Event of Interest
May 2 Former US Vice President Spiro Agnew is disbarred
- May 2 Six Catholic civilians killed and eighteen wounded when the UVF explode a bomb at Rose & Crown Bar on Ormeau Road, Belfast
Kentucky Derby
May 4 100th Kentucky Derby: Puerto Rican jockey Ángel Cordero Jr. wins aboard Cannonade for first of 3 Derby victories
Music History
May 6 American composer Roger Sessions receives special Pulitzer Prize for his life's work in music
- May 6 Bundy victim Roberta Parks disappears from OSU, Corvallis, Ore
- May 6 Oakland A's pitcher Paul Lindblad makes an errant throw in 1st inning of 6-3 loss to Baltimore, ending his record streak of 385 consecutive errorless games
- May 6 Scotland Yard recovers stolen Johannes Vermeer oil painting "The Guitar Player" at the cemetery of St Bartholomew-the-Great, in London's financial
- May 6 Smallest attendance at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium (4,149)
Willy Brandt Resigns
May 6 West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigns amidst controversy over his aide Günter Guillaume's ties with the Stasi (East German secret service)
Trudeau Government Falls
May 8 Canadian government of Pierre Trudeau falls
- May 8 FC Magdenburg of East Germany win 14th European Cup Winner's Cup against AC Milan of Italy 2-0 in Rotterdam
- May 9 US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins formal hearings on Nixon impeachment
- May 10 7th ABA championship: NY Nets beats Utah Stars, 4 games to 1
- May 11 "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield hits #7
Rikki Don't Lose That Number
May 11 ABC Records releases Steely Dan single "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" from the "Pretzel Logic "album; it peaks at #4 in the US, making it their biggest hit
- May 12 28th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat Milwaukee, 4 games to 3
- May 14 Underground America Day is 1st observed to honor the 6,000 Americans that make their homes in the Earth
- May 15 Beginning of the Ulster Workers' Council strike called by Ulster loyalists and unionists who were against the Sunningdale Agreement, which proposed the sharing of political power with Irish nationalists
- May 15 Ma'alot massacre: Palestinian terrorist take school hostage, 25 mostly children killed and 68 injured
- May 15 Walter Scheel succeeds Gustav Heinemann as West German President
Event of Interest
May 16 Helmut Schmidt becomes West German Chancellor
- May 16 USSR performs nuclear Test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- May 17 18th European Cup: Bayern Munich beats Atletico Madrid 4-0 at Brussels
Music History
May 17 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 15th String quartet
- May 17 Symbionese Liberation Army shoot-out with Los Angeles police kills six SLA members in the gunfire and resulting fire. One of the largest police shootouts in US history, with more than 9,000 rounds fired.
- May 17 Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) explode four bombs in Republic of Ireland, killing 33 civilians, wounding 300 (highest number of casualties in a single incident during "The Troubles")
- May 18 99th Preakness: Miguel Rivera aboard Current Little wins in 1:54.6
- May 18 India becomes the sixth nation to explode an atomic bomb
- May 18 Nigeria announces 55 percent government participation in all oil concessions
#1 in the Charts
May 18 Novelty song "The Streak" by Ray Stevens hits #1
- May 19 Stanley Cup Final, The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA: Goaltender Bernie Parent and the Flyers shut out the Boston Bruins, 1-0, to win series 4-2, become 1st "expansion" team to win Stanley Cup; Parent named playoff MVP
- May 19 Valeri Giscard d'Estaing wins French presidential election
Music History
May 22 "Julie and Jackie: How Sweet It Is" music and comedy variety special starring Julie Andrews and Jackie Gleason airs on ABC-TV
- May 22 Ruffian begins her racing career as a filly and dies 14 months later
- May 22 Soccer team Veendam forms
- May 22 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 23 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 23 Italian Red Brigade officer Mario Sossi freed
Television Finale
May 24 "The Dean Martin Show" last airs on NBC-TV
Cannes Film Festival
May 24 27th Cannes Film Festival: "The Conversation" directed by Francis Ford Coppola wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
Diamond Dogs
May 24 RCA releases "Diamond Dogs", David Bowie's 8th studio album, recorded in London and the Netherlands, with cover design by artist Guy Peellaert, it peaks in the U.S. charts at No. 5, and goes to No. 1 in the U.K. and Canada
- May 26 During a David Cassidy concert at London's White City, a 14-year-old is trampled, and dies four days later
- May 26 Indianapolis 500: Johnny Rutherford claims first of his three Indy victories; first Sunday start of the event
Emmy Awards
May 28 26th Emmy Awards: M*A*S*H, Alan Alda & Mary Tyler Moore win, 1st Daytime Award presentation and "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" wins 5 awards, including Cicely Tyson for Dramatic Performance
- May 28 Italian fascists bomb demonstrators in Brescia, 6 killed
- May 28 Stephen Schwartz' musical "Magic Show" opens at Cort Theater, NYC; runs for 1859 performances
- May 29 Northern Ireland is brought under direct rule from Westminster
- May 31 Israel and Syria sign an agreement concerning Golan Heights
- May 31 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
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