Here are 31 newsworthy and notable anniversaries coming up in May 2020.
This list is a short extract from The Date-A-Base Book 2020, which lists hundreds of newsworthy and notable anniversaries for each month. It’s just the thing you need for writing anniversary tie-ins and “on this day in history” features.
1 May 1960 – 60 years ago
The Soviet Union shot down an American U‐2 spy plane near the Russian city of Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) and captured pilot Gary Powers, sparking a diplomatic crisis. (In August, Powers was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released in 1962 in exchange for the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.)
2 May 1895 – 125 years ago
Birth of Lorenz Hart, American lyricist. Known for his collaborations with the composer Richard Rodgers on numerous Broadway songs. He also suffered from depression and alcoholism, which contributed to his death at the age of 48.
3 May 1960 – 60 years ago
The European Free Trade Association was established.
4 May 1980 – 40 years ago
Death of Josip Broz Tito, President/dictator of Yugoslavia (1953–80).
5 May 1980 – 40 years ago
Operation Nimrod. The British SAS stormed the Iranian embassy in London after a six‐day siege.
6 May 1895 – 125 years ago
Birth of Rudolph Valentino, iconic Italian-born American silent film actor and sex symbol. His films include The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle, and The Son of the Sheik. His death from peritonitis at the age of 31 led to mass hysteria among his female fans.
7 May 1960 – 60 years ago
Leonid Brezhnev became President of the Soviet Union.
8 May 1945 – 75 years ago
World War II: VE day (Victory in Europe) – celebrated as a public holiday.
9 May 1920 – 100 years ago
Birth of Richard Adams, British novelist. Best known for Watership Down, Shardik, The Plague Dogs and The Girl in a Swing. (Died 2016.)
10 May 1940 – 80 years ago
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned after losing the support of many Conservatives in the House of Commons. He was succeeded by Winston Churchill.
11 May 1995 – 25 years ago
An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus was confirmed in Zaire. 317 people became infected, of whom 245 died.
12 May 1820 – 200 years ago
Birth of Florence Nightingale, Italian-born British social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing.
13 May 1950 – 70 years ago
The first Formula One World Championship race was held, at Silverstone in England. (This race is also known as the 1950 British Grand Prix.)
14 May 1955 – 65 years ago
The Warsaw Pact was established. It was a Soviet-led mutual defense treaty between eight communist European states during the Cold War. (It was disestablished in December 1991.)
15 May 1940 – 80 years ago
The first McDonald’s restaurant opened, in San Bernardino, California, USA.
16 May 1990 – 30 years ago
Death of Jim Henson, American puppeteer, television producer and screenwriter. Creator of the Muppets.
17 May 1960 – 60 years ago
The Kariba Dam, on the Zambia‐Zimbabwe border, was officially opened. The hydroelectric dam supplies power to both countries.
18 May 1980 – 40 years ago
Mount St. Helens, a volcano in Washington state, USA, erupted, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion worth of damage.
19 May 1930 – 90 years ago
The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It prohibited Congress from awarding itself pay raises.
20 May 1920 – 100 years ago
The national assembly of Germany’s Weimar Republic (the Weimarer Nationalversammlung) was permanently dissolved.
21 May 2000 – 20 years ago
Death of Dame Barbara Cartland, British author of over 700 romance novels.
22 May 1980 – 40 years ago
The arcade game Pac-Man was released in Japan. (North America: 26th October.)
23 May 1895 – 125 years ago
The New York Public Library was established when an agreement was signed that merged the city’s existing Astor Library and Lenox Library, using the fortune bequeathed by the former Governor of New York, Samuel J. Tilden.
24 May 1930 – 90 years ago
British aviator Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.
25 May 1945 – 75 years ago
British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clark privately circulated a document in which he proposed using geostationary satellites as telecommunications relays. (The idea was made public in the October 1945 issue of Wireless World magazine. The first commercial geostationary communications satellite, Intelsat I, was launched in April 1965.)
26 May 1940 to 4 June – 80 years ago
World War II: the Dunkirk Evacuation. Allied forces launched a massive evacuation of troops from Dunkirk in France across the English Channel to England after they were cut off by approaching German forces. Nearly 340,000 soldiers were rescued in a hastily assembled fleet of 800 boats.
27 May 1995 – 25 years ago
American actor Christopher Reeve, star of the Superman films, was paralyzed from the neck down when he was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition in Virginia, USA. (He died in 2004.)
28 May 1940 – 80 years ago
World War II: Belgium surrendered to Germany.
29 May 1990 – 30 years ago
Boris Yeltsin was elected President of Russia.
30 May 1960 – 60 years ago
Death of Boris Pasternak, Russian writer and poet. Best known for his novel Doctor Zhivago. Awarded the 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature, but he refused it because of opposition from the Soviet Union.
31 May 1970 – 50 years ago
The Great Peruvian Earthquake (also called the Ancash earthquake). Over 47,000 people were killed. The town of Yungay was buried by an avalanche that killed 17,000 people.
More anniversaries:
The above list is a short extract from The Date-A-Base Book 2020. You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for each month in the book. The 2021 and 2022 editions are also available. Find out more at ideas4writers.com