International Museum Day

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day in 1977 to encourage public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society. International Museum Day is organised around 18 May.

Alan Curtis Kay

 

Alan Curtis Kay is an American computer scientist, known for his early pioneering work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface design. He was born on May 17, 1940.

World Information Society Day

World Information Society Day is celebrated each year on 17 May to remind the world of the vision of the World Summit on the Information Society to build “a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented information society” based on fundamental human rights. 

The day had previously been known as World Telecommunication Day to commemorate the founding of the International Telecommunication Union  in 17 May 1865.

J. Georg Bednorz

Johannes Georg Bednorz was born on May 16, 1950, he is a German physicist who, together with
 K. Alex Müller(http://datesupdates.blogspot.in/2013/04/karl-alexander-muller.html), discovered high-temperature superconductivity in ceramics, for which they shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics.

International Day of the Family

May 15 is celebrated as the International Day of the Family. This day highlights the importance of families. It aims at fostering equality, bringing about a fuller sharing of domestic responsibilities and employment opportunities. The programmes undertaken to commemorate the day, work towards supporting families in the discharge of their functions. They tend to promote the inherent strengths of families, including their great capacity of self-reliance, and stimulate self-sustaining activities.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American computer programmer and internet entrepreneur. He is best known as one of five co-founders of the social networking website Facebook. He was born May 14, 1984.

Ronald Ross

Ronald Ross was a British doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria. He was born on 13 May 1857. His discovery of the malarial parasite in the gastrointestinal track of the Anopheles mosquito led to the realization that malaria  was transmitted by Anopheles, and laid the foundation for combating the disease.He died on 16 September 1932. 

India a full-fledged nuclear state

The Indian Government led by prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared that  India a full-fledged nuclear state in a press conference on May 13, 1998 after Pokhran-II refers to the series of five Nuclear bomb test explosions conducted by Indian Army's Pokhran Test Range. 

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820 and she was a celebrated English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. She came to prominence while serving as a nurse during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night. She died on 13 August 1910.

 

National Technology Day ( India )

11 May has been officially declared as National Technology Day in India to commemorate the first of the five tests that were carried out on 11 May 1998. The day was officially signed by the then Prime Minister of India. The day is celebrated by giving awards to various individuals and industries in the field of science and industry.

South Africa's first black president

Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa's first black president on May 10, 1994.   In April 1994 the Mandela-led ANC won South Africa’s first elections by universal suffrage, and on May 10 Mandela was sworn in as president of the country’s first multiethnic government.

A laser beam was successfully bounced off Moon for the first time.

On May 9, 1962, a pulse light laser beam sent by a team of scientists from MIT successfully bounced off the moon, the first lunar laser ranging experiment. Later similar experiments used a reflector left on the moon’s surface by the Apollo 11 mission to increase accuracy.

William Francis Kemmler

William Francis Kemmler was born on May 9, 1860 and he  was a convicted murderer and the first person in the world to be executed using an electric chair. He died on August 6, 1890.

 

Henry Dunant

Jean Henri Dunant (Henry Dunant) was born on May 8, 1828 . He was known as the founder of Red Cross.  He was a Swiss businessman and social activist and he died on October 30, 1910.

World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day

World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is observed annually on May 8.

Rabindranath Tagore

 

Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. He was born on  May 7, 1861. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973. He died on  7 August 1941.

The first pope to enter a mosque

Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque on 6th July 2001 during a trip to Syria.

International Midwives' Day

International Midwives' Day was first celebrated May 5, 1991, and has since been observed in over 50 nations around the world. The idea of having a day to recognize and honor midwives came out of the 1987 International Confederation of Midwives conference in the Netherlands.

The inaugural Grammy Awards

 

\The inaugural Grammy Awards were held on May 4, 1959. They recognized musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1958.

World Press Freedom Day

The UN General Assembly declared May 3 to be World Press Freedom Day or just World Press Day to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of press.