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Russia stages its biggest ever military parade in Moscow's Red Square to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory Day.
An Airbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft crashes near the Spanish city of Seville with three people on board killed.
A Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft crashes into Mount Salak in West Java, Indonesia, killing 45 people.
The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected terrorists among them deported to several different countries.
In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of teargas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee.
Westray Mine disaster kills 26 workers in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
LOT Flight 5055 Tadeusz Kościuszko crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing all 183 people on board.
In Norco, California, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.
In Florida, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die.
Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran.
Hotel Polen fire: A disastrous fire burns down the Hotel Polen in Amsterdam causing 33 deaths and 21 severe injuries.
Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.
Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks.
Ngô Đình Cẩn, de facto ruler of central Vietnam under his brother President Ngô Đình Diệm before the family's toppling, is executed.
The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, which according to him was indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the "Schuman Declaration", is considered by some people to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
Czechoslovakia's Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect.
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Umberto II.
World War II: The Channel Islands are liberated by the British after five years of German occupation.
World War II: The final German Instrument of Surrender is signed at the Soviet headquarters in Berlin-Karlshorst.
Holocaust: The SS executes 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) is destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported.
World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.
World War II: The German submarine U-9 sinks the French coastal submarine Doris near Den Helder.
Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd's diary appears to cast some doubt on the claim.)
Polish-Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreshchatyk.
World War I: Germany repels Britain's second attempt to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium.
World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
The works of Gabriele D'Annunzio are placed in the Index of Forbidden Books by the Vatican.
The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100 mph (160 km/h).
A magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Peru kills 2,541, including some as far away as Hawaii and Japan.
Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania.
The first horse-drawn bus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, traveling two routes.
Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds the Long Depression.
American Civil War: President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships.
American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest surrenders his forces at Gainesville, Alabama.
Second Schleswig War: The Danish navy defeats the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland.
The Siege of Fort Detroit begins during Pontiac's War against British forces.
Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.
Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
The figure who later became Mr. Punch made his first recorded appearance in England.
Hernando de Alarcón sets sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California.
England and Portugal formally ratify their alliance with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor, making it the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world which is still in force.
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