May 1: At least 800 Indigenous Australian pastoral workers walk off the job in Northwest Western Australia, starting one of the longest industrial strikes in Australia.

May 2: Six inmates unsuccessfully try to escape from Alcatraz Prison. A riot occurs, the so-called "Battle of Alcatraz".

May 7: Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with about 20 employees.

May 9: King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates, and is succeeded by his son Humbert II.

May 10: Nehru is elected leader of the Congress Party in India. - The first V-2 rocket is successfully launched at the White Sands Missile Range.

May 20: The British House of Commons decides to nationalize mines.

May 21: At the Los Alamos Laboratory, Dr. Louis Slotin saves his coworkers but receives a fatal dose of ionizing radiation (the incident is initially classified).

May 22: The Kingdom of Transjordan is founded.

May 25: The parliament of Transjordan makes emir Abdullah their king.

May 26: Czechoslovak parliamentary election, with Communist victory (38%), last before communist take power

May 31: A Greek referendum supports the return of the monarchy. (source: Wikipedia)