May 1, 1960 – American U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over central Russia.
May 5, 1862 – Mexican troops under General Ignacio Zaragoza, outnumbered three to one, defeat the invading forces of Napoleon III in the battle of Pueblo which forever after is celebrated as a national holiday; Cinco de Mayo (Fifth of May).
May 5, 1961 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American in Space. His Freedom 7 spacecraft travelled in space for 15 minutes and 28 seconds. In a subsequent flight in 1971 he would become the fifth person to walk on the moon.
May 6, 1937 – The German airship Hindenburg bursts into flames and crashes while mooring at Lakehurst, New Jersey killing 36 of the 97 passengers and crew and effectively ending commercial airship travel.