Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( ) ( April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519, Old Style ) was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.

* Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, Friday, 4 May 2012 to Sunday, 7 October 2012.

Pope Saint Celestine V ( 1215 – 19 May 1296 ), born Pietro Angelerio ( according to some sources Angelario, Angelieri, Angelliero, or Angeleri ), also known as Pietro da Morrone, was elected Pope in the year 1294 in the last non-conclave papal election in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

Most historical accounts state the island was discovered on 21 May 1502 by the Galician navigator João da Nova sailing at the service of the Portuguese Crown, on his voyage home from India, and that he named it " Santa Helena " after Helena of Constantinople.

* May 28 – The 1926 coup d ' état commanded by Manuel Gomes da Costa in Portugal installs the Ditadura Nacional ( National Dictatorship ), followed by António de Oliveira Salazar's Estado Novo.

* May 2 – Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist ( b. 1500 )

* May 15 – Battle of Forlì between Guelphs and Ghibellines: the French army under Pope Martin IV is defeated by Guido I da Montefeltro.

* May 1 – Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer ( d. 1643 )

* May 2 – Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, Italian composer ( b. 1560 )

* May 20 – Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut ( now Kozhikode ), India, becoming the first European to get there by sailing around Africa, thus discovering the maritime route to India.

* May 2 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian inventor and painter ( b. 1452 )

* May 16 – Pietro da Cortona, Italian artist ( b. 1596 )

* May 21 – Portuguese navigator João da Nova discovers the uninhabited island of Saint Helena.

* May 5 – Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola, Italian adventurer ( executed )

Vasco da Gama sailed for India, and arrived at Calicut on 20 May 1498, returning in glory to Portugal the next year.

Vasco da Gama lands at Kozhikode | Calicut, May 20, 1498.

After demanding the expulsion of Muslims from Calicut to the Hindu Zamorin, the latter sent the high priest Talappana Namboothiri ( the very same person who conducted da Gama to the Zamorin's chamber during his much celebrated first visit to Calicut in May 1498 ) for talks.

Miranda signed a movie contract with Hollywood and arrived in the United States in 4 May 1939 with her band, the Bando da Lua.

Guido of Arezzo ( also Guido Aretinus, Guido da Arezzo, Guido Monaco, or Guido d ' Arezzo ) ( 991 / 992 – ( 17 May?

On 7 May 1487, two Portuguese envoys, Pêro da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva, were sent traveling secretly overland to gather information on a possible sea route to India, but also to inquire about Prester John.

This shift was caused by the successful circumnavigation of Africa opening up sea-trade with the east: after Portugal's Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and landed in Calicut, India in May 1498, a new path of eastern trade was possible ending the monopoly of the Ottoman Turks and their European allies, the Italian city-states.

Ayrton Senna da Silva ( pronounced ; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994 ) was a Brazilian racing driver who won three Formula One world championships.

* May 6 – May 28 – In Paris, Heitor Villa-Lobos supervises the recording of his Bachiana Brasileira No. 6 by Fernand Dufrene ( flute ) and René Plessier ( bassoon ) and his Bachiana Brasileira No. 2 with the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française, the four suites of his Descobrimento do Brasil, his Chôros No. 10 and his Invocação em defesa da patria, with Maria Kareska ( soprano ), the Chorale des Jeunesses Musicales de France, and the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Françaisefor EMI.