Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in May 2027 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)
Historical anniversaries are ideal for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more.
We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2027, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.
Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats, spelling and grammar. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.
1 May 1902 – 125 years ago
Texaco, the American oil/fuel company, was founded (as the Texas Fuel Company).
2 May 1952 – 75 years ago
BOAC (now British Airways) launched the world’s first passenger jet service (from London, UK to Johannesburg, South Africa) as the de Havilland Comet went into commercial service.
3 May 1947 – 80 years ago
Japan’s new (and current) constitution came into effect. It banned the country from attacking others, stripped the emperor of all but symbolic power, granted universal suffrage, and abolished the peerage. It also established the Supreme Court of Japan.
4 May 1827 – 200 years ago
Birth of John Hanning Speke, British Indian Army officer and explorer. Known for his explorations of Africa and his search for the source of the Nile. The first European to reach Lake Victoria.
5 May 1967 – 60 years ago
Ariel 3, the first satellite designed and built in Britain, was launched to study the Earth’s atmosphere. It remained operational (or semi-operational) until September 1969 when it was deactivated. It re-entered the atmosphere in December 1970.
6 May 1937 – 90 years ago
The Hindenburg disaster. The German airship Hindenburg burst into flames as it docked at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, USA. 36 people were killed.
7 May 1952 – 75 years ago
British electronics engineer and radar scientist Geoffrey Dummer gave the first public presentation on the concept of integrated circuits (ICs), at the Symposium on Progress in Quality Electronic Components in Washington, D.C., USA. His attempts at building one failed. The first working IC was created by American electrical engineer Jack Kilby in September 1958. The first practical monolithic IC (or silicon chip) was created by American physicist Robert Noyce in 1959.
8 May 1777 – 250 years ago
Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s comedy of manners The School for Scandal was performed for the first time, at the Drury Lane Theatre in London, UK.
9 May 1877 – 150 years ago
Romania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire during the Russo–Turkish War of 1877–78.
10 May 1967 – 60 years ago
NASA’s final glide test of the Northrop M2-F2 heavyweight lifting body aircraft ended in disaster. The aircraft oscillated as it approached the landing, then slammed into the lake bed and rolled over six times. Pilot Bruce Peterson was seriously injured. He recovered, but lost an eye due to infection. This crash was the inspiration for Martin Caudin’s novel Cyborg and the television series The Six Million Dollar Man – actual footage of the crash is featured in the opening titles.
11 May 1927 – 100 years ago
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded. It is best known for the Academy Awards (the Oscars).
12 May 1937 – 90 years ago
The coronation of King George VI of the United Kingdom. This was also the BBC’s first official outdoor television broadcast and marked the first use of an Outside Broadcast Van – a mobile television control/production room.
13 May 1957 – 70 years ago
ITV launched the first regular television programmes for schools in the UK. The BBC launched its schools television programming on 24th September.
14 May 1727? – 300 years ago
Birth of Thomas Gainsborough, English portrait and landscape artist. (Baptised on this date.)
15 May 1902 – 125 years ago
American aviation pioneer Lyman Gilmore claimed he flew a steam-powered aircraft in Grass Valley, California on this date. If true, he would have been the first person to achieve powered flight, beating the Wright Brothers by around 19 months. However, there are no records or evidence to confirm his claim – they were lost in a fire in 1935.
16 May 1527 – 500 years ago
Florence (now a city in Italy) became a republic after the Florentines drove out the Medici for a second time. It became a monarchy in 1531.
17 May 1902 – 125 years ago
The Antikythera mechanism, an ancient analogue astronomical computer, was discovered amongst wreckage recovered from a shipwreck in Greece in 1901. It is believed to have been built between 205 BC and 87 BC. Machines of similar complexity did not appear again until around 1,500 years later.
18 May 1927 – 100 years ago
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (now the TCL Chinese Theatre) opened in Hollywood, California, USA. The theatre is famous for the approximately 200 celebrity hand prints, footprints and autographs left in cement in its forecourt.
19 May 1962 – 65 years ago
American actress Marilyn Monroe famously sang Happy Birthday to U.S. President John F. Kennedy during a birthday party/fundraiser at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
20 to 21 May 1927 – 100 years ago
American aviator Charles Lindbergh made his historic first non-stop solo transatlantic flight. He flew from New York, USA to Paris, France in the Spirit of St. Louis.
21 May 1952 – 75 years ago
IBM announced the IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machine (commonly known as the Defense Calculator). It was IBM’s first commercial scientific computer.
22 May 1947 – 80 years ago
Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed what is now known as the Truman Doctrine. It granted $400 million in military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey to help fight the spread of communism.
23 May 2007 – 20 years ago
The reCAPTCHA service was introduced. The system keeps online services secure by checking that users are human, not computers trying to register bogus accounts. At the same time, it digitises the scanned text of thousands of books and periodicals.
24 May 1902 – 125 years ago
Empire Day (now Commonwealth Day) was celebrated in the UK for the first time.
25 May 1927 – 100 years ago
Birth of Robert Ludlum, American thriller novelist. Best known for The Bourne Trilogy. (Died 2001.)
26 May 1967 – 60 years ago
The Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released.
27 May 1937 – 90 years ago
The Golden Gate Bridge was officially opened. It links San Francisco and Marin County in California, USA.
28 May 1987 – 40 years ago
The digital image format GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) was released by CompuServe. It quickly became a popular standard for simple online graphics, logos and animations. The GIF format was dogged by patent issues over its compression system between 1994 and 2004. Unisys announced that users would have to pay licence fees of around $5,000, resulting in a massive backlash against the company. The patent has now expired and GIFs can be used freely.
29 May 1977 – 50 years ago
American racing driver Janet Guthrie became the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500. She suffered engine problems and finished in 29th place.
30 May 1902 – 125 years ago
Birth of Stepin Fetchit, American stage and film actor, comedian and entertainer. Considered the first African American actor to have a successful film career. (Died 1985.)
31 May 1902 – 125 years ago
The Second Boer War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging. British victory. Britain annexed the Transvaal and gained control of Southern Africa.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2027.
The 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.
Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.
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For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-A-Base Books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet.
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★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Great reference
This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised. Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history. — Mark