Beatification
May 1 Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish born nun
- May 2 113th Kentucky Derby: Chris McCarron aboard Alysheba wins in 2:03.4
Sports History
May 2 NHL New York Islanders Mike Bossy plays his final game, a 5-1 playoff elimination game loss to Philadelphia Flyers at the Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- May 3 "Mikado" closes at Virginia Theater NYC after 46 performances
- May 3 Miami Herald reports a woman spent Friday & Saturday with Gary Hart
- May 5 Congress begins Iran-Contra hearings
- May 5 Detroit Tigers are 11 games back in AL, but go on to win AL East
- May 5 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
Event of Interest
May 6 American televangelist Jim Bakker and Rich Dortch dismissed from Assemblies of God after revelations of an alleged rape of a church secretary
- May 6 Gary Hart denies affair with model Donna Rice
Sports History
May 6 Mario Andretti sets one-lap speed record at Indy at 218.204 MPH
- May 6 Niroslav Milhailovic begins 54 hours of telling jokes
- May 6 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- May 7 105°F in Sacramento, California
- May 7 Diane Chambers' (Shelley Long) final episode on TV comedy "Cheers"
- May 8 Gary Hart quits US democratic presidential race due to affair with Donna Rice
- May 8 The Loughgall ambush: The SAS kill 8 IRA members and 1 civilian, in Loughgall, Northern Ireland
- May 9 183 die aboard a Polish jetliner that crashes in Warsaw
- May 9 32nd Eurovision Song Contest: Johnny Logan for Ireland wins singing "Hold Me Now" in Brussels
Baseball Record
May 9 Oriole Eddie Murray is 1st to switch hit HRs in 2 consecutive games
- May 11 1st heart-lung transplant take place in Baltimore
Trial of Interest
May 11 Trial of former Gestapo commandant Klaus Barbie begins in France for war crimes during World War II
- May 13 Ajax of the Netherlands win 27th European Cup Winner's Cup against Lokomotive Leipzig 1-0 of East Germany in Athens
- May 13 NHL Clarence Campbell Conference Final: Edmonton Oilers beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 1
- May 14 "Little Shop of Horrors" is released in Germany
- May 14 Colt revolver (Peacemaker) of 1873 sells for $242,000
- May 14 NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: Philadelphia Flyers beat Montreal Canadians, 4 games to 2
- May 15 1st Energiya Launch (USSR)
Film & TV History
May 15 Last episode of "The Late Show with Joan Rivers" after the host is fired by the Fox network
- May 15 Record archery score for a pair over 24 hrs, is set
- May 16 "Bobro 400", a barge carrying 3,200 tons of garbage sets sail from NYC, beginning an unsuccessful 8 week search for a dumping site
- May 16 112th Preakness: Chris McCarron aboard Alysheba wins in 1:55.8
Musical Finale
May 16 Rupert Holmes' musical "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", based on an unfinished work of Charles Dickens, closes at the Imperial Theatre, NYC, after 608 performances and 5 Tony Award wins
Music History
May 16 Weird Al Yankovic performs live at 72nd National Orange Show
- May 17 Musical revue "Stardust - The Mitchell Parish Musical", featuring songs of the Lithuanian-American lyricist, closes at Biltmore Theater, NYC, after 101 performances
- May 17 USS Stark hit by Iraqi missiles, 37 sailors die
Film & TV History
May 19 1st American Comedy Award: Johnny Carson & Betty White
- May 19 40th Cannes Film Festival: "Sous le soleil de Satan" directed by Maurice Pialat wins the Palme d'Or
- May 20 Wrestler Jerry Lawler sues WWF & Harley Race for trademark name "king"
- May 21 Xignals PC Board BBS begins in Alabama
- May 22 30 killed in a Texas tornado
Sports History
May 22 Canadian Rick Hansen completes his 'Man in Motion' world tour in a wheelchair at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium, raising money for spinal cord research
- May 24 Golden Gate Bridge 50th anniversary: Over 800K people show up, 300K walk on bridge at same time, span temporarily flattens from weight (San Francisco, California)
LPGA Championship
May 24 LPGA Championship Women's Golf, Jack Nicklaus GC: American Jane Geddes wins by 1 stroke ahead of runner-up American Betsy King
- May 26 Cecilia Bolocco, 22, of Chile, crowned 36th Miss Universe
- May 26 Great offensive against Tamil-rebellion in Jaffra Sri Lanka
- May 26 US Supreme Court ruled dangerous defendants could be held without bail
Event of Interest
May 26 William H. Webster replaces Robert M. Gates as 14th director of CIA
- May 27 31st European Cup: Porto beats Bayern Munich 2-1 at Vienna
- May 27 Christian evangelists Jim and Tammy Bakker appear on "Nightline" after PTL scandal
Sports History
May 27 New York Yankees knuckleballer Phil Niekro is 3rd pitcher to make 700th start, joining Cy Young and Don Sutton
- May 28 60th US National Spelling Bee: Stephanie Petit wins spelling staphylococci
- May 28 Mathias Rust, 18-year-old West German pilot, makes unauthorized landing near Red Square, Moscow in USSR
- May 28 Monitor, Civil War warship, is discovered by a deep sea robot
- May 28 Paul Pearman jumps 21 barrels on a skateboard in Augusta
- May 28 Southern League no-hit record-Bob Milacki pitches 11 1/3 no-hit inn
- May 28 Stacking of Discovery's SRBs completed
Music History
May 29 British pop singer Freddie Mercury and Spanish opera diva Montserrat Caballé debut their song "Barcelona" at the Ibiza Fest
- May 29 Jury finds "Twilight Zone: The Movie" director John Landis innocent of involuntary manslaughter in death of actor Vic Morrow and 2 child actors during filming
Music History
May 29 Michael Jackson attempts to buy Elephant Man's remains
- May 29 Robin Ventura set a college baseball record with hits in 57 games
Tyson TKOs Thomas
May 30 Mike Tyson beats Pinklon Thomas by TKO in round 6 in Las Vegas to retain WBC / WBA heavyweight boxing titles
- May 30 North American Philips Company unveils compact disc video
- May 30 Tony Tucker TKOs Buster Douglas in 10 for heavyweight boxing title
- May 31 Saul Ballesteros drives 3 golf balls off Mt McKinley, Alaska
- May 31 Stanley Cup Final, Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, AL: Edmonton Oilers beat Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1 to win title 4 games to 3: Oilers' 3rd SC
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies