Golf Tournament
May 1 American golfer Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins the Peach Blossom LPGA Tournament in Spartanburg, South Carolina, her final victory before her death the following year
Sports History
May 1 Future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller tosses his record 12th 1-hitter in Indians' 2-0 win v Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Stadium
Miss Atomic Pageant
May 1 Showgirl Linda Lawson is crowned "Miss-Cue" in the Atomic Pageant, after the Operation Cue test is repeatedly delayed by high winds
- May 2 India proposal to discrimination against Dalits or "Untouchables" punishable
Event of Interest
May 2 Pulitzer prize awarded Tennessee Williams for (Cat on Hot Tin Roof)
- May 2 WGBH TV channel 2 in Boston, MA (PBS) begins broadcasting
- May 5 Indian parliament accepts Hindu divorce
- May 5 Richard Adler and Jerry Ross' musical "Damn Yankees", starring Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston, opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 1022 performances, winning 7 Tony Awards
- May 5 US performs nuclear test at Nevada test Site
- May 5 West Germany is granted full sovereignty by its three occupying powers
- May 6 West Germany joins NATO
81st Kentucky Derby
May 7 81st Kentucky Derby: Bill Shoemaker aboard Swaps wins in 2:01.8
- May 7 USSR signs peace treaty with France & Great Britain
- May 7 West European Union established
- May 9 German Federal Republic (West Germany) joins NATO
- May 10 8th Cannes Film Festival: "Marty" directed by Delbert Mann wins Palme d'Or
- May 11 Israel attacks Gaza
- May 12 Chicago Cub Sam "Toothpick" Jones is 1st African-American to pitch a no-hitter, winning 4-0 over Pittsburgh Pirates, at Wrigley Field, Chicago
Baseball Record
May 13 Mickey Mantle hits 3 consecutive HRs of at least 463'
- May 14 US performs nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
- May 14 Warsaw Pact is signed by the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland & Romania
- May 15 Building of space travel center at Baikonur Kazakhstan begins
- May 15 KPUA (now KGMD) TV channel 9 in Hilo, HI (CBS) begins broadcasting
- May 15 The first ascent of Makalu, the world's fifth highest mountain
- May 15 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- May 15 Vienna Treaty: Britain, France, US & USSR restore Austria's independence
- May 16 King Baudouin of Belgium visits Congo
- May 16 Ray Lindwall scores his 2nd Test Cricket century 118 at Bridgetown
Marciano TKOs Cockell
May 16 Rocky Marciano beats Don Cockell by TKO in the 9th round at Kezar Stadium, San Francisco to retain his world heavyweight boxing title
Event of Interest
May 18 Queen Juliana opens E55 fair in Amsterdam, Netherlands
House of Flowers
May 21 Harold Arlen and Truman Capote' musical "House of Flowers" closes at Alvin Theater, NYC, after 165 performances
Eden Leads Conservatives to Victory
May 26 Conservatives led by Anthony Eden win British parliamentary election
- May 26 Musical adaptation of the 1927 silent film "7th Heaven", starring Gloria DeHaven and Ricardo Montalbán, opens at ANTA Theater, NYC; runs for 44 performances
Khrushchev in Belgrade
May 26 Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev arrives in Belgrade
- May 27 "The Red Buttons Show", last airs on NBC-TV
- May 27 Boston Red Sox Norm Zauchin gets 10 RBIs, beating Senators 16-0
Preakness Stakes
May 28 80th Preakness: Eddie Arcaro aboard Nashua wins in 1:54.6
- May 28 Henry Bolte becomes Premier of the state of Victoria
- May 28 Indianapolis 500: Bob Sweikert wins; defending champion Bill Vukovich killed in a crash while seemingly on his way to an unprecedented third consecutive Indy 500
- May 29 Jordan government of Tewfik Abdul Huda resigns
- May 30 KMVT TV channel 11 in Twin Falls, ID (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
- May 30 Said el-Mufti forms Jordan government
- May 30 Tunisia begins domestic self governing
- May 31 Construction begins on Soviet cosmodrome launch facilities
- May 31 Great Britain proclaims emergency crisis due to rail strike
- May 31 US Supreme Court orders school integration "with all deliberate speed"
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies