Famous people born in May include John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the U.S., American actress Megan Fox, American rapper YNW Melly, and Pierce Brosnan who is most famous as James Bond in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day.
Other famous celebrities and personalities with May birthdays are Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Tony Blair the former Prime Minister of the UK from 1997 to 2007, and the 72nd U.S. Secretary of State since 2025, Marco Rubio. Other famous people born in May are Pope John Paul II and American singer Janet Jackson.
Celebrities and personalities with birthdays in May
40 years old
American NFL player who has played as a quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders, and Los Angeles Wildcats
38 years old
Nigerian Nollywood actress, model, businesswoman, and TV personality known for her versatility across multiple film genres
Died aged 82
Nigerian author, novelist and ex-soldier who wrote the famous 1966 novel, The Concubine
47 years old
American actor and photographer who starred as Lance in I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)
Died aged 75
English actor who acted in Odd Man Out (1947), A Star Is Born (1954), Heaven Can Wait (1978), and Julius Caesar (1953)
Died aged 67
American athlete and martial artist actor famous in martial arts films Enter the Dragon (1973) and Black Belt Jones (1974)
Died aged 57
President of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995, and prime minister from 1995 to 2012
44 years old
Mexican-American businesswoman, philanthropist, and wife of the late famous NBA player Kobe Bryant
68 years old
8th president of Benin from 2016 to 2026
Died aged 13
American student-athlete famous as daughter of basketball player Kobe Bryant and who died in a helicopter crash at age 13
May Historical Events
1st May 1707: The Act of Union was signed between England and Scotland. With the signing, the two countries become one kingdom, and the Scottish and English Parliaments became united, thereby forming the Parliament of Great Britain.This new joint house was based in the home of the English Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London. Scotland retained its independence in terms of their legal and religious systems. However, taxation, coinage, trade, parliament, sovereignty and flag became one with Britain.
2nd May 2011: The US Navy SEALS of SEAL Team Six killed 54-year old Osama bin Laden in his compound in the city of Abbottabad, Pakistan. The leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda was a mastermind of many notable terrorist attacks against the United States, including the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.4th May 1494: Christopher Columbus, the famous European explorer, discovered Jamaica and met the Arawak and the Taino, the indigenous people of the Caribbean country. 10th May 1994: Nelson Mandela, the famous anti-apartheid activist and former political prisoner, became the first black president of South Africa. His inauguration on this date ended more than three centuries of minority white rule.His winning party, The African National Congress (ANC), won the country's 1st multi-racial elections by taking 62% of the vote. His presidency ended on 14 June, 1999.
21st May 1991: Former Indian Prime Minister and husband to Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated at the age of 46. He had become the 6th and youngest Indian Prime minister at 40 years of age, and had succeeded his mother, the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was also assassinated. Rajiv Gandhi served as PM between 1984 and 1989.