35,000 (India)
- May 11 Bangladesh windstorm kills 17,000
Statue of Liberty
May 11 Ellis Island added to Statue of Liberty National monument
Flora, the Red Menace
May 11 John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical "Flora, the Red Menace", Their first collaboration stars Liza Minnelli (19) in her Broadway debut, opens at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for 87 performances and earns Liza a Tony Award
- May 11 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- May 11 West Indies becomes 1st holders of the Frank Worrell Cricket Trophy
- May 12 Israel and West Germany establish diplomatic relations with an exchange of letters
Music History
May 12 The Rolling Stones record their smash hit single "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
- May 13 Several Arab nations break ties with West Germany after it established diplomatic relations with Israel
- May 14 2nd Chinese atom bomb explodes
- May 14 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 15 90th Preakness: Ron Turcotte aboard Tom Rolfe wins in 1:56.2
- May 15 Canadian Football Players Association organizes
- May 15 Igor Vodic beats Mad Dog Vachon in Omaha, to become NWA champ
- May 16 "Roar of the Greasepaint" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 232 performances
- May 16 18th Cannes Film Festival: "The Knack...and How to Get It" directed by Richard Lester wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
Baseball History
May 16 Baltimore Oriole Jim Palmer's pitching debut, beats Yankees 7-5 & homers
- May 16 Bomb destroys USAF base Bien Hoa, South Vietnam
- May 16 The Campbell Soup Company introduces SpaghettiOs under its Franco-American brand
- May 16 WNJU TV channel 47 in NY-Linden, NY (TEL) begins broadcasting
Film & TV History
May 18 Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names for Star Trek Captain; they include Kirk
- May 18 WTAF TV channel 29 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (IND) begins broadcasting
- May 19 Patricia R. Harris named 1st US black female ambassador (Luxembourg)
- May 19 West Ham United of England win 5th European Cup Winner's Cup against 1860 München of West Germany 2-0 in London
- May 20 Pakistani Boeing 720-B crashes at Cairo Egypt, killing 121
- May 20 Yorkshire all out for 23 v Hampshire at Middlesbrough
- May 22 "Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious", from the film "Mary Poppin" hits #66
- May 22 Beatles' "Ticket to Ride" single goes #1
- May 22 Mad Dog Vachon beats Igor Vodic in Omaha, to become NWA champ
- May 23 Franz Jonas elected President of Austria
- May 23 Pontoon ferry overturned on Shire River, Malawi, kills 150
- May 24 Supreme Court declares federal law allowing post office to intercept communist propaganda is unconstitutional
- May 25 Dave Davies of The Kinks knocked unconscious in an on stage scuffle with drummer Mick Avory at Cardiff’s Capital Theatre
- May 25 Fighting along the Indian and Pakistan border
Ali Floors The Bear in Just Two Minutes
May 25 Muhammad Ali KOs Sonny Liston at 2:12 of round 1 at Central Maine Civic Center, Lewiston to retain his WBC/WBA heavyweight boxing title
- May 25 Roel van Duyn, Martijn Ananar & Rob Faado align in Provo
- May 26 Dutch Voting Rights Bill passes
- May 26 Revised International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea takes effect
- May 27 10th European Cup Final, San Siro, Milan: Jair da Costa scores winner as defending champions Internazionale beat Benfica, 1-0
- May 28 Fire & explosion at Dhori mine in Dhanbad India kills 400
World Record
May 29 American long jumper Ralph Boston sets then world record 27' 4 3/4" (8.35m) at Modesto, California
French Open Men's Tennis
May 29 French Championships Men's Tennis: Fred Stolle beats fellow Australian Tony Roche 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 for his first Grand Slam singles title
- May 29 French Championships Women's Tennis: Australian Lesley Turner Bowrey wins her 2nd French singles crown; upsets doubles partner Margaret Smith 6-3, 6-4
- May 29 Phillies Dick Allen hits 529' HR out of Connie Mack Stadium
- May 30 France performs nuclear test at Ecker Algeria (Underground)
- May 30 Viet Cong offensive against US base Da Nang, begins
- May 30 Vivian Malone is 1st black to graduate from University of Alabama
- May 31 12th National Film Awards (India): "Charulata" wins the Golden Lotus
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies