- 1 May 1960 – American pilot Gary Powers was shot down over Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia
- 30 May 1951 – Foundation of Canadian Association of Geographers in Montreal, Canada
- 3 May 1906 – Birth of Milton Santos, Brazilian geographer who had a degree in law
- 20 May 1506 – Death of Christopher Columbus (pictured), explorer, navigator, and colonizer, born in the Republic of Genoa, in what is today northwestern Italy