Event of Interest
May 1 Anastasio Somoza Debayle becomes President of Nicaragua
- May 1 Jelle Zijlstra becomes president of Netherlands Bank
- May 1 Pulitzer Prize awarded to Bernard Malamud (Fixer)
Stanley Cup
May 2 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: Terry Sawchuk makes 40 saves as Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 in Game 6 to take title, 4-2
- May 3 African American students seize finance building at Northwestern University
- May 4 Lunar Orbiter 4 launched by US; begins orbiting Moon May 7
- May 5 The Kinks release "Waterloo Sunset" as a single; peaks at #2 on the British charts
- May 6 400 students seize administration building at Cheyney State College, Pennsylvania
- May 6 93rd Kentucky Derby: Bobby Ussery on Proud Clarion wins in 2:00.6
- May 6 Maureen Wilton runs female world record marathon (3:15:22)
- May 6 Zakir Husain elected 1st Muslim President of India
Muhammad Ali Indicted
May 8 Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in US Army
Sports History
May 10 Hank Aaron hits his only inside the park HR off of Phillies' Jim Bunning, in Philadelphia
Music History
May 10 Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, and singer Mick Jagger arrested on drug charges, based on evidence gathered in a February police raid of Richards' mansion in West Wittering, England
- May 10 Stockholm Vietnam Tribunal declares US aggression in Vietnam and Cambodia
- May 10 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 11 "Sing, Israel Sing" opens at Brooks Atkinson Theatre NYC for 14 performances
- May 11 100,000,000th US phone connected
- May 11 Great Britain, Ireland & Denmark apply for membership of the EEC
Music Concert
May 12 1st quadraphonic concert by Pink Floyd at the Games for May concert in London
- May 12 20th Cannes Film Festival: "Blowup" directed by Michelangelo Antonioni wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
Good Times
May 12 Columbia Pictures releases "Good Times" a musical comedy western starring Sonny & Cher and George Sanders; Cher's 1st starring role is also the feature debut of director William Friedkin
- May 12 H. Rap Brown replaces Stokely Carmichael as chairman of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Are You Experienced
May 12 Track Records releases "Are You Experienced" album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience - one of the most influential debut albums ever
- May 13 Dutch counterculture movement Provo disbands
- May 13 Octagonal boxing ring is tested to avoid corner injuries
- May 13 Zakir Husain is elected the third President of India
Sports History
May 14 NY Yankee Mickey Mantle hits career HR #500 off Baltimore Oriole's Stu Miller
- May 15 "In re Gault", US Supreme Court rules juveniles accused of crimes should be given same legal rights as adults
Paul Meets Linda
May 15 Paul McCartney meets his future wife, American photographer Linda Eastman
- May 16 Philalphia voters approve a $13 million bond issue to build a new stadium
- May 17 Dylan's 1965 UK Tour is released as film "Don't Look Back"
- May 18 Silver hits a record $1.60 an ounce in London
- May 18 Tennessee Governor Ellington approves repeal of the Butler Act (or "Monkey Law") - prohibiting the teaching of evolution, upheld in 1925 Scopes Trial
- May 19 USSR ratifies treaty with Britain & US banning nuclear weapons in space
- May 20 10,000 demonstrate against war in Vietnam
Preakness Stakes
May 20 92nd Preakness: Bill Shoemaker aboard Damascus wins in 1:55.2
- May 20 BBC bans the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" because of drug references
- May 21 "Sing, Israel Sing" closes at Brooks Atkinson NYC after 14 performances
Event of Interest
May 22 Egyptian President Nasser closes the Straits of Tiran to Israel
- May 22 Fire at L'Innovation department store kills 322 (Brussels, Belgium)
- May 23 Government bans submarines near South Africa
- May 24 AFL grants a franchise to Cincinnati Bengals
- May 25 European Cup Final, Estádio Nacional, Lisbon: Glasgow Celtic beats Internazionale, 2-1; first British team to win the Cup
Music History
May 25 John Lennon takes delivery of his psychedelically painted Rolls Royce
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
May 26 EMI rush releases The Beatles' album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in London and select markets in the UK, prior to nation-wide release; it would go to number one for 15 weeks in the US and 22 weeks in the UK
- May 26 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 27 Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and count them in the national census
- May 27 British folk-jazz fusion group Pentangle gives debut performance at the Royal Festival Hall, London, England
Music Concert
May 28 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 2nd Violin concert
Event of Interest
May 28 Francis Chichester arrives home at Plymouth from Round-the-world trip
- May 28 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- May 29 Australian Paul McManus water skis barefoot for 1:30:19
Music History
May 29 Elvis and Priscilla Presley hold a wedding reception at Graceland for friends and family not at the original ceremony
One Hundred Years of Solitude
May 30 Argentinian author Gabriel García Márquez's most important work "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is published in Buenos Aires
- May 30 King Hussein of Jordan visits Cairo
- May 30 Republic of Biafra, a predominantly Igbo secessionist state in eastern Nigeria, is founded by Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu
Whitey Ford Retires
May 30 Yankee Whitey Ford, nearing 41, announces his retirement from baseball
- May 31 Bayern Munchen of West Germany wins 7th European Cup Winner's Cup against Rangers of Scotland 1-0 in Nuremberg
Indy 500
May 31 Indianapolis 500: A. J. Foyt weaves his way through a pileup on the final lap to win his third Indy 500 victory; first Indy 500 win for Goodyear tires since 1919
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