| The General Treaty, by which France, Britain and the United States recognize the sovereignty of West Germany, comes into effect. |
| Project Mercury: Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight. |
| The Council of Europe declares May 5 as Europe Day. |
| Alitalia Flight crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all aboard, making it the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy. |
| Secretariat wins the Kentucky Derby in mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;marginpx;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}2⁄5, an as-yet unbeaten record. |
| Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in Lo
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