Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month began in 1979 as Asian Heritage Week, established by congressional proclamation. From then until 1993, the period for recognizing Asian/Pacific Americans was created by congressional proclamation each year. President George Bush, on October 23, 1992, signed legislation into law that made May of each year Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. For more information, contact the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Council at 703-354-5036 or on the internet at www.apahc.org.

Older Americans Month. Established by presidential proclamation to honor the contributions of older Americans to society.

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May 1

May Day (Labor Day) : International.* In many countries the first day of May is celebrated as a spring festival, a time to celebrate the rebirth of life after winter. Some May Day customs can be traced back to ancient observances. The tradition of dancing around a pole hung with ribbons probably had its origin in the tree worship of the Celtic Druids, and the custom of filling baskets with flowers is derived from the ancient Romans’ practice of gathering spring flowers on the festival of Floralia. May Day later took on another meaning: In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada drafted a resolution in support of an eight-hour working day to begin on May 1, 1886, and called for a general strike to achieve that goal. This strike led to the infamous Haymarket Affair in Chicago on May 4, 1886. On that day an anarchist labor rally was held in Haymarket Square to protest the police killing of strikers at a factory the day before. When the police tried to disperse the rally, someone threw a bomb that killed several policemen, and a riot ensued. Despite a lack of evidence, eight of Chicago’s leading anarchists were charged with conspiracy to murder—four were hanged, one committed suicide in prison, and the remaining three were later pardoned. The Haymarket Affair was a pivotal event in the history of the labor movement, leading to a crackdown on labor organizations and a splintering of the Knights of Labor, the strongest U.S. labor organization, which was eventually supplanted by the American Federation of Labor. In 1889, an international Socialist congress convened in Paris and voted to support the United States labor movement’s demands, choosing May 1, 1890 as a day of demonstration in support of an eight-hour working day. Many countries now celebrate May Day, sometimes called Labor Day, as an official holiday honoring working people. The United States and Canada, however, celebrate Labor Day in September. (m)

Beltaine: Pagan and Wiccan. Beltaine falls opposite Samhain on the Wheel of the Year and celebrates the beginning of summer. Customs for celebrating Beltaine vary from country to country, however, one of the rituals most familiar to people in the United States is dancing around a May Pole and doing the Morris Dance, the English name for May Day dances. (see entry for Imbolc, February 2)

Maulid an-Nabi (Prophet Muhammad's Birthday) : Islam. This occurs on the 12th day of the Muslim month of Rabi ul-Awwal and marks the birth of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, in 570 A.C.E. (m)

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May 2

Satyajit Ray (1921–1992) : Indian. Filmmaker. Ray's films depicting the lives of ordinary people in his native Bengal brought him international recognition as one of the great creators in the medium. He was involved in every aspect of the filmmaking process; in addition to writing and directing each film, he sometimes wrote the musical score, designed the sets, and even operated the camera. His best-known work is a trilogy (Pather Pachali, Aparajito, and The World of Apu) tracing the life of a single character, the young boy Apu, from his village through his education and migration to the city.

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May 3

Septima Clark (1898–1987) : African American. Teacher and civil rights activist. Septima Clark played a vital role in the civil rights movement as the chief organizer of freedom schools that taught thousands of Black people throughout the South to read and helped them register to vote.

Paul G. Hearne (1950?–1998) : American. Activist for the disabled. Mr. Hearne was a founder or officer of virtually every national organization devoted to the disabled. He started the first legal services office for the disabled, ran the first job placement agency for the disabled, served as director of the National Council on Disability, and was influential in writing the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. He also helped to start and run the Dole Foundation for Employment of People with Disabilities, the Association of People with Disabilities, and the Disabilities Study Group. Born with a debilitating disorder that limited his growth to four feet tall and caused him to spend his childhood in body casts and traction until he was 15, Hearne finally was able to enroll in a new school for the disabled, the Human Resources Center in Albertson, New York.

Golda Meir (1898–1978) : Jewish Israeli. Prime minister. Born in Kiev in Ukraine, Meir came to the United States as a child and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She immigrated to Palestine at the age of 19. In 1969 she became Israel's fourth prime minister.

Bank Holiday : Great Britain, Republic of Ireland. * Public holiday.

Constitution Day (Kempo Kinen Bi) : Japan. This holiday celebrates the establishment of the current constitution in 1947.

Constitution Day : Poland. This holiday commemorates the passage in 1791 of Poland's first constitution, which was the second written constitution in the world after that of the United States and the first in Europe. It provided for the separation of powers between the executive (the king and his ministers), the legislative (the Sejm), and the judicial branches of government. Although the constitution was hailed throughout the West as a triumph for progressive forces, it was suppressed in 1792 by the invading army of Catherine II of Russia, who saw the movement toward democracy across her western border as a threat to her own absolute rule.

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May 4

Keith Haring (1959–1990) : Gay. Pop artist. Haring created a wide variety of public art, such as subway drawings of animals and human images and murals, including the first mural in a school yard on New York City's Lower East Side and a mural on the Berlin Wall. He also created designs for performances and for Swatch watches. In 1987, he used his art to support campaigns for AIDS awareness and created the Keith Haring Foundation to contribute to a wide variety of social concerns.

Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916) : Polish. Writer. Sienkiewicz's best known works are his historical novels, which include Quo Vadis? set in Rome in the early Christian era, and a trilogy depicting the Poles' struggles against foreign invaders in the seventeenth century. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1905.

Holiday for a Nation : Japan. Public holiday.

Youth Day : People's Republic of China. Public holiday.

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May 5

Children's Day (Kodomo No Hi) : Japan. Formerly known as Tango No Sekku or Boys' Day, Children's Day is celebrated by attaching wind socks in the shape of carp to poles. The carp symbolizes perseverance, power, and strength. A special meal including a rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves is served.

Children's Day (Tano) : Korea. This holiday is celebrated as a day of rest from work. Wrestling matches are held, as are swinging contests in which girls use swings hung from high branches of trees to see who can swing with the widest arc.

Cinco de Mayo (sinko-de-myo) : Mexico. Mexicans and Mexican Americans celebrate the triumph of Mexican forces over the French army in Mexico on May 5, 1862.

Coronation Day : Thailand. Public holiday.

Liberation Day : Netherlands. This day marks the end of the World War II Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1945.

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May 6

Martin Delany (1812–1885) : African American. Physician and anthropologist. Trained as a natural scientist and physician, Delany became an advocate for the abolition of slavery and the emigration of free Negroes to Africa.

Amadeo Giannini (1870–1949) : Italian American. Banker. One of the most creative and successful financiers of the early twentieth century, Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco as a bank for small businessmen. His innovations, which included branch banking and home mortgages with monthly payments, brought him tremendous success, and when he resigned as chairman of the board in 1945, his bank, renamed Bank of America, was the largest commercial bank in the world. Giannini also founded Transamerica Corporation, one of the nation's largest business conglomerates.

Edwin H. Land (1909–1991) : Jewish American. Inventor. Land invented the "Land Camera," later called the Polaroid. His Polaroid Company became one of the major enterprises in the creation and production of photographic cameras and processes.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) : Indian. Writer and composer. A prolific and versatile writer in the Bengali language, Tagore wrote poems, plays, and stories that won a worldwide readership and brought him the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913. (This date for celebrating his birthday is based on the Bengali calendar.)

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 : United States. This federal law prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States and denied Chinese residents the right to become citizens. Extended in 1892 and made permanent in 1902, the law remained in effect until 1943. (See entry for December 17.)

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May 8

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753–1811) : Mexican. Political and military leader. A village priest who helped lead the insurgency against Mexico's Spanish rulers in 1810–1811, Father Hidalgo is best known for ringing the church bell that signaled the beginning of the rebellion. (See entry for September 16.) As a revolutionary leader he freed slaves in areas under the control of his army and advocated redistribution of land from Spanish owners to poor Indians and mestizos. After early military successes, his army was defeated by a Spanish force on January 17, 1811. Stripped of his priestly orders by the Church, he was tried by a Spanish military court and executed by a firing squad.

Victory Day, WWII : France. This holiday commemorates the defeat of the German army in Europe in 1945.

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May 9

Mother's Day : Finland. Public holiday.

Lag B'Omer : Jewish. This holiday occurs thirty-three days from the second night of Passover, called the "counting of the omer," during the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuoth and allows a break from the usual prohibitions during this period, such as having weddings. It is a minor holiday and work is permitted.

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May 10

Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback (1837–1921) : African American. Soldier and legislator. Born free, Pinchback joined the Union Army during the Civil War and raised a company of African American volunteers. After the war he entered politics and served as lieutenant governor and acting governor of Louisiana. Elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1872 and to the United States Senate in 1873, he was prevented from taking office by the opposition of Whites who claimed there had been voting irregularities in his election.

Inauguration of Nelson Mandela (1994) : South Africa. On this day Nelson Mandela became the first Black president of South Africa, after the nation's first elections in which citizens of all races were allowed to vote. The inaugural ceremonies, attended by leaders from around the world, marked the end of South Africa's system of white minority rule, which for decades had maintained the brutal system of racial separation and inequality known as apartheid.

Mother's Day : Mexico. Public holiday.

Victory Day (observed) : Russia, Ukraine. This day commemorates the victory of the Allies over Nazi Germany ending World War II in Europe in 1945. This day also honors the 20 million Soviet people who died during the war.

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May 11

Irving Berlin (1888–1989) : Jewish Russian American. Song writer. Berlin wrote the lyrics and music to some 1,500 songs, including the scores for many stage and screen musical comedies. Among the Berlin songs that have become classics of American popular music are his first hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1911), "White Christmas," "Easter Parade," and "God Bless America."

William Grant Still (1895–1978) : African American. Composer and conductor. Still was the first African American to compose a symphony and the first to conduct a symphony orchestra, but he made his living playing in orchestras and jazz bands. In his own compositions, the most famous of which are his Afro-American Symphony (1951) and the opera Troubled Island (1949), he often incorporated jazz elements.

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May 12

Oscar de Priest (1871–1951) : African American. Legislator. De Priest represented the 21st Congressional District of Illinois in the House of Representatives from 1929 to 1933. His election signaled the return of African American citizens to the legislative branch of the federal government for the first time since Reconstruction.

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May 13

Joe Louis [Barrow] (1914–1981) : African American. Prizefighter. Joe Louis was the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1947, defending the title 24 times.

Our Lady of Fatima Day : Portugal. This commemorates the miracle of the vision of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to shepherd children on May 13, 1917.

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May 16

Betty Carter (1929–1998) : African American. Jazz singer. Betty Carter was unique among jazz vocalists, composers, and arrangers, her distinctive style embodying an approach to jazz that created the model for modern jazz singing. Growing up in Detroit, Carter sang with Charlie Parker and later joined the Lionel Hampton band. In 1961, she recorded the classic album, Ray Charles and Betty Carter. Carter received the National Medal of Arts in 1997.

Santo Christo Day : Portugal. This holiday begins on the fifth Sunday after Easter and is celebrated for a full week. It commemorates the gift to the Cathedral of Sâo Miguel in the Azore Islands (off the coast of Portugal) of a statue depicting Jesus wearing a crown of thorns. The holiday is celebrated by processions, religious services, and festive gatherings. (m)

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May 17

Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) : African American. On this date the Supreme Court unanimously issued its historic decision holding that segregation in public education was a denial of the right to equal protection under the law and directing the lower courts to oversee the desegregation of the nation's schools "with all deliberate speed." This decision, which established the principle that segregation is unconstitutional, formed the legal basis for the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s.

National Day : Norway. On this date, Norwegians celebrate the 1814 signing of the Norwegian Constitution, signifying Norway's breaking away from its 434–year union with Denmark. The focus of the celebration is on children and family. Virtually every community has a parade that features students and teachers marching, often in national costumes, singing patriotic songs, and carrying the Norwegian flag. Many midwestern communities in the United States with large numbers of people of Scandinavian ancestry, such as in Wisconsin and Minnesota, have their own celebrations of Syttende Mai.

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May 18

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955) : African American. Educator. Founder of a girls' school that eventually became Bethune-Cookman College, the largest institution for the training of African American teachers in the southeastern United States, Mary McLeod Bethune became a nationally respected advocate for youth and for African Americans. She was appointed to a number of federal offices by Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. As director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration from 1936 to 1944, she was the first African American woman to head a federal agency. This date is the anniversary of her death.

Frank Capra (1897–1991) : Italian American. Film director. From the 1920s to the 1950s, Capra was one of Hollywood's most successful directors. Remembered especially for his comedies celebrating the integrity and spirit of the common man, Capra won three Academy Awards as Best Director for It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and You Can't Take It With You.

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May 19

Lorraine Hansberry (1930–1965) : African American. Playwright and civil rights activist. Hansberry is best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun, the first play by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. The play was an enormous success with critics and audiences when it opened in 1959, was made into a popular film, and has attained the status of a modern classic. Before her brilliant career was cut short by cancer, she wrote several other stage and television plays and a number of essays, and devoted much of her time to working and speaking out for the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X (1925–1965) : African American. Civil rights leader. Malcolm Little adopted the name Malcolm X when he joined the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims), a religious movement advocating Black separatism, while serving a prison term for burglary. Upon his release in 1952 he became a leading spokesman for the Muslims. In 1964 he broke with the group, rejecting racial separatism and forming his own group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He continued to speak out until his assassination on February 21, 1965, urging Blacks to take pride in their race and to take action to claim their civil and human rights.

Atatürk and Youth Day : Turkey. Kemal Atatürk was the first president of the Turkish Republic, which he founded in 1923. (See entry for October 29.)

Jerusalem Day : Israel. Public holiday.

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May 20

Ascension Day : Christian. This marks the anniversary of the day Christians believe that Jesus rose to heaven.

Ascension Day : Eastern Orthodox Christian. This marks the anniversary of the day Christians believe that Jesus rose to heaven. (m)(m)

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May 21

Lázaro Cárdenas (1895–1970) : Mexican. Political and military leader. As president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940, Cárdenas did more than any other Mexican chief executive to achieve the goals of the Mexican Revolution: redistributing land from large landowners to peasants, organizing confederations of workers and peasants, and taking control over foreign-owned industries. He emerged from retirement in 1943 to serve as defense minister and then chief of the army, retiring again in 1945.

Battle of Iquique : Chile. Public holiday.

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May 22

Harvey Milk (1930–1978) : Gay. Politician. Having grown up on Long Island and been involved in conservative politics, Harvey Milk moved to San Francisco, became more liberal in his politics, and successfully ran for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. A strong advocate of gay rights, he and San Francisco's mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by a former city supervisor.

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May 23

National Day : Morocco. Public holiday.

Declaration of the Bab : Baha'i. This holiday commemorates the Bab's prediction in Shiraz, Persia, in 1844 of the imminent appearance of the new messenger of God.

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May 24

Ines Mexia (1870–1938) : Mexican American. Botanical explorer. Mexia discovered her vocation at the age of 55, when she took a summer course on flowering plants at the University of California. Over the next 13 years she traveled throughout the southwestern states, to Alaska, and through much of South America, often living in primitive conditions as she gathered thousands of specimens, many of them previously unclassified, for academic institutions and government agencies. Her intrepid spirit and her careful preservation of plant materials in difficult field conditions won her the admiration of her colleagues.

James Francis (Jim) Thorpe (1888–1953) : American Indian (Sauk and Fox). Athlete. Chosen as the best athlete of the first half of the century in an Associated Press poll, Jim Thorpe won the decathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games and went on to play professional baseball and then professional football, and to be named to the college and professional football Halls of Fame. Thorpe was forced to give up his Olympic medals when it was discovered that he had briefly played professional baseball, disqualifying him from competition as an amateur. This action was rescinded in 1983 by the International Olympic Committee, which retroactively recognized his amateur status and presented his heirs with duplicates of his medals.

Coleman A. Young (1918–1997) : African American. Politician. Coleman Young became the first African American mayor of Detroit, Michigan, in 1973 and served in that office for the next twenty years, the longest period of time that any mayor had served in that position. During his administrations, Detroit rebuilt much of its business area, created the Renaissance Center, and fought tirelessly the many social and economic problems facing many of America's cities.

Victoria Day observed : Canada. This public holiday in Canada commemorates the birth of Queen Victoria, who lived from 1819 to 1901 and ruled Britain from 1837 to 1901, during which time England became the world's leading industrial power and the center of the British Empire.

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May 25

Africa Day : Zambia, Zimbabwe. In these and some other African states, this is a holiday commemorating independence from colonial rule.

Anniversary of the May Revolution : Argentina. This commemorates the beginning of the war of independence from Spain in 1810 led by José de San Martín.

Independence Day : Jordan. This marks the day in 1946 that Jordan under the Hashemite Monarchy gained independence from Britain.

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May 26

Susette LaFlesche Tibbles (1854–1903) : American Indian (Omaha). Activist. Daughter of a chief, Susette LaFlesche joined with her father, her brother, and her future husband, journalist Thomas Tibbles, to bring national attention to the plight of the Poncas, a kindred tribe that had been forcibly removed to Indian territory. This is the anniversary of her death.

Shavuoth ( sha(rhymes with pa)-voo-oat) (Festival of Weeks) : Jewish. Shavuoth, taking place seven weeks after Passover, is the festival of the first fruits, and the weeks between are the most important in the harvesting season. The holiday is also celebrated in commemoration of the day when Moses received the Torah and the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. (m)

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May 28

Restoration of Statehood Day : Armenia. On this day, Armenians celebrate the establishment in 1918 of the first republic following the genocide of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire and the collapse of the Russian Empire under the Czars.

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May 29

Chien-Shiung Wu (1912–1997) : Chinese American. Physicist. Dr. Wu was one of the giants of physics and the first woman to gain equal stature for her accomplishments in experimental physics with men in the field. Born near Shanghai, China, she came to the United States in the 1930s and received a doctorate in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1940. She joined the physics faculty at Columbia University after World War II and was named a full professor in 1958 and the first Pupin Professor of physics in 1973. In 1957, she and her colleagues conducted an experiment that overthrew a law of symmetry in physics called the principle of conservation of parity that had been considered incontrovertible. In 1975, Dr. Wu became the first woman to be elected president of the American Physical Society. She also received the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest award for achievement in science, as well as the Wolf Prize in physics.

Ascension of Baha'u'llah : Baha'i. This observance commemorates the anniversary of the death of the founder of the Baha'i faith in 1892.

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May 30

Mother's Day : Nicaragua. Public holiday.

Pentecost (Whit Sunday) : Christian. This spring festival takes its name from the Greek word for 50, because it comes on the 50th day after Passover. It originally corresponded to the Jewish festival of Shavuoth. Christians celebrate Pentecost on the seventh Sunday after Easter to commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. The day is sometimes called Whit Sunday (White Sunday) because the newly baptized wore white baptismal robes. (m)

Pentecost : Eastern Orthodox Christian. Pentecost is observed by several Eastern Orthodox Christian churches on this day. (m)

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May 31

Bank Holiday : Great Britain. Public holiday.

Memorial Day observed : United States. Originally a day of remembrance for those who died for the Union in the Civil War, this national holiday, observed on the last Monday in May, now honors those who gave their lives in all wars. (A number of southern states also have designated days for honoring the Confederate dead.) Many American families observe Memorial Day as a time for paying respects to deceased family members. (m)

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