May 1, 2009 (Friday)
- Police and protesters battle during May Day demonstrations in Germany, Greece, and Turkey. (BBC) (The Straits Times)
- The Pakistani Army kills approximately 60 Taliban militants during Operation Black Thunder. (France24)
- The man who attacked the Netherlands' Royal Family on Queen's Day dies. (RTÉ)
- Carol Ann Duffy becomes the United Kingdom's first female Poet Laureate. (New York Times) (AP)
- Three executives of Allied Irish Banks resign. (Irish Independent)
- Associate Justice David Souter announces he will retire from the United States Supreme Court in June. (AP)
- The Portuguese frigate Corte-Real confiscates explosives from Somali pirates during an attempted hijacking. (AP)