- May 1 Carol Ann Duffy is appointed British Poet Laureate - first Scot and woman Laureate
Business History
May 1 Chanda Kochhar takes over from K. V. Kamath as CEO and Managing Director of ICICI Bank
- May 1 Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden
- May 2 135th Kentucky Derby: Calvin Borel wins aboard 50-1 long shot Mine That Bird after running dead last until the final turn
Sports History
May 6 Marco van Basten resigns as manager of Ajax after the team fails to qualify for the Champions League
President Jacob Zuma
May 9 Jacob Zuma is sworn in as President of South Africa
- May 10 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Henrik Stenson of Sweden shoots a bogey-free final round 66 to win by 4 strokes from Englishman Ian Poulter
- May 11 An American soldier in Iraq opened fire on a counseling center at Camp Liberty in Bagdhad, leaving 5 other US soldiers dead and 3 soldiers wounded
Sports History
May 11 Patrick Kane scores his first career hat-trick in the NHL playoffs against the Vancouver Canucks
Farrah's Story
May 15 "Farrah's Story" documentary following Farrah Fawcett's battle with cancer airs on NBC in the US
- May 15 Eurostat report that Austria, Belgium, and Romania have all entered recession in the first quarter of 2009
- May 15 French Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies announce French narrowly avoided recession in 2008, gross domestic product shrank 1.2% in 1st quarter of 2009 after falling by 1.5% in final quarter of 2008
- May 16 134th Preakness: Calvin Borel aboard Rachel Alexandra wins in 1:55.08
- May 16 54th Eurovision Song Contest: Alexander Rybak for Norway wins singing "Fairytale" in Moscow
Indian General Election
May 16 India's General Election results announced: the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) under Manmohan Singh returned with an increased mandate
- May 17 Video game Minecraft is first released to the public while in development
- May 18 The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending the Sri Lankan Civil War and almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides
- May 19 Sri Lanka announces victory in its 25-year war against the terrorist organization, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Glee Premieres
May 19 TV musical show "Glee" starring Jane Lynch, Michael Morrison, Lea Michele and an ensemble cast premieres on Fox
- May 20 Mexico is the first Latin American country to officially enter recession
Inglourious Basterds
May 20 Quentin Tarantino film "Inglourious Basterds" premieres at the Cannes Film Festival with an ensemble cast including Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and Diane Kruger
Cannes Film Festival
May 22 Léa Seydoux receives the Cannes Film Festival's Trophée Chopard
- May 24 62nd Cannes Film Festival: "The White Ribbon" directed by Michael Haneke wins the Palme d'Or
- May 24 Indianapolis 500: 2001 and 2002 champion Hélio Castroneves of Brazil wins his record tying 3rd Indy title from the pole position; 60th victory in the race for Firestone
- May 24 IPL Cricket Final, New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, RSA: Deccan Chargers beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 runs; Herschelle Gibbs top scores, 53 (48)
- May 24 Manchester United wins 1-0 at Hull City Stadium to win English Premier League title for 3rd consecutive season, for a second time; equals Liverpool's record of 18 league titles
- May 24 Senior PGA Championship, Canterbury GC: Michael Allen wins his lone major title by 2 strokes from runner-up Larry Mize
- May 25 North Korea conducts its second nuclear test while also conducting several missile tests
- May 25 Thailand’s economy shrank more than expected in the first quarter of 2009, contracting the most in a decade and plunging the nation into recession
- May 26 NHL Eastern Conference Final: Pittsburgh Penguins beat Carolina Hurricanes, 4 games to 0
- May 27 NHL Western Conference Final: Detroit Red Wings beat Chicago Black Hawks, 4 games to 1
- May 27 South Africa enters the global recession; the first recession for South Africa in 17 years
- May 27 UEFA Champions League Final, Rome: Barcelona beats Manchester United, 2-0; first Spanish treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League
1Q84 Published
May 29 "1Q84" books 1 and 2 by Haruki Murakami is first published in Japan, sells out the first day (book 3 published 2010)
- May 30 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,391): Chelsea beats Everton, 2-1; Frank Lampard scores 72' winner
- May 30 Super Rugby Final, Pretoria: Morné Steyn kicks 5 conversions & 2 penalties as the Bulls thump the Chiefs (Waikato, NZ), 61-17
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies