Full Circle
May 1 Danielle Steel’s romance novel “Full Circle” is published
- May 1 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Music History
May 1 Mick Fleetwood, drummer and leader of Fleetwood Mac, files for bankruptcy
- May 1 NFL Draft: Nebraska wide receiver Irving Fryar first pick by New England Patriots
- May 2 MLB Cleveland Indians' infielder Andre Thornton ties record for most walks (6 in 16 innings)
Baseball Record
May 2 New York Yankees Don Mattingly's single breaks up Chicago White Sox pitcher Lamarr Hoyt's perfect game bid, at Comiskey Park
Sunday in the Park with George
May 2 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Sunday in the Park with George", a fictionalized version of painter Georges Seurat's relationship with his grandson, starring Mandy Patinkin, opens at Booth Theater, NYC; runs for 604 performances, wins a Pulitzer Prize for Drama
- May 2 US performs underground nuclear test "Orkney" at Nevada Test Site, with an estimated 250 ton yield
- May 3 Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey's stage adaptation of her 1978 novel "A Woman of Independent Means", starring Barbara Rush, opens at Biltmore Theatre, NYC; runs for 13 performances
Sports History
May 4 Dave Kingman's fly ball never comes down (stuck in Metrodome ceiling)
- May 4 Itaipu Dam begins generating electricity on the border between Paraguay and Brazil, - the world's second largest generator of electricity (considered one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world) [1]
Kentucky Derby
May 5 110th Kentucky Derby: Laffit Pincay Jr aboard Swale wins in 2:02.4
- May 5 29th Eurovision Song Contest: Herreys for Sweden wins singing "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" in Luxembourg
- May 5 NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: New York Islanders beat Montreal Canadians, 4 games to 2
Sports History
May 6 Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr hits for cycle
- May 6 Jose Napoleon Duarte wins El Salvador presidential election
Agent Orange in Vietnam
May 7 $180m out-of-court settlement reached in Agent Orange suit
- May 8 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
Sports History
May 8 Minnesota Twins Kirby Puckett debuts with 4 singles
- May 8 Thames Barrier to stop flooding in London officially completed
- May 8 The Soviet Union announces it will not participate in Los Angeles Summer Olympics in retaliation for the American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics
Event of Interest
May 9 Alexander Calder's "Big Crinkly" sells for $852,000
- May 9 Chicago White Sox beat Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, in 25 innings (started 5/8)
- May 10 Intl Court of Justice rules on US blockade of Nicaragua
- May 11 Johan Cruijff quits soccer
- May 11 Tigers set best 30 game start record (26-4)
- May 11 Transit of Earth as seen on Mars
- May 12 Discovery moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) for mating of STS 41-D
- May 12 France performs nuclear test
- May 12 Joe Lucius scores his 13th hole-in-one on same hole
Mandela's Wife Visits Him in Jail
May 12 South African prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife Winnie Mandela for the 1st time in 22 years
- May 12 White Horse by Laid Back hits #26
- May 12 World of Rivers world exposition opens in New Orleans
- May 13 "Oliver!" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 17 performances
Sports History
May 13 Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff's last competitive match
- May 13 Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey's stage adaptation of her 1978 novel "A Woman of Independent Means", starring Barbara Rush, closes at Biltmore Theatre, NYC, after 13 performances
- May 14 19th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, Lee Greenwood, and Janie Fricke win
When Doves Cry
May 16 "When Doves Cry" single released by Prince Rogers Nelson (Billboard Song of the Year, 1984)
- May 16 Guinea-Bissau adopts constitution
- May 16 Juventus of Italy win 24th European Cup Winner's Cup against Porto of Portugal 2-1 in Basel
- May 16 Mackay pays $218,718 for 44,166 tickets to keep Twins in Minnesota Twins sell 51,863 tickets but only 6,346 fans show up for the game
Sports History
May 16 MLB Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton hits a grand slam homer off Fernando Valenzuela, in 7-2 win against Dodgers, in Los Angeles
- May 16 US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
- May 17 Cincinnati Reds Mario Soto throws 4 strikeouts in one inning
- May 17 Mai Shanley, 21, of New Mexico crowned 33rd Miss USA
- May 17 Marvin Creamer becomes 1st known person to sail around the world without navigational instruments, arriving back in Cape May, New Jersey, after 513 days
Event of Interest
May 17 Prince Charles calls proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend," sparking controversy on the role of the Royal Family and course of modern architecture.
Music History
May 19 "King Of Suede" single by Weird Al Yankovic hits #62
Preakness Stakes
May 19 109th Preakness: Puerto Rican jockey Ángel Cordero Jr., aboard Gate Dancer wins his second Pimlico classic
Sports History
May 19 Pat LaFontaine scores 2 goals within 22 sec in an NHL playoff game
Stanley Cup
May 19 Stanley Cup Final, Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, AL: Wayne Gretzky scores twice as Edmonton Oilers beat NY Islanders, 5-2 for a 4-1 series win; Oilers first SC title
- May 19 STS 41-D vehicle moves to launch pad
Sports History
May 20 Boston's Roger Clemens beats Twins, 5-4, for his 1st victory
On Your Toes
May 20 Revival of George Abbott, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart's musical "On Your Toes" closes at Virginia Theater, NYC, after 505 performances
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
May 23 "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", 2nd in the film series, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Harrison Ford, and produced by George Lucas' Lucosfilms premieres
Cannes Film Festival
May 23 37th Cannes Film Festival: "Paris, Texas" directed by Wim Wenders wins the Palme d'Or, starring Harry Dean Stanton and Nastassja Kinski
Once Upon a Time in America
May 23 Crime epic film "Once Upon a Time in America" directed by Sergio Leone starring Robert De Niro and James Woods premieres at Cannes
- May 23 Detroit Tigers win AL record tying 16th straight road game
- May 24 Det Tigers win AL record 17th straight road game
- May 24 Revival of musical "The Wiz" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater, NYC; runs for 13 performances
- May 25 Detroit Tigers lose to Seattle 7-3 ends record tying 17 consecutive wins
- May 25 Red Sox trade pitcher Dennis Eckersley to Cubs for Bill Buckner
- May 26 Floods kill 14 in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Event of Interest
May 26 US President Ronald Reagan rules out US military intervention in Iran-Iraq war
- May 27 Beth Henley's "Miss Firecracker contest" premieres in NYC
Indy 500
May 27 Indianapolis 500: 1979 champion Rick Mears wins second Indy 500 two laps ahead of the field after contenders Tom Sneva and Mario Andretti drop out in second half of the race
Sports History
May 27 Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria wins 3 singles tennis matches in one day; Italian Open 1984, beats Virginie Ruzici, Carling Basset and Chris Evert in the final 6-3 6-3; only 7th player to beat Evert on clay
Soros Foundation
May 28 George Soros founds the Soros Foundation Budapest to help countries free themselves from communism
Sports History
May 29 Boston Red Sox retires #9 (Ted Williams) & #4 (Joe Cronin)
- May 30 28th European Cup: Liverpool beats Roma (1-1, 4-2 on penalties) at Rome
- May 30 Bomb explodes in rebel leader Edén Pastora's headquarters in Nicaragua
- May 30 NL suspends Mario Soto 5 days for Reds-Cubs fight on May 27th
- May 31 57th National Spelling Bee: Daniel Greenblatt wins spelling luge
- May 31 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Cricket Record
May 31 Viv Richards hits 189* (170 balls) v England, ODI cricket record
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