May 1
National Day of Prayer
1960. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shot down the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft flown by Francis Gary Powers, resulting in cancellation of the United States-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics summit meeting. The Soviets tried, convicted and sentenced Powers to 10 years in prison. Two years later he was exchanged for a Soviet spy.
1978. The Air Force Logistics Command International Logistics Center was activated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. It had a mission to direct and oversee the AFLC foreign security assistance program involving both foreign military sales and grant aid activities.
1967. Tactical Air Command Troop Carrier Wings and Troop Carrier Squadrons were re-designated Tactical Airlift Wings and Squadrons.
1950. The Extension Course Institute was established.
1942. The Air Medal was established.

May 2
1967. The United States announced that with the loss of French bases and American units stationed there, four U.S. Air Forces in Europe tactical fighter squadrons, together with a substantial number of U.S. Army Europe troops, would be returned to the United States, where they would be dual-based. That meant that although stationed in the United States, they would be maintained ready to deploy to Europe on short notice.
1967. The first A-37 was delivered to the Tactical Air Command.

May 3
1972. The national non-commercial radio network, financed by the corporation for Public Broadcasting, began programming.
1968. The first Air National Guard unit was called to active duty. The 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron arrived in South Vietnam and began flying combat missions two days later.
1952. A ski-equipped U.S. Air Force Douglas C-47 made the world's first successful North Pole landing.
1765. Drs. John Morgan and William Shippin Jr. established a medical department in the College of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania. It was the first school for the training of physicians in America.

May 5
1970. Sister Nancy Ann Eagan became the first Catholic nun to enter the Air Force Reserve when she was commissioned a first lieutenant. She was a nurse assigned to the 932nd Aeromedical Airlift Group (Associate), Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

May 6
1957. The first RF-101 Voodoo reconnaissance aircraft was received by Tactical Air Command.

May 8
1945. V-E Day, Victory in Europe, World War II.
1795. The Post Office Department was permanently organized by Congress.

May 9
1961. The first B-52H was delivered to Strategic Air Command. Powered by eight turbofan engines it had greater range and climbing power than earlier models. A Gatling gun capable of firing 20 millimeter cannon rounds at the rate of 4,000 per minute was a special feature of this aircraft.
1907. Observance of Mother's Day began.

May 11
1949. President Harry S. Truman signed a bill that provided for a 3,000-mile-long guided missile test range for the Air Force. The range was subsequently established at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

May 12
1980. The KC-10 Extender made its first flight.
1975. The SS Mayaguez, a United States flag merchant vessel, was captured by Cambodian forces near Koh Tang Island in the Gulf of Siam.
1968. Bunker Hill Air Force Base, Ind. was renamed Grissom Air Force Base in honor of Astronaut Virgil Grissom, who died Jan. 27, 1967, in an Apollo capsule fire.
1954. Tactical Air Command received its first F-84F Thunderstreak.
1928. Lt. Julian S. Dexter of the Air Corps Reserve completed a 3,000-square-mile aerial mapping assignment over the Florida Everglades. The project took 65 hours of flying, spread over two months.

May 13
1981. Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt at St. Peter's Square, Rome.
1846. The United States-Mexico War declaration.

May 14
1968. The Pentagon's Hall of Heroes was dedicated.

May 15
Armed Forces Day
1970. Sgt. John L. Levitow was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the first Air Force enlisted recipient of the medal since World War II.
1918. Army pilots inaugurated the first U.S. air mail service between New York and Washington, D.C. Army pilots flew this service for nearly three months until it was taken over by the Post Office Department.

May 16
1963. Astronaut Maj. L. Gordon Cooper Jr., U.S. Air Force, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. on May 15, in Project Mercury capsule Faith 7. After completing 22 Earth orbits in 34 hours, 19 minutes and 49 seconds, he landed in the Pacific about 60 miles southeast of Midway Island. He was the first American to orbit the Earth for more than one day, and the last pilot of the Project Mercury series.

May 17
1792. The New York Stock Exchange was formed. Two dozen merchants and brokers were founders. They met under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street in good weather. In bad weather they went to a coffee house.

May 18
1980. Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted, and blew steam and ash into the atmosphere more than 11 miles high.
1961. Excavation began for the North American Air Defense Command hardened Combat Operations Center inside Cheyenne Mountain, south of Colorado Springs, Colo. (See Feb. 6)
1920. Birth date of Pope John Paul II, the first Polish pope.
1917. The Selective Service Act was passed providing for the registration and classification of military service of all men between 21 and 30, inclusively. (The Man Power Act of Aug. 31,1948, amended the Selective Service Act to require the registration of all men between the ages of 18 and 45.)
1836. A congressionally authorized naval expedition set sail to "explore the Southern Ocean," the Pacific. This was the first exploring expedition under the auspices of the government. The expedition discovered the Antarctic continent; thus credit for the discovery of Antarctica goes to the U.S. Navy.

May 19
1963. A C-137 aircraft assigned to the 89th Military Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., set 30 flying records on flights from Washington to Moscow and back. The aircraft made the trip at a speed of 561 mph in 8 hours, 39 minutes and made the return trip at 490 mph in 9 hours, 55 minutes. Fifteen records were established on each one-way trip.

May 20
1951. Capt. James Jabara became America's first jet ace by shooting down his fifth and sixth MiGs in the Korean War. He eventually downed 15 planes in Korea.
1954. The first Matador surface-to-surface guided missiles arrived in Europe, assigned to the 1st Pilotless Bomber Squadron, Hahn Air Base, Germany.
1932. The first woman's trans-Atlantic solo flight was made by Amelia Earhart, flying a Pratt & Whitney Wasp-powered Lockheed Vega. She flew from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to Ireland in close to 15 hours.
1927. Capt. Charles A. Lindbergh's solo trans-Atlantic flight from New York to Paris was 3,600 miles non-stop.
1918. The Overman Act removed aviation from the Signal Corps by establishing the Army Bureau of Aircraft Production and the Air Service, U.S. Army.

May 21
1950. Lt. John M. Conroy made the first transcontinental round trip in the same day, flying an F-86 Sabrejet.
1944. Operation Chattanooga Choo-Choo began with systematic Allied air attacks on trains in Germany and France.

May 22
1990. Air Force Special Operations Command was activated.

May 23
1923. Lts. Oakley Kelly and John McReady flew a Fokker T-2 from New York to San Diego in 26 hours, 50 minutes and 38 seconds, completing the first non-stop transcontinental flight.
1788. South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

May 25
1927. Lt. James H. Doolittle flew the first successful outside loop.

May 26
Memorial Day (Traditional May 30)
101 Critical Days of Summer begin

May 27
1958. Tactical Air Command received its first production model of the F-105B Thunderchief.

May 28
1980. The first women graduated from the Air Force Academy -- 97 were commissioned second lieutenants.

May 29
1790. Rhode Island became the 13th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

May 30
1922. Dedication of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.