| May 1 |
1966 The
Beatles gave their last UK concert at the Empire Pool, Wembley
1961 Betting shops were legalised in the UK |
| May 2 |
1519 Leonardo
da Vinci died |
| May 3 |
1953 Dylan Thomas gave the first public reading
of "Under Milk Wood"
1810 In imitation of Leander, Lord Byron swam the
Hellespont at the mouth of the Dardanelles in 1 hour 10 minutes |
| May 4 |
1829 The Earl
of Surrey became the first Roman Catholic MP |
May 5
 |
 1980
An SAS team stormed the London Iranian Embassy to rescue hostages,
killing five of the six terrorists
1961 Alan Shepard became the first American in
space 1646
Charles I surrendered to the Scots at Newark |
| May 6 |
1965 Julie Andrews won an Oscar for her performance in
Mary Poppins - bet the Academy is proud of that decision
1626 Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island for 24 dollars
- little knowing that twenty years later to the day Charles I would
surrender to the Scots at Newark |
| May 7 |
1765 Nelson's
flagship Victory was launched at Chatham |
| May 8 |
1988 The science fiction author Robert Heinlein
died |
| May 9 |
1926
Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett made the first flight over the North Pole |
| May 10 |
1937 The first
frozen food went on sale in the UK - it was asparagus
1919 The first commercial air service - between
Manchester and Southport - started |
| May 11 |
 1922
The radio station 2LO was established at Marconi House in London's
Strand
1812 Spencer Perceval became the only British
Prime Minister to be assassinated |
| May 12 |
1969 The
voting age in the UK was lowered from 21 to 18 |
| May 13 |
2002 Patrick
Fyffe (Dame Hilda Bracket of Hinge and Bracket) died aged 60 of cancer
1961 Gary Cooper (super duper) died |
| May 14 |
1817 Mary
Shelley finished writing Frankenstein |
| May 15 |
 1928
The Australian Flying Doctor Service was inaugurated |
| May 16 |
 1763
James Boswell first met Dr Johnson |
| May 17 |
1899 Queen Victoria laid the
foundation stone of the Victoria and Albert museum |
| May 18 |
 1888
Emile Berliner demonstrated the first horizontal gramophone
disc 1857
The British Museum Reading Room was opened
|
| May 19 |
1906
The Simplon rail tunnel opened between Italy and Switzerland |
| May 21 |
1904
FIFA was founded
1894 Queen Victoria opened the
Manchester ship canal |
| May 22 |
1954
Robert Zimmerman celebrated his bar mitzvah |
| May 23 |
1934 Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
were killed in a police trap |
| May 24 |
1972 The Gravelly Hill interchange, better
known as Spaghetti Junction, was opened |
| May 25 |
735
The Venerable Bede died |
| May 26 |
1913
The first UK woman magistrate was appointed |
| May 27 |
1674 Ashcah Young became the first
person in America to be condemned and hung as a witch |
| May 28 |
1931
August Piccard and Charles Kipfer reached a height of
52,462 feet in a balloon - the first men to reach the
stratosphere.
1907 The first Isle of Man TT
motorcycle race was held |
| May 29 |
 1953
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of
Everest
1950
The Archers was first broadcast
1942
Bing Crosby recorded White Christmas
|
| May 30 |
1988 6,500 people played musical chairs
on the beach at Weymouth, Dorset and entered the Guinness
Book of Records |
| May 31 |
2002
Captain Philippa Tattersall became the first woman to earn
the Royal Marines green beret
1911
The Titanic was launched |
... a
bit Suffolk