What Happened in May?

Four men, Mohammed Salameh, Nidal Ayyad, Mahmud Abouhalima, and Ahmad Ajaj, are convicted for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and each sentenced to 240 years in prison. The terrorist attack, involved detonating a truck bomb in the parking garage of the North Tower, killing six people and injuring over 1,000. More

More than 170 countries agree to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) indefinitely and without conditions to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. A total of 191 States have now joined the Treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon States More

“Megan's Law" is signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton requiring that law-enforcement officials notify local schools, day-care centers, and residents of the presence of registered sex offenders in their communities. The law is named for seven-year-old Megan Kanka, who was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by a violent predator previously convicted of a sex offense against a child in New Jersey in 1994. Unbeknownst to Megan Kanka and her family, the predator was living across the street before he abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered Megan. More

Zaire's President Mobutu Sese Seko flees the country, ending his 32-year rule and leading to the rise of Laurent Kabila. 

Steve Jobs introduces Apple's first iMac, a personal computer. The iMac G3 was a redesigned, consumer-focused computer that was both innovative and easy to use. Its distinctive design and ease of internet access made it a popular choice. It went on to became hugely successful and helped revive the struggling company.

Pakistan detonates its first nuclear device at the Ros Koh Hills in the province of Balochistan, becoming the seventh country to publicly test nuclear weapons. More

1999, May 29 - Discovery Becomes the first Space Shuttle to Dock with the International Space Station. More

Robert Hanssen, FBI agent who was convicted of spying for the Russian government is sentenced to life in prison without parole. Hanssen died in prison on June 5, 2023, at the age of 79. More

United States President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq, marking the conclusion of the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces.

The EU's largest enlargement in its history takes place as, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, along with the island of Malta and the Greek portion of the island of Cyprus joined the European Union (EU). This expansion unified Europe after decades of division and strengthened the EU politically, economically, and culturally.

An 8.0 earthquake occurs in the province of Sichuan, China. The earthquake ruptured the fault for over 150 mi, with surface displacements of several meters. Over 69,000 people lost their lives. The earthquake was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai; approximately 1000 miles away. where office buildings swayed with the tremor, as well as Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi, Vietnam. Strong aftershocks, continued to hit the area for several months, causing further casualties and damage. More

Osama bin Laden, founder of the militant Islamist organization al-Qaeda is killed by US forces in Pakistan. Osama bin Laden—He was the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and numerous others. 

A powerful EF5 tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, causing widespread destruction and resulting in the deaths of approximately 160 people. The storm was rated as one of the deadliest tornadoes in modern U.S. history. More

A wildfire fueled by dry conditions and high winds forces the evacuation of Fort McMurray, Alberta, the capital of Canada's tar sand industry—and the surrounding area; prompting the evacuation of more than 88,000 residents, destroying 1600 structures, shutting down the over a million barrels per day of oil production and causing billions of dollars in losses. More

Egypt Air, Flight MS804, an Airbus A320 - flying from Paris to Cairo crashes into the eastern Mediterranean Sea. All 66 passengers and crew on board died. It took almost a month to find the wreckage. The crash, was originally thought to be a result of a terrorist attack but a year later it was determined that a fire had caused the plane to crash. A 2022 report from the French authorities attributed the cause of the fire to a pilot smoking a cigarette, a practice which wasn't banned at the time, in the proximity of an oxygen line which had its airflow switch improperly left in the “emergency” position when  the oxygen mask was replaced three days before. According to the Airbus manual; under those conditions, “an oxygen leakage could occur.“ More

George Floyd, an unarmed African American man, was killed during an arrest, by white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who knelt on his neck for almost 10 minutes. He was unresponsive when the paramedics arrived. The arrest and killing was filmed by bystanders and ignited the largest protest movement in the U.S. history, setting off massive protests around the country and generating greater support for the Black Lives Matter movement. The police officer, Derek Chauvin was later convicted of his murder. More

The Pulitzer prizes for 2025 were announced. The Public Service category was awarded to ProPublica, for urgent reporting by Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser, Cassandra Jaramillo and Stacy Kranitz, about pregnant women who died after doctors delayed urgently needed care for fear of violating vague “life of the mother” exceptions in states with strict abortion laws. 
Among the other prize recipients is Author Tessa Hulls, who was the winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in the memoir or autobiography category for her first book, the graphic novel “Feeding Ghosts,” about her family’s complex, continent-spanning history. Pulitzer Prize administrator Marjorie Miller, described “Feeding Ghosts” as “an affecting work of literary art and discovery whose illustrations bring to life three generations of Chinese women — the author, her mother and grandmother — and the experience of trauma handed down with family histories.” Hulls is from Seattle WA.
See the list of all 2025 Pulitzer Prizes

Habemus Papam! We have a Pope! - Cardinal Robert Prevost is elected Pope taking name Leo XIV. Prevost, 69, is the first U.S. born pope in the church's history. He is also a citizen of Peru, where he worked for over two decades. His first public words as Pope, spoken in Italian, were "Peace be with you,"