May 9

Billy Joel born (1949); Impeachment proceedings begin against President Richard Nixon (1974); Singer and civil rights activist Lena Horne dies (2010); Rock legend Little Richard dies (2020).

May 10

First American transcontinental railroad is completed (1869); Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of the UK (1940); Former NASA astronaut Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space, born (1958); Actress Joan Crawford dies (1977); Nelson Mandela inaugurated as president of South Africa (1994).

May 11

First chartered hospital in the US founded in Philadelphia (1751); Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí born (1904); Hit musical "Cats" debuts in London (1981); American singer Sabrina Carpenter born (1999); "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" author Douglas Adams dies (2001). 

May 8

President Harry Truman born (1884); Coca-Cola is sold for the first time at a pharmacy in Atlanta (1886); Mount Pelée in Martinique erupts, beginning the deadliest volcanic event of the 20th century (1902); Germany surrenders, ending World War II in Europe (1945); Smallpox is eradicated (1980).

May 7

Edwin H. Land, inventor of instant photography, born (1909); Ishirō Honda, Japanese film director and cowriter of 1954 film "Godzilla," born (1911); German submarine sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 (1915); Eva "Evita" Perón born (1919); Sony Corporation founded (1946).

May 6

Famed neurologist Sigmund Freud born (1856); Baseball great Willie Mays born (1931); Hindenburg disaster kills 36 (1937); Roger Bannister becomes first person to run a mile in under 4 minutes (1954); Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich dies (1992).

May 5

Napoleon Bonaparte dies while in exile (1821); Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexican victory in the Battle of Puebla (1862); Alan Shepard becomes first American in outer space (1961); Singer-songwriter Adele born (1988); "Spider-Man" becomes the first movie to top $100M in its opening weekend (2002)