Music History
May 1 British pop superstar Elton John performs for 1st time in Israel, kicking off a mini-tour of 5 shows in six nights
- May 1 Home rule introduced to Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland)
- May 1 Marshall Islands (in Pacific) become self-governing
- May 2 -May 10] Vivekananda (Sri Lanka) begins nonstop ride, cycling 187 hrs, 28 min, around Vihara Maha Devi Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Academy of Country Music Awards
May 2 14th Academy of Country Music Awards: Kenny Rogers and Barbara Mandrell win
- May 2 Film "Quadrophenia" premieres in London, based on The Who's rock opera "Tommy"
- May 3 1979 NFL Draft: Tom Cousineau from Ohio State first pick by Buffalo Bills
- May 3 Martin Sherman's play "Bent" premieres in London
Baseball Record
May 3 MLB Cleveland Indian Bobby Bonds hits his 300th HR (2nd to have 300 HRs & 300 stolen bases)
Election of Interest
May 4 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to be elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- May 4 NASA launches Fltsatcom-2, a communications system for US Navy aircraft, ships, submarines, and ground stations
- May 5 105th Kentucky Derby: Ron Franklin on Spectacular Bid wins in 2:02.4
- May 5 Masterpiece Radio Theater begins broadcasting
- May 5 Voyager 1 fly-bys Jupiter
- May 6 American Fred Markham (22) sets a bicycle speed record of 81.8 kph (50.8 mph) over 200 meter course
- May 6 Louis LaRusso II's stage drama "Knockout", starring Danny Aiello, opens at the Helen Hayes Theater, NYC: runs for 154 performances
- May 6 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- May 7 5th UNCTAD-conference opens in Manila
- May 7 Gary Roenicke hits into Orioles 13th triple play (Oakland)
- May 8 Radio Shack releases TRSDOS 2.3
- May 9 Iranian-Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is the 1st Jew executed by the Islamic government firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran
- May 10 Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing
- May 10 John McMullen becomes CEO of Houston Astros
- May 10 Vivekananda (Sri Lanka) completes nonstop cycle ride of 187 hrs, 28 min, around Vihara Maha Devi Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka [From May 2]
Sports History
May 12 Chris Evert's 125-match winning streak on clay comes to an end
- May 13 "Utter Glory... Morrissey Hall" opens & closes at Mark Hellinger NYC
Event of Interest
May 13 Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and family sentenced to death in Tehran
- May 14 "Kids Are All Right" rockumentary film featuring The Who premieres at the Cannes Film Festival
Stalker
May 14 "Stalker", Russian film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, starring Alexander Kaidanovsky and Anatoli Solonitsyn, is released
- May 16 FC Barcelona of Spain wins 19th European Cup Winner's Cup against Fortuna Düsseldorf of West Germany 4-3 in Basel
- May 16 MLB National League approves sale of Houston Astros by Ford Motors to John J McMullen for $19M
- May 17 Coldest temperature ever recorded in Hawaii: 12°F (-11°C), on the Big Island at Mauna Kea Observatory, elevation 13,796 feet
- May 17 Emmy 6th Daytime Award presentation, "Ryan's Hope" wins Outstanding Daytime Drama Series
- May 17 MLB Philadelphia Phillies win over Cubs, 23-22 in 10 innings at Wrigley Field on a breezy day in Chicago; teams combine for 13 first inning runs, and finish game with 50 hits, including 11 homeruns
- May 19 "In The Navy" single by Village People hits #3
- May 19 104th Preakness: Ron Franklin aboard Spectacular Bid wins in 1:54.2
- May 20 Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart's musical "I Love My Wife" closes at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC, after 857 performances
- May 20 Elton John is the 1st western pop star to tour USSR
White Night Riots
May 21 Dan White convicted of the voluntary manslaughter of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and openly gay councilor Harvey Milk. The conviction on a lesser charge outraged the gay community and led to the White Night riots.
- May 21 National Volksraad installed in Namibia
- May 21 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: 4 consecutive titles for Montreal Canadiens; beat NY Rangers, 4-1 for a 4 games to 1 series win
Film & TV History
May 22 1st ACE Cable Awards: "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" by Jim Henson and HBO
Election of Interest
May 22 Canadians elect conservatives, Joseph Clark replaces Pierre Trudeau as the 16th Prime Minister of Canada
- May 23 1st edition of "Wisden Cricket Monthly"
- May 23 West-Germany elects Karl Carstens president
Cannes Film Festival
May 24 32nd Cannes Film Festival: "Apocalypse Now" directed by Francis Ford Coppola and "Die Biechtrommel" directed by Volker Schlondorff jointly awarded the Palme d'Or
Sports History
May 24 Billy Martin issues a public apology to Reno sportswriter Ray Hagar
- May 24 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- May 25 American Airlines DC-10 crashes on takeoff from Chicago killing 273 including 2 on the ground
Alien
May 25 Horror film "Alien", directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver is released
- May 25 Israel begins to return Sinai to Egypt
- May 25 Raul Gonzales of Mexico completes 50,000 m walk in record 3:41:38.4
Lodger
May 25 RCA releases David Bowie's 13th studio album, "Lodger"; his third collaboration with Brian Eno in what becomes known as his 'Berlin trilogy' features contributions from guitarist Adrian Belew
Dancin' Fool
May 26 CBS Records releases Frank Zappa's "Dancin' Fool" single from his album "Sheik Yerbouti"; it peaks at #45, his biggest hit at the time
- May 27 Indianapolis 500: Polesitter Rick Mears takes lead for the final time with 18 laps to go, to win his first of four Indy 500 races
Event of Interest
May 27 Pope John Paul II ordains John J O'Connor as a bishop
The House on Garibaldi Street
May 28 ABC premiere of TV's "The House on Garibaldi Street", based on the 1960 capture of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina
- May 28 European Market accepts Greece as member
- May 29 CBS premiere of Melissa Anderson's modern "Survival of Dana", her first "bad girl" role, in which Anderson's title character leaves her North Dakota town for Los Angeles after her parents' divorce
- May 29 Radio's 1st rock network "Source" premieres
- May 30 23rd European Cup: Nottingham Forest beats Malmo FF 1-0 at Munich
- May 30 Percom Data Company Inc release Microdos for Radio Shack's TRS-80
- May 30 Ted Coombs begins a 5,193 mile roller skate from LA to NYC
- May 31 Radio City Music Hall (NYC) reopens
I Remember Mama
May 31 Richard Rodgers, Martin Charnin and Raymond Jessel's musical "I Remember Mama" opens at Majestic Theater, NYC; runs for 108 performances
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