Academy of Country Music Awards
May 1 15th Academy of Country Music Awards: Larry Gatlin and Crystal Gayle win
- May 1 Amer Book Award: William Styron (Sophie Choice)/T Wolfe (Right Stuff)
- May 1 Frank Lazarus and Dick Vosburgh's musical double feature "A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine." opens at the John Golden Theatre, NYC; runs for 588 performances
- May 2 Joseph Doherty and 3 other IRA men are arrested for murder
Music History
May 2 Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in Wall (Part II)" is banned in South Africa
Event of Interest
May 2 Pope John Paul II begins his African tour
- May 2 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 3 106th Kentucky Derby: Jacinto Vasquez on Genuine Risk wins in 2:02
Sports History
May 3 Giants 1st baseman Willie McCovey hits his 521st & final HR
Sports History
May 3 Texas Ranger Ferguson Jenkins becomes 4th to win 100 games in AL & NL
- May 4 Dodgers bat out of order against Phillies in 1st inning
- May 4 White Sox 1st baseman Mike Squires catches final inning of 11-1 loss to Brewers, becoming 1st lefty to catch since Cubs Dale Long in 1958
- May 5 Konstantinos Karamanlis is elected for the first time President of Greece
- May 5 Siege at Iranian Embassy in London ends as the SAS and police storm the building
- May 7 Paul Geidel Jr, American murderer, and longest-serving prison inmate in the United States, paroled after 68 years, 296 days, at the age of 86.
- May 7 Samm-Art Williams' "Home" premieres in NYC
- May 8 1st non-stop trans-North American balloon flight departs Fort Baker, California. Maxie Anderson and son Kristian pilot the Kitty Hawk for five days.
- May 8 Sabres take only 15 shots, Islanders 22, in a playoff game
- May 8 World Health Organization announces smallpox has been eradicated
- May 9 35 motorists die when roadway collapses after Liberian freighter 'Summit Venture' rams Sunshine Skyway Bridge, during a squall (Tampa Bay, Florida)
- May 9 Slasher horror film "Friday the 13th" is released in US cinemas
- May 10 "Happy New Year" closes at Morosco Theater NYC after 17 performances
- May 12 1st non-stop trans-North American balloon flight lands at Sainte-Félicité, Quebec. Maxie Anderson and son Kristian piloted the Kitty Hawk for five days.
- May 12 West Ham United wins the FA Cup, beating Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley Stadium; midfield playmaker Trevor Brooking scores winner with a rare header
- May 13 Cincinnati Red Ray Knight hits 2 HRs in 5th inning vs NY Mets
- May 14 "Musical Chairs" opens at Rialto Theater NYC for 15 performances
- May 14 Bucky Dent hits an inside park HR, Royals walk 14 Yanks including 5 with bases loaded, Yanks win 16-3
- May 14 Department of Health & Human Services begins operation
- May 14 Valencia of Spain wins 20th European Cup Winner's Cup against Arsenal of England 5-4 on penalties in Brussels
- May 15 Flyers score 8 goals against Islanders in playoffs
- May 15 Shawn Weatherly of South Carolina crowned 29th Miss USA, goes on to win Miss Universe
- May 16 34th NBA Championship: LA Lakers beat Philadelphia 76ers, 4 games to 2
- May 16 Former Buggles members Geoff Downes & Trevor Horn replace Jon Anderson & Rick Wakeman in Yes
McCartney II
May 16 Paul McCartney releases "McCartney II" album
Preakness Stakes
May 17 105th Preakness: Puerto Rican jockey Ángel Cordero Jr., aboard Codex wins his first of 2 Pimlico classics
- May 17 Major race riot in Miami, Florida - 16 killed, 300 injured
Music History
May 17 Paul & Linda McCartney appear in remote segment from England, after being awakened by Father Guido Sarducci, on "Saturday Night Live"
- May 17 V. S. Kumar Anandan from Sri Lanka balances on one foot for 33 hours (Guinness World Record)
- May 18 Belgium 3rd government of Martens forms
Mount St. Helens Erupts
May 18 Eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state triggers the largest landslide in history, killing 57 people and causing over $1 billion in damage
- May 18 Fernando Belaunde Terry elected president of Peru
- May 18 Gwangju Massacre: Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms
- May 18 People's Republic of China launches 1st intercontinental rocket
- May 19 "Blackstone" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 104 performances
Film & TV History
May 19 Ringo & Barbara Bach are involved in a car crash
- May 20 710 families in Love Canal area of Niagara Falls, New York are evacuated due to linger effects of prior use as chemical waste disposal site [1]
- May 20 Drummer Peter Criss quits rock band Kiss
- May 20 Fire in nursing home in Kingston Jamaica, kills 157
- May 20 In a referendum, 59.5% of Quebec voters reject separatism
Music History
May 21 "Star Wars Episode V - Empire Strikes Back", produced by George Lucas opens in cinemas in UK and North America
Cannes Film Festival
May 23 33rd Cannes Film Festival: "All That Jazz" directed by Bob Fosse and "Kagemusha" directed by Akira Kurosawa jointly awarded the Palme d'Or
- May 23 ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Neil Burton
The Shining
May 23 Horror film "The Shining" released directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, based on book by Stephen King
- May 24 "Kagemusha" directed by Akira Kurosawa wins the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival
- May 24 "Rock Lobster" single by B-52s hits #56
- May 24 Iran rejects a call to World Court to release US hostages
- May 24 Stanley Cup Final, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY: In first Finals appearance, NY Islanders beat Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4 in OT for a 4 games to 2 series win
- May 25 "Musical Chairs" closes at Rialto Theater NYC after 15 performances
- May 25 Indianapolis 500: Johnny Rutherford wins from pole position for his third Indy victory; sixth driver to win the race three times
- May 25 Jacek Wszoka of Poland sets high jump record (7'8")
- May 26 Dietmar Mogenburg of West Germany ties high jump record at 7'8"
Soyuz 36
May 26 Soyuz 36 carries cosmonauts Valery Kubasov and 1st Hungarian in space Bertalan Farkas to Salyut 6
- May 27 South Korean police ends people's uprising; 2,000 killed
- May 27 The Gwangju Massacre: South Korean airborne and army troops retake city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 possibly many more
- May 28 2 Oakland A's steal home in 1st inning
- May 28 24th European Cup: Nottingham Forest beats Hamburg 1-0 at Madrid
- May 28 Joe Darby does a standing long jump of 12'5"
- May 29 53rd National Spelling Bee: Jacques Bailly wins spelling elucubrate
- May 29 Attempted assassination on Vernon Jordan Jr National Urban League president
Event of Interest
May 29 JMW Turner's "Juliet & Her Nurse" sold for $6,400,000 in NYC
- May 29 John MacLachlan Gray's musical "Billy Bishop Goes to War" opens at Morosco Theater, NYC; runs for 12 performances, then moves to Off-Broadway
Sports History
May 29 Larry Bird beats out Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year
- May 30 1st papal visit to France since 1814
- May 30 Tiger reliever John Hiller, 37, (who had a 1971 heart attack), retires
- May 30 Turner's painting "Juliet & Her Nurse" sells for $6.4 million
- May 30 Twins Ken Landreaux ends his hitting streak after 31 games
- May 31 "Love Stinks" by J. Geils Band peaks at #38
- May 31 Police & youthful rebels battle in Zurich
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies