May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. May is a month of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and spring in the Northern Hemisphere (Summer in Europe). Therefore May in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of November in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.
May symbols: The birthstone of May is the emerald which is emblematic of love and success. The May birth flower is the Lily of the Valley and the Crataegus monogyna. The mayflower Epigaea repens is a North American harbinger of May, and the floral emblem of both Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. Its native range extends from Newfoundland south to Florida, west to Kentucky in the southern range, and to Northwest Territories in the north. The zodiac signs for the month of May are Taurus (until May 20) and Gemini (May 21 onwards).
Historical Events for May, 1953
Day of Week 4th » Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for 'The Old Man and the Sea'.
Day of Week 11th » The 1953 Waco tornado outbreak: an Fujita scale called F5 tornado hits downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114.
Day of Week 15th » Cubmaster Don Murphy (Cubmaster) named Don Murphy organized the first pinewood derby, in Manhattan Beach, California, by Los Angeles Area Council known as Pack 280c.
Day of Week 16th » American journalist William N. Oatis is released after serving 22 months of a ten-year prison sentence for espionage in Czechoslovakia.
Day of Week 18th » Jacqueline Cochran named Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
Day of Week 25th » Nuclear testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conduct their first and only nuclear artillery test.
25th » The first List of public-access TV stations in the United States called public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.
Famous Birthdays on May in 1953
1st » Glen Ballard, American songwriter and producer
2nd » Valery Gergiev, Russian conductor and director
3rd » Bruce Hall (musician) named Bruce Hall, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (REO Speedwagon)
3rd » Jake Hooker (musician) called Jake Hooker, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (Arrows (British band) known as Arrows) (d. 2014)
3rd » Gary Young (drummer) named Gary Young, American drummer (Pavement (band) e.g Pavement)
4th » Oleta Adams, American singer, pianist, and actress
4th » Salman Hashimikov, Kazakh-Russian wrestler
6th » Alexander Akimov, Ukrainian Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant e.g Chernobyl worker (d. 1986)
6th » Tony Blair, Scottish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
6th » Michelle Courchesne, Canadian politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
6th » Ülle Rajasalu, Estonian politician
6th » Graeme Souness, Scottish footballer and manager
6th » Lynn Whitfield, American actress
7th » Müslüm Gürses, Turkish singer and actor (d. 2013)
7th » Pat McInally, American football player and coach
7th » Ian McKay, English sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1982)
7th » Frank Michael, Italian-Belgian singer
8th » Billy Burnette, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (Fleetwood Mac)
8th » Alex Van Halen, Dutch-American drummer (Van Halen)
26th » Michael Portillo, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
26th » Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (d. 2012)
28th » Pierre Gauthier, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
28th » Arto Lindsay, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer (DNA (No Wave band) known as DNA, The Golden Palominos, The Lounge Lizards, and Ambitious Lovers)