Browse Historical Events by Month:
Battles, revolts, and explorations. Learn about the noteworthy events in May that have taken place throughout the ages. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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The Hindenburg disaster occurs on May 6, 1937, in Manchester Township, New Jersey, United States. The German passenger airship catches fire during its landing approach resulting in the death of 35 people on board and one ground crew member. The incident played a significant role in the decline of airship passenger travel. More
The coronation of George VI and his wife, Elizabeth takes place on May 12, 1937.at Westminster Abbey, London; following the abdication of his older brother Edward who abdicated so he could marry American socialite Wallis Simpson. It was the first coronation to be broadcasted on radio, and the BBC also provided its first-ever major outside broadcast for the procession. More
The San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge is opened to the public for the first time, on May 27, 1937, for “Pedestrian Day". 200,000 people strolled across the bridge to celebrate the grand opening. The next day the bridge was opened to car traffic. More
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) is formed on May 26, 1938, with Texas Democrat Martin Dies Jr. as its first chairman. Initially, to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and organizations suspected of having Communist ties.
The HUAC became particularly prominent during the Cold War and the Red Scare, focusing on alleged communist infiltration of various sectors, including Hollywood, government, and education. More
The Pact of Steel formally known as the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy was signed on May 22, 1939. I between Italy and Germany. The pact was initially drafted to include Japan, but 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
The MS St. Louis in route from Hamburg, Germany, with 937 refugees from Germany fleeing, Nazi persecution, arrived at Havana Cuba, on May 27, 1939, where only 28 people were allowed to disembark, turning away the rest. Appeals to the United States and Canada for entry were denied; forcing the ship to sail back to Europe, where the refugees, most of whom were Jews, were distributed among several countries including Great Britain and France.
The Nazi blitzkrieg and conquest of France (The Battle of France), begins on May 10, 1940, 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
Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on May 10, 1940, succeeding Neville Chamberlain. He lead the U.K through the critical years of World War II. More
Winston Churchill, recently elected as Prime Minister, tells the members, in his first address to the House of Commons as prime minister on May, 13, 1940, 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 began on May 26, 1940. 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
Image: Retreat from Dunkirk - Royal Air Force official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Haile Selassie, a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history, returns triumphantly to Addis Ababa on May 5, 1941, 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 on May 24, 1941, in just three minutes 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 on May 6, 1942. 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 on May 8, 1942. 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, on May 25, 1942, at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana refinery.
The technology was developed by the research team composed of Donald Campbell, Homer Martin, Eger Murphree, and Charles Tyson, known as the "Four Horsemen" and it was crucial for producing high-octane aviation fuel during World War II, revolutionizing petroleum refining. More
The Jewish Warsaw Ghetto uprising ended on May 16, 1943 hving began on April 19, 1943. The resistance fighters held out for almost a month. Over 7,000 Jews were killed during the uprising, and roughly 42,000 to 56,000+ were captured and deported to labor or death camps
The uprising started, when the Nazi German forces, under the command of SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop, ordered the destruction of the Great Synagogue on Tłomackie Street to mark the end of the operation and the liquidation of the Jewish quarter, while destroying the Warsaw Ghetto block-by-block. More
The British Royal Air Force mistakenly attacks Luebeck harbor, a major port in Northern Germany, on May 3, 1945, sinking the Ocean liner SS Cap Arcona and the freighter Thielbek, believing they were transporting troops.
The SS Cap Arcona and the freighter Thielbek were actually carrying some 8,000 concentration camp prisoners. They 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.
Six people; one adult, Elsie Mitchell, wife of a local minister, and five children, on a picnic on Gearhart Mountain, in Oregon, were killed, on May 5, 1945, after they discovered a Japanese "Fu-Go" balloon bomb that exploded. These were the only known fatalities caused by enemy action in the continental U.S. during World War II. The bombs were designed to start forest fires.
The Japanese launched roughly 9,000 balloon bombs on the jet stream between late 1944 and April 1945; approximately 300 were found or observed in North America. The U.S. government initially censored news of the bombs to prevent panic, only warning the public after this fatal incident. A monument to the victims was erected and now stands at the site of the tragedy.
