Events
- 1497 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola.
- 1568 - Battle of Langside: the forces of Mary Queen of Scots are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother.
- 1607 - First Europeans colonized America (Jamestown)
- 1619 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason.
- 1648 - Construction of the Red Fort at Delhi was completed.
- 1779 - War of Bavarian Succession: Russian and French mediators at the Congress of Teschen negotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives the part of its territory that was taken from them (the Innviertel).
- 1787 - Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England with eleven ships full of convicts (First Fleet) to establish a penal colony in Australia.
- 1830 - Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia.
- 1846 - Mexican-American War: The United States declares war on Mexico.
- 1848 - First performance of Finland's national anthem.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Queen Victoria of Britain issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights.
- 1861 - Great Comet of 1861 discovered in Australia.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Resaca – the battle begins with Union General Sherman fighting toward Atlanta.
- 1865 - American Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch – In far south Texas, more than a month after Confederate General Lee's surrender, the last land battle of the Civil War ends with a Confederate victory.
- 1880 - In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway.
- 1888 - With the passage of the Lei Ãurea ("Golden Law"), Brazil abolishes slavery.
- 1909 - The first Giro d'Italia took place in Milan. Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna was the winner.
- 1912 - In the United Kingdom, the Royal Flying Corps (now the Royal Air Force) was established.
- 1913 - Igor Sikorsky becomes the first man to pilot a four-engine aircraft.
- 1939 - The first commercial FM radio station in the United States is launched in Bloomfield, Connecticut. The station later became WDRC-FM.
- 1940 - World War II: Germany's conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse River. Churchill makes his "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech to the House of Commons.
- 1940 - Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees the Nazi invasion in the Netherlands to Britain. Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for their safety.
- 1941 - World War II: Yugoslav royal colonel Dragoljub Mihailović starts fighting with German occupation troops, beginning the Serbian resistance.
- 1943 - World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces.
- 1948 - 1948 Arab-Israeli War: The Kfar Etzion massacre is committed by Arab irregulars, the day before the declaration of independence of the state of Israel on May 14.
- 1950 - The first Round Ever of the Formula 1 World Championship held at Silverstone
- 1952 - The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, held its first sitting.
- 1954 - Anti-National Service Riots, a riot in Singapore by Chinese Middle School students.
- 1958 - During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard M. Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
- 1958 - Velcro's trade mark is registered.
- 1960 - Hundreds of UC Berkeley students congregate for the first day of protest against a visit by the House Un-American Activities Committee. 31 students are arrested, and the Free Speech Movement is born.
- 1967 - Dr. Zakir Hussain became 3rd President of India. He was the first Muslim President of Indian Union. He held this position till August 24, 1969.
- 1969 - Race riots in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, later known as the May 13 Incident.
- 1972 - Faulty electrical wiring ignites a fire underneath the Playtown Cabaret in Osaka. Blocked exits and nonfunctional elevators cause 118 fatalities, with many victims leaping to their deaths.
- 1980 - An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declares it a federal disaster area.
- 1981 - Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The Pope was rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery, and managed to survive.
- 1985 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania police storm MOVE headquarters to end a stand-off, killing 11 MOVE members and destroying the homes of 250 city residents.
- 1989 - Large groups of students occupied Tiananmen Square and began a hunger strike. See Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
- 1996 - Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.
- 1998 - Race riots broke out in Jakarta,Indonesia, where shops owned by Indonesian of Chinese descendants were looted and women raped. India carries out two nuclear tests at Pokhran, in addition to the three conducted on May 11. United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on India.
- 2000 - In Enschede, the Netherlands, a fireworks factory explodes, killing 22 people, wounding 950, and resulting in approximately €450 million in damage.
- 2001 - Silvio Berlusconi's House of Freedoms coalition wins the Italian general elections.
- 2005 - The Andijan Massacre occurs in Uzbekistan.
- 2006 - 2006 São Paulo violence: A major rebellion occurs in several prisons of the Brazilian state.
- 2006 - The largest shopping mall in Colombia, the Santa Fe Commerical Center, opens in Bogota.
- 2007 - Construction of the Calafat-Vidin Bridge between Romania and Bulgaria begins.
- 2007 - Republic Protests in Turkey
- 1024 - Hugh of Cluny, French saint (d. 1109)
- 1254 - Maria of Brabant, queen of France (d. 1321)
- 1588 - Ole Worm, Danish physician (d. 1654)
- 1638 - Richard Simon, French Biblical critic (d. 1712)
- 1655 - Pope Innocent XIII (d. 1724)
- 1699 - Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1782)
- 1707 - Carl von Linné, Swedish scientist (d. 1778)
- 1712 - Johann Hartwig Ernst, Count von Bernstorff, Danish statesman (d. 1772)
- 1717 - Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (d. 1780)
- 1730 - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1782)
- 1742 - Archduchess Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (d. 1798)
- 1753 - Lazare Carnot, French general, politician, and mathematician (d. 1823)
- 1792 - Pope Pius IX (d. 1878)
- 1794 - Louis-Leopold Robert, French painter (d. 1835)
- 1795 - Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist (d. 1875)
- 1822 - Francis of Assisi of Bourbon, King Consort of Spain (d. 1902)
- 1830 - Zebulon Baird Vance, three-time governor of North Carolina (d. 1894)
- 1840 - Alphonse Daudet, French novelist (d. 1897)
- 1842 - Arthur Sullivan, English composer (d. 1900)
- 1856 - Tom O'Rourke, American boxing manager (d. 1938)
- 1857 - Ronald Ross, English physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1932)
- 1882 - Georges Braque, French painter (d. 1963)
- 1883 - Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek doctor, inventor of the Pap smear (d. 1962)
- 1894 - Ãsgeir Ãsgeirsson, 2nd President of Iceland (d. 1972)
- 1898 - Justin Tuveri, Italian veteran of the First World War (d. 2007)
- 1904 - Louis Duffus, Souuth African cricketer (d. 1984)
- 1907 - Dame Daphne du Maurier, English author (d. 1989)
- 1911 - Robert Middleton, American film and television actor (d. 1977)
- 1912 - Gil Evans, Canadian musician (d. 1988)
- 1912 - Judah Nadich, American rabbi (d. 2007)
- 1913 - William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian president (d. 1980)
- 1913 - Lambros Konstantaras, Greek actor (d. 1985)
- 1914 - Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)
- 1918 - T. Balasaraswati, Bharatanatyam dancer (d.1984)
- 1920 - Gareth Morris, British flautist (d. 2007)
- 1922 - Michael Ainsworth, British cricketer (d. 1978)
- 1922 - Beatrice Arthur, American actress
- 1924 - Harry Schwarz, South African MP and Ambassador to the US
- 1924 - Theodore Mann, American theatre producer and director
- 1926 - Wallace Breem, British author
- 1927 - Archie Scott-Brown, English race car driver (d. 1958)
- 1927 - Herbert Ross, American director (d. 2001)
- 1928 - Édouard Molinaro, French film actor, director and screenwriter
- 1928 - Enrique Bolaños, President of Nicaragua
- 1928 - Jim Shoulders, Champion Rodeo Cowboy
- 1930 - Mike Gravel, Former Democratic Senator of Alaska and 2008 Presidential Candidate
- 1930 - José Jiménez Lozano, Spanish writer
- 1930 - Vernon Shaw, former president of Dominica
- 1931 - Jim Jones, American cult leader (d. 1978)
- 1934 - Leon Wagner, baseball player (d. 2004)
- 1935 - Dominic Cossa, American baritone
- 1937 - Roch Carrier, Canadian novelist
- 1937 - Roger Zelazny, American author (d. 1995)
- 1937 - Trevor Baylis, English inventor of the wind-up radio
- 1937 - Zohra Lampert, American actress
- 1938 - Laurent Beaudoin, French Canadian businessman (Bombardier)
- 1938 - Giuliano Amato, Italian politician
- 1939 - Harvey Keitel, American actor
- 1939 - Hildrun Claus, German athlete
- 1940 - Bruce Chatwin, British writer (d. 1989)
- 1941 - Senta Berger, Austrian actress
- 1941 - Joe Brown, British singer
- 1941 - Ritchie Valens, American singer (d. 1959)
- 1941 - Jody Conradt, American collage basketball coach
- 1943 - Mary Wells, American singer (d. 1992)
- 1944 - Armistead Maupin, American author
- 1945 - Magic Dick, American musician (The J. Geils Band)
- 1947 - Stephen R. Donaldson, American author
- 1949 - Zoë Wanamaker, English-American actress
- 1950 - Stevie Wonder, American singer and musician
- 1950 - Danny Kirwan, British musician (Fleetwood Mac)
- 1950 - Bobby Valentine, Major League baseball manager
- 1951 - Sharon Sayles Belton, Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1951 - Paul Thompson, British rock drummer (Roxy Music)
- 1952 - John Kasich, U.S. Republican Congressman
- 1954 - Johnny Logan, Irish singer and songwriter
- 1956 - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living Foundation
- 1956 - Richard Madeley, Television presenter
- 1957 - Alan Ball, American screenwriter, director, and producer
- 1957 - Koji Suzuki, Japanese writer (Ring, Dark Water)
- 1957 - Andrea Klump, German terrorist
- 1961 - Dennis Rodman, American basketball player and actor
- 1962 - Eduardo Palomo, Mexican actor (d. 2003)
- 1962 - Kathleen Jamie, Scottish poet
- 1963 - Wally Masur, Australian former tennis player
- 1964 - Stephen Colbert, American comedian and actor
- 1964 - Ronnie Coleman, American bodybuilder
- 1964 - Tom Verica, American actor
- 1965 - José Antonio Delgado, Venezuelan mountain climber (d. 2006)
- 1965 - Hikari Ota, Japanese comedian
- 1965 - Tasmin Little, English violinist
- 1965 - Lari White, American country music singer
- 1966 - Darius Rucker, American singer (Hootie & the Blowfish)
- 1966 - Nikos Aliagas, Greek TV show host
- 1966 - Kamen Vodenicharov, Bulgarian entertainer
- 1967 - Chuck Schuldiner, American musician (Death, Control Denied) (d. 2001)
- 1967 - Melanie Thornton, African American German pop singer, former member of La Bouche. (d. 2001)
- 1968 - Alison Goldfrapp, English musician
- 1968 - Buckethead, Guitarist
- 1968 - Miguel Ãngel Blanco, Spanish politician (d. 1997)
- 1968 - PMD, American rapper
- 1969 - André Schmechta, German musician (X Marks the Pedwalk)
- 1971 - Tom Nalen, American football player
- 1976 - Mark Delaney, Welsh footballer
- 1977 - Ilse DeLange, Dutch singer
- 1977 - Neil Hopkins, American actor
- 1977 - Samantha Morton, English actress
- 1978 - Mike Bibby, American basketball player
- 1978 - Ryan Bukvich, American baseball player
- 1978 - Barry Zito, American baseball player
- 1978 - Steve Mildenhall, English football player
- 1978 - Dilshan Vitharana, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1979 - Prince Carl Philip of Sweden
- 1979 - Michael Madden, American musician (Maroon 5)
- 1980 - Waka Inoue, Japanese gravure idol and actress
- 1980 - Mau Marcelo, Filipino singer
- 1981 - Jimmy Yang, American wrestler
- 1981 - Sunny Leone, Canadian model
- 1981 - Rebecka Liljeberg, Swedish actress
- 1982 - Yoko Kumada, Japanese gravure idol
- 1982 - Oguchi Onyewu, American footballer
- 1983 - Casey Donovan, Australian singer
- 1983 - Grégory Lemarchal, French singer (d. 2007)
- 1983 - Yaya Touré, Ivorian footballer
- 1985 - Travis Zajac, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 - Robert Pattinson, English actor
- 1986 - Scott Sutter, Swiss footballer
- 1987 - Hunter Parrish, American actor
- 1162 - Géza II of Hungary
- 1176 - Matthias I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1119)
- 1312 - Theobald II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1263)
- 1573 - Takeda Shingen, Japanese warlord (b. 1521)
- 1619 - Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch statesman (b. 1547)
- 1704 - Louis Bourdaloue, French Jesuit preacher (b. 1632)
- 1742 - Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1719)
- 1807 - Eliphalet Dyer, American statesman and judge (b. 1721)
- 1832 - Georges Cuvier, French naturalist (b. 1769)
- 1835 - John Nash, English architect (b. 1752)
- 1866 - Nikolai Brashman, Russian mathematician (b. 1796)
- 1871 - Daniel Auber, French composer (b. 1782)
- 1884 - Cyrus McCormick, American inventor (b. 1809)
- 1885 - Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician (b. 1809)
- 1901 - Leopoldo Alas y Ureña, a.k.a. "ClarÃn", Spanish novelist and literary critic (b. 1851)
- 1903 - Apolinario Mabini, Filipino political theoretician and Prime Minister (b. 1864)
- 1916 - Sholom Aleichem, Russian author (b. 1859)
- 1921 - Jean Aicard, French poet and novelist (b. 1848)
- 1925 - Boris Savinkov, Russian writer and terrorist (b. 1879)
- 1926 - Libert H. Boeynaems, Belgian Catholic prelate (b. 1857)
- 1930 - Fridtjof Nansen, Nobel Peace Prize winner (b. 1861)
- 1937 - Ekaterina Geladze, mother of Joseph Stalin (b. 1858)
- 1938 - Charles Edouard Guillaume, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- 1945 - Tubby Hall, American musician (b. 1895)
- 1961 - Gary Cooper, American actor (b. 1901)
- 1962 - Henry Trendley Dean, American dental researcher (b. 1893)
- 1963 - Alois Hudal, bishop, helped Nazi war criminals escape (b. 1885)
- 1972 - Dan Blocker, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1974 - Jaime Torres Bodet, Mexican writer (b. 1902)
- 1975 - Bob Wills, American musician (b. 1905)
- 1985 - Leatrice Joy, American actress (b. 1893)
- 1988 - Chet Baker, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1929)
- 1992 - F. E. McWilliam, Northern Irish sculptor (b. 1909)
- 1994 - Duncan Hamilton, British racing driver (b. 1920)
- 1999 - Gene Sarazen, American golfer (b. 1902)
- 2000 - Paul Bartel, American actor (b. 1938)
- 2001 - R.K. Narayan, Indian novelist (b. 1906)
- 2001 - Jason Miller, American playwright (b. 1939)
- 2005 - George Dantzig, American mathematician (b. 1914)
- 2005 - Michael Ross, American serial killer (b. 1959)
- 2005 - Eddie Barclay, French record producer (Barclay Records) (b. 1921)
- 2006 - Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (b. 1923)
- 2006 - Johnnie Wilder, Jr., American singer (b. 1949)
- Commemoration of Julian of Norwich (Anglican).
- Roman Empire - Feast of the Lemures (See Larvae).
- Abbotsbury Garland Day, Dorset, England.
- Rotuma Day in Fiji.
- Our Lady of Fatima
- Abban the Hermit
- Saint Servatus
- Saint Robert Bellarmine
- Saint Gerald of Villamagna
- Saint John the Silent
