May 1965

1965 January February March April May June July August September October November December

The following events occurred in May 1965:

May 1, 1965 (Saturday)

• Bob Askin replaces Jack Renshaw as Premier of New South Wales.
• The Battle of Dong-Yin occurs as a conflict between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China.
• Liverpool wins the FA Cup Final, beating Leeds Utd 2–1.
• Died: Spike Jones, 53, American musician and bandleader (emphysema)

May 2, 1965 (Sunday)

• The Intelsat I communications satellite (nicknamed "Early Bird") goes into commercial service

May 3, 1965 (Monday)

• Born: Red Rum, champion thoroughbred racehorse, in Kells, County Kilkenny, Ireland (died 1995)
• Died: Howard Spring, 76, British novelist and journalist

May 4, 1965 (Tuesday)

• A USAF Convair F-106B-50-CO Delta Dart, 57-2528, survives a mid-air collision with F-106A-80-CO, 57-4721, both assigned to the 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, McGuire AFB, New Jersey, the second fighter being lost and 2528 recovering to NAFEC Atlantic City, New Jersey.

May 5, 1965 (Wednesday)

• Forty US men burn their draft cards at the University of California, Berkeley, and a coffin is marched to the Berkeley Draft Board.

May 6, 1965 (Thursday)

• A tornado outbreak near the Twin Cities in Minnesota kills 13 people and injures 683.

May 7, 1965 (Friday)

• A general election is held in Rhodesia results in victory for the ruling Rhodesian Front under Ian Smith. The election is held using two rolls, an "A" roll, which was largely white (around 90,000 whites and 2,256 blacks)
• Antonio Imbert Barrera becomes President of the Dominican Republic; his tenure lasts only four months.
• The U.S. Steel freighter SS Cedarville collides with the SS Topdalsfjord and sinks near the Mackinac Bridge killing 25 people. Ten are rescued from the Cedarville, the 3rd largest lake ship to sink after its sister the SS Carl D. Bradley, and the SS Edmund Fitzgerald

May 8, 1965 (Saturday)

• A cargo of jute carried by Pakistani merchant ship SS Yousuf Baksh catches fire; the ship, adrift off the Kent coast, is attended by the Walmer lifeboat. Forty-eight of those on board survive; one badly-injured officer later dies.
• US baseball star Steve Boros makes his final appearance as a player in the major leagues.

May 9, 1965 (Sunday)

• The pianist Vladimir Horowitz returns to the stage after a 12-year absence, performing a legendary concert in Carnegie Hall in New York.
• Died: Leopold Figl, 62, Austrian politician

May 10, 1965 (Monday)

• Born: Linda Evangelista, Canadian model, in St. Catharines, Ontario
• Died: I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson, 70, Sierra Leonean workers' leader, journalist, activist and politician

May 11, 1965 (Tuesday)

• In the UK, the National Trust officially launches its long-term Enterprise Neptune project to acquire or put under covenant a substantial part of the Welsh, English and Northern Irish coastline.

May 12, 1965 (Wednesday)

• West Germany and Israel establish diplomatic relations.
• The Italian liner T/S Michelangelo enters service.
• The Cannes Film Festival opens.

May 13, 1965 (Thursday)

• A West German court of appeals condemns the behavior of ex-defense minister Franz Josef Strauss, and refuses to open trial against magazine proprietor Rudolf Augstein and the magazine's military expert Conrad Ahlers, ruling that during the Spiegel scandal Strauss had exceeded his competencies and committed Freiheitsberaubung (deprivation of personal freedom); however, because of his belief of acting lawfully (Verbotsirrtum), he was exempt from punishment.
• Reg Downing becomes Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales, Australia, after nine years as Attorney General of New South Wales.

May 14, 1965 (Friday)

• Born: Eoin Colfer, Irish children's author, in Wexford
• Died: Belva Gaertner, 80, murder suspect

May 15, 1965 (Saturday)

• The Benmore Dam on New Zealand's South Island, is opened by Prime Minister Keith Holyoake.

May 16, 1965 (Sunday)

• While waiting to take off on a mission, a B-57B explodes on the ground at Bien Hoa Air Base, Vietnam. The accident is caused by a loose turbine hitting the fuse of an armed 500 lb bomb, setting off a whole chain of secondary explosions. Twenty-seven men are killed and over 100 wounded.
• Born: Jason, Norwegian cartoonist, in Molde, as John Arne Sæterøy

May 17, 1965 (Monday)

• An underground explosion at Cambrian Colliery in Clydach Vale, Wales, kills 31 men.

May 18, 1965 (Tuesday)

• The European Judo Championships are held in Madrid, Spain.

May 19, 1965 (Wednesday)

• Died: Tu'i Malila, approx 188 years old, tortoise given by Captain Cook to the Tongan royal family in 1777.

May 20, 1965 (Thursday)

• The De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter makes its first flight.

May 21, 1965 (Friday)

• The largest ever teach-in begins at Berkeley, California, attended by 30,000.

May 22, 1965 (Saturday)

• The first skateboard championship is held.
  • Several hundred Vietnam War protesters in Berkeley, California, US, march to the Draft Board again to burn 19 more cards. Lyndon Johnson is hung in effigy.

May 23, 1965 (Sunday)

• Belgium's general election results in victory for the Christian Social Party, which wins 77 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 44 of the 106 seats in the Senate.
• Norwegian tanker MV Heimvard explodes and catches fire at Mururan, Japan. Three of her crew are killed, 22 injured, and five others reported missing.
• Born: Melissa McBride, American actress.

May 24, 1965 (Monday)

• Died: Hans Jüttner, 71, German former SS leader

May 25, 1965 (Tuesday)

• Boxer Muhammad Ali knocks out Sonny Liston in the first round of their championship rematch with the "Phantom Punch" at the Central Maine Civic Center in Lewiston.

May 26, 1965 (Wednesday)

• Born: Dilip Joshi, Indian actor, in Porbandar

May 27, 1965 (Thursday)

• Indonesia–Malaysia Confrontation: The Battle of Sungei Koemba opens with an ambush launched by the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR), along the Sungei Koemba river in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo).
• The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment leaves for Vietnam on HMAS Sydney.
• In the 1965 European Cup Final, Inter Milan defeat S.L. Benfica 1-0 at the San Siro football stadium.
• Died: Antonio Ligabue, 65, Italian Naïve artist

May 28, 1965 (Friday)

• The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton is created in the UK, having formerly been part of the Archdiocese of Southwark.
• Born: Mary Coughlan, Irish Fianna Fáil politician, in Donegal

May 29, 1965 (Saturday)

• 1965 Dhanbad coal mine disaster: A mining accident in Dhanbad, India, kills 274 people.

May 30, 1965 (Sunday)

• Scottish Racing driver Jim Clark wins the 50th running of the Indianapolis 500 in Lotus 38-Cosworth, with a winning margin of one lap. It is the first mid-engined car to win.

May 31, 1965 (Monday)

• The Brunei Malay Regiment becomes the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.
• Scottish Racing driver Jim Clark wins the 49th running of the Indianapolis 500 in Lotus 38-Cosworth, at a record average speed of 150.686 m.p.h., with a winning margin of two laps. It is the first mid-engined car to win.
• Born: Brooke Shields, US actress, in New York City