What Happened in May?

The MS St. Louis departs Hamburg in route to Cuba on May 13, 1939, with 937 refugees from Germany fleeing Nazi persecution. The ship is turned away from Havana, Cuba and appeals to the United States and Canada for entry were denied; forcing the ship to sail back to Europe.  Expand +

The Pact of Steel formally known as the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy was a military and political alliance between Italy and Germany. is signed. The pact was initially drafted to include Japan wanted the focus of the pact to be aimed at the Soviet Union, Italy and Germany wanted the focus of it to be aimed at the British Empire and France. On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, thus entering the military alliance known as the "Axis." More

Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He lead the U.K through the tumultuous years of World War II. More

The Nazi blitzkrieg and conquest of France (The Battle of France) begins with German forces crossing the Meuse River at Sedan. This event, a key part of Wehrmacht's operational plan codenamed Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), involved a rapid advance through the Ardennes forest and a breach of the Meuse-Albert Canal line. This allowed German armored units to bypass the Maginot Line and encircle Allied forces in Belgium and France. More

British politician Winston Churchill, recently elected Prime Minister, faces the House of Commons for the first time as prime minister and told the members that “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a drive-in restaurant, in San Bernardino, California. Initially called "McDonald's Bar-B-Q. In 1948 they took a risk by streamlining their operations and introducing their "Speedee" Service System featuring 15 cent hamburgers. This drive-in restaurant is considered the origin of the McDonald's fast-food chain. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a milkshake mixer salesman, saw the potential of the McDonald's concept and began franchising the business, eventually buying out the McDonald brothers in 1961. More

The War World II Dunkirk evacuation begins. Also known as Operation Dynamo or the Miracle of Dunkirk, a combination of naval ships and hundreds of merchant marine, leisure vessels and other civilian boats rescued more than 300,000 British and Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France in eight days. The trapped forces resulted from the lighting German invasion of France which caught the French and the British Expeditionary Force off guard. More

Haile Selassie, a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history, returns triumphantly after a military campaign ousted the Italian forces. His return signaled the liberation of the country from the Italian occupation and the re-establishment of the Ethiopian monarchy. The Emperor's entry was marked by celebrations and the re-establishment of the Solomonic Dynasty. More

The first test of an Allied aircraft using jet propulsion takes place as the Gloster-Whittle E 28/39 aircraft flies successfully over Cranwell, England, The jet engine was the brain child of Frank Whittle, an English pilot and aviation engineer, . A young German physicist, Hans von Ohain, working for Ernst Heinkel, developed the world's first jet plane, the experimental Heinkel He 178. It first flew on August 27, 1939. just before WW II started on September 1, 1939. More

The German Battleship Bismarck sinks the battlecruiser HMS Hood during a naval engagement in the Second World War, resulting in the death of all but 3 of her crew of 1,418. During the engagement, the Bismarck‘s fuel tank was damaged and headed for occupied France to effect repairs. Two days later the Bismarck was attacked by torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal; rendering the battleship's steering gear inoperable. In her final battle the following morning, the already-crippled Bismarck was engaged by two British battleships and two heavy cruisers, and sustained incapacitating damage and heavy loss of life. The ship was scuttled to prevent her being boarded by the British, and to limit further casualties. There were 2,300 German casualties.

U.S. Lt. General Jonathan Wainwright unconditionally surrenders all U.S. troops in the Philippines to the Japanese. All surviving troops; 12,000 Americans and 66,000 Filipinos, were taken to a prison stockade in Manila. This was the largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender. More

The USS Lexington becomes the first U.S. aircraft carrier to be sunk during World War II. The sinking took place during the Battle of the Coral Sea. 216 crewmen died. Additionally, 42 aircraft (17 SBD Dauntless dive bombers, 13 F4F Wildcat fighters, and 12 TBD Devastator torpedo bombers) were lost with the ship. More

Standard Oil (New Jersey), later known as Exxon, begins production utilizing the first commercial fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) facility. The technology was developed by the research team composed of Donald Campbell, Homer Martin, Eger Murphree, and Charles Tyson, known as the "Four Horsemen". More

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ended on May 16, 1943, when the Nazi German forces, under the command of SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop, suppressed the Jewish resistance and effectively destroyed the Warsaw Ghetto. More

The sinking of the SS Cap Arcona and the Thielbek - Believing they were transporting troops, the British Royal Air Force mistakenly attacks Luebeck harbor, a major port in Northern Germany, where the SS Cap Arcona, an ocean liner carrying some 8,000 concentration camp prisoners and the freighter Thielbek were. Both ships were hit by bombs, caught fire, and capsized. Only about 600 prisoners survived. The attack, is considered one of the largest maritime disasters of World War II.

Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allied forces, bringing an end to World War II in Europe. More

Germany WWII surrender - A German delegation, including General Alfred Jodl, Chief of Staff of the German Army, signed the unconditional surrender document at General Dwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims, France. This act marked the end of the European phase of World War II.   Expand +

World War II officially ends in Europe at midnight on May 8, 1945, with the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, marking Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day). The war in the Pacific,  continued until Japan's surrendered in September 1945.

Hermann Goring, a prominent Nazi figure, was captured by the U.S. Army,  southeast of Salzburg, Austria. He was apprehended as Germany surrendered to the Allies. Goring had been commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, president of the Reichstag, head of the Gestapo, prime minister of Prussia. Goring was tried at Nuremberg, found guilty on all counts and was sentenced to death by hanging. However he committed suicide the night before he was to be hanged.

An attempted prison escape by six inmates at Alcatraz resulted in two days of violent fighting, which became known as the Battle of Alcatraz. The six prisoners were able to overpower cellhouse officers and gain access to weapons and cellhouse keys, in effect taking control of the cellhouse. The U.S. Marines were eventually called out to assist, and on May 4, the escape attempt ended. Two officers were shot and killed and 18 other officers were injured during the escape attempt. Three of the inmates attempting the escape were also killed. More about Alcatraz.