History by month
May
31 days of history. Every date is an entry point to the events, births, and moments that shaped our world.
May 1
2011 U.S. Navy SEALs from DEVGRU (formerly SEAL Team Six) raided a compound in Abbott
May 2
1945 Soviet forces completed the capture of Berlin on May 2, 1945, after a brutal two
May 3
1979 Margaret Thatcher became the United Kingdom's first female prime minister on May
May 4
1886 A bomb exploded at a labor rally in Chicago's Haymarket Square on May 4, 1886, k
May 5
1862 Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza led 4,500 poorly equipped troops to victory ove
May 6
1937 The German airship Hindenburg caught fire while attempting to dock at the Lakehu
May 7
1945 Generaloberst Alfred Jodl signed the first German Instrument of Surrender at 2:4
May 8
1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 8, 1945, known as V-E Day (Victory in
May 9
1994 South Africa's newly elected parliament unanimously chose Nelson Mandela as pres
May 10
1940 Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on May 10, 1940, t
May 11
1960 Israeli Mossad agents identified Adolf Eichmann living under the alias Ricardo K
May 12
1941 Konrad Zuse completed the Z3 computer in Berlin on May 12, 1941, making it the w
May 13
1981 Mehmet Ali Agca shot Pope John Paul II four times in St. Peter's Square on May 1
May 14
1948 David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 19
May 15
1911 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States
May 16
1960 Theodore Maiman fired the first working laser on May 16, 1960, at Hughes Researc
May 17
1954 The Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education on May 17,
May 18
1980 Mount St. Helens erupted at 8:32 AM on May 18, 1980, after a magnitude 5.1 earth
May 19
1536 Anne Boleyn was beheaded by a French swordsman on the Tower Green on May 19, 153
May 20
1609 Thomas Thorpe published Shakespeare's Sonnets on May 20, 1609, with a cryptic de
May 21
1927 Charles Lindbergh departed Roosevelt Field on Long Island at 7:52 AM on May 20,
May 22
1980 Namco released Pac-Man in Japanese arcades on May 22, 1980. Designer Toru Iwatan
May 23
1934 A Texas posse led by former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer ambushed Bonnie Parker and
May 24
1844 Samuel Morse transmitted the message "What hath God wrought" from the old Suprem
May 25
2020 Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck for nine m
May 26
1940 Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Dunkirk, began on May 26, 1940, after the Ge
May 27
1937 Crowds surged onto the Golden Gate Bridge on foot and roller skates before cars
May 28
1961 British lawyer Peter Benenson published an article titled "The Forgotten Prisone
May 29
1453 Sultan Mehmed II's Ottoman forces breached the walls of Constantinople on May 29
May 30
1431 English commanders stacked a tribunal with pro-English clerics to condemn Joan o
May 31
1790 James Madison championed the Copyright Act of 1790, signed by President Washingt