May’s calendar is full of holidays, observances, food themes, awareness days, historic figures, artists and authors birthdays, science and historic based anniversaries, and more!  Whether you are looking for something special to learn about, celebrate, observe, or a food to add to the menu, this Special Days in May 2020 list gives you an awesome variety of choices!

Resources for teaching throughout the month, including a PDF of Special Days in May, can be found at the end of this list.

May’s Themes, Awareness, and Observances

• Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage
• Better Hearing and Speech
• Better Sleep
• Bikes
• Civility Awareness
• Clean Air
• Creative Beginnings
• Date Your Mate
• Eco Driving
• Electrical Safety
• Family
• Foster Care
• Get Caught Reading
• Gifts From the Garden
• Good Car Keeping
• Haitian Heritage
• Heal the Children
• Healthy Vision
• Homeschool Awareness
• Inventors
• Jewish-American Heritage
• Military Appreciation
• Older Americans
• Photograph
• Physical Fitness and Sports
• Preservation
• Recommitment
• Revise Your Work Schedule
• Smile
• Teen CEO
• Tennis
• Ultra-violet Awareness
• Victorious Woman
• Wetlands
• Youth Traffic Safety

Mays Food Themes

• Asparagus
• Barbecue
• Beef
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Celiac Awareness
• Egg
• Grapefruit
• Hamburger
• Kiwi
• Mediterranean Diet
• Salad
• Salsa
• Strawberry
• Vidalia Onions
• Vinegar

Daily Specials For May 2020 (the * means that the date may not be the same each year)

May 1

• Batman Day
• Beltane
• Cartoon Appreciation Week begins
• Cheerios Cereal introduced 1941
• Chocolate Parfait Day
• Choose Privacy Week begins
• Empire State Building dedicated 1931
• Activist Mary Harris Jones born 1830
• Hawaiian Lei Day
• Herb Week begins
• Law Day
• Loyalty Day
• May Day
• Mother Goose Day
• No Pants Day * (1st Fri.)
• Pen-Friends Week begins
• Save the Rhino Day
• Smithsonian Institute dedicated 1847
• Space Day * (1st Fri.)
• Tuba Day * (1st Fri.)

May 2

• Baby Day
• Brothers and Sisters Days
• Magician Doug Henning born 1947
• Loch Ness Monster Day
• Louisiana  Purchase 1803
• Join Hands Day * (1st Sat.)
• Kentucky Derby * (1st Sat.)
• Inventor Elijah McCoy (“the real McCoy”) born 1844
• Play Your Ukulele Day
• Scrapbooking Day * (1st Sat.)
• Truffle Day

May 3

• Be Kind to Animals week begins * (1st full week)
• 1st Comic Book (Famous Funnies) published 1934
• Garden Meditation Day
• Infertility Survival Day * (1st Sun.)
• Lemonade Day * (1st Sun.)
• Lumpy Rug Day
• Paranormal Day
• Postcard Week begins * (1st full week)
• Textiles Day
• Two Different Colored Shoes Day
• Update Your References Week begins * (1st full week)
• World Press Freedom Day

May 4

• Bird Day
• Children’s Book Week begins * (1st Mon.)
• 1st Colony (Rhode Island)  to declare independence from Great Britain 1776
• Columbus reached Jamaica 1494
• Green Peace launched 1971
• Intergalactic Star Wars Day (May the Fourth Be With You)
• Kent State University Vietnam War Protest 1970
• Kids Win Week * (Mon. of 1st full week)
• Educator Horace Mann born 1796
• Orange Juice Day
• Principal’s Day *
• Public Service Recognition Week * (1st Mon.)
• Renewal Day
• Respect for Chickens Day
• Sears Tower Completion 1973
• Teacher Appreciation Week begins * (Mon. of 1st full week)
• Walking Week begins * (1st Mon.)
• Weather Observers Day
• Wildflower Week begins * (Mon. of 1st full week)
• World Laughter Day * (1st Mon.)
• World Password Day

May 5

• Asthma Day * (1st Tues.)
• Astronaut Day
• Cartoonist Day
• Children’s Day (Japan)
• Cinco de Mayo
• Hoagie Day
• International Midwives’ Day
• Netherlands Independence 1945
• Office Fax introduced 1964
• Oyster Day
• Teacher Appreciation Day *
• Totally Chipotle Day

May 6

• Beverage Day
• English Channel Tunnel opened 1994
• Fire Escape patented 1878
• Psychiatrist Sigmund Freud born 1856
• Great American Grump Out * (1st Wed.)
• Hindenburg exploded 1937
• No Diet Day
• No Homework Day
• Nurses Day
• School Nurse Day *
• Tourist Appreciation Day

May 7

• Composer Johannes Brahms born 1833
• Lusitania anniversary 1915
• National Day of Prayer * (1st Thurs.)
• Composer Tchaikovsky born 1840
• Tourism Day

May 8

• Child Care Provider Day * (Fri. before Mother’s Day)
• Coconut Cream Pie Day
• Have a Coke Day
• Iris Day
• Military Spouses Day * (Fri. before Mother’s Day)
• No Socks Day
• President Harry Truman born 1884
• VE Day 1945
• World Red Cross Day

May 9

• Archery Day * (2nd Sat.)
• Babysitter’s Day * (Sat. before Mother’s Day)
• Belly Dance Day * (2nd Sat.)
• Birth Mother’s Day * (Sat. before Mother’s Day)
• Author Eleanor Estes born 1906
• Fair Trade Day * (2nd Sat.)
• Lost Sock Memorial Day
• Lemuria
• Migratory Bird Day * (2nd Sat)
• Miniature Golf Day * (2nd Sat.)
• Missionary Andrew Murray born 1828
• Romania Independence (from Ottoman Empire) 1877
• Windmill Day * (2nd Sat.)

May 10

• Clean Up Your Room Day
• Food Allergy Week *
• Lipid Day
• London Blitz 1941
• Lupus Day
• Mother’s Day (US) * (2nd Sun.)
• Reading is Fun Week begins * (2nd full week)
• Salute to Moms 35+ Week * (on Mother’s Day)
• Shrimp Day
• Transportation Week begins * (week with 3rd Fri.)

May 11

• Song Writer Irving Berlin born 1888
• Missionary Andy van der Bijl born 1928
• Bike to Work Week begins
• Artist Salvador Dali born 1909
• Eat What You Want Day
• Etiquette Week begins * (2nd Mon.)
• Poet Edward Lear born 1812
• Minnesota Statehood 1858
• Twilight Zone Day

May 12

• Limerick Day
• Florence Nightingale born 1820
• International Nurses Day
• Nutty Fudge Day
• Odometer Day

May 13

• Apple Pie Day
• Donate A Day’s Wages to Charity * (2nd Wed.)
• 1st Settlers arrived at Jamestown 1607
• Frog Jumping Day
• Leprechaun Day

May 14

• Buttermilk Biscuit Day
• Chicken Dance Day
• Scientist Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit born 1686
• Artist Thomas Gainsborough born 1727
• Israel became an independent state 1948
• Lewis and Clarke’s Expedition began 1804
• Skylab Space Station launched 1973
• Underground America Day
• 1st Webster’s Dictionary Published 1847

May 15

• Bike to Work Day * (3rd Fri.)
• Author L.F. Baum born 1856
• Chocolate Chip Day
• Day of Families
• Defense Transportation Day * (3rd Fri.)
• Endangered Species Day * (3rd Fri.)
• Kangaroo Care Awareness Day
• Mercuralia
• NASCAR Day * (3rd Fri.)
• Paraguay Independence 1811
• Peace Officer Memorial Day
• Pizza Party Day * (3rd Fri.)
• Straw Hat Day

May 16

• 1st Academy Awards 1929
• Armed Forces Day * (3rd Sat..)
• Biographer’s Day
• Doo Dah Day * (3rd Sat.)
• Drawing Day
• Learn to Swim Day * (3rd Sat.)
• Love a Tree Day
• Pencil Day
• Sea Monkey Day
• Wear Purple for Peace Day

May 17

• Backyard Games Week begins * (3rd week)
• Bike Week begins * (3rd week)
• Cherry Cobbler Day
• Hypertension Day
• International Pickle Week begins * (3rd week)
• Physician Edward Jenner born 1749
• New Friends, Old Friends Week begins * (3rd week)
• New York Stock Exchange begins 1792
• Pack Rat Day
• Stepmother’s Day * (Sun. after Mother’s Day)
• Take Your Parents to the Playground Day * (3rd. Sun.)
• Walnut Day
• World Telecommunications Day
• World Trade Week begins * (3rd full week)

May 18

• Mt. St. Helen Eruption Anniversary 1980
• Museum Day
• No Dirty Dishes Day
• Notebook Day
• Victoria Day * (Mon. before May 25)
• Visit Your Relatives Day

May 19

• Queen Anne beheaded 1536
• Boy’s Club Day
• Devil’s Food Cake Day
• Activist Malcolm X born 1925
• May Ray Day

May 20

• Be a Millionaire Day
• Cuba Independence 1902
• Eliza Doolittle Day
• Dolly Madison born 1768
• Pick Strawberries Day
• Quiche Lorraine Day
• Timor-Leste Independence 2002
• Weights and Measures Day

May 21

• Fossil Hunter Mary Anning born 1799
• American Red Cross Founders Day
• Ascension Day * (40 days after Easter)
• End of the World/Rapture Party Day
• Linbergh Flight 1927
• Montenegro Independence 2006
• Artist, Henri Rousseau born 1844
• Strawberries and Cream Day
• Missionary James Hudson Taylor born 1832
• Vejovis
• Waiters and Waitresses Day
• World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

May 22

• 1st Atlas published 1570
• Biological Diversity Day
• Buy a Musical Instrument Day
• Artist Mary Cassatt born 1844
• Don’t Fry Day * (Friday before Memorial Day)
• Maritime Day
• Sherlock Holmes Day
• Toothpaste Tube invented 1892
• Vanilla Pudding Day
• Wig Out Day * (Fri. before Memorial Day)

May 23

• Crohn’s and Colitis day
• Feminist Margaret Fuller born 1810
• Lucky Penny Day
• Ramadan Ends *
• Rosalia
• Shavuot
• South Carolina Statehood 1788
• Taffy Day
• World Turtle Day

May 24

• Brother’s Day
• Brooklyn Bridge opened 1883
• Ecuador Independence 1822
• Empire Day/Commonwealth Day (UK)
• Eritrea Independence 1993
• Home Rule Act (Ireland) 1914
• Hurricane Preparedness Week begins
• Indianapolis 500
• 1st Morse Code Message Sent 1844
• Puppeteer Frank Oz born 1944
• Scavenger Hunt Day
• Tiara Day

May 25

• Brown Bag It Day
• Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson born 1803
• Jordan Independence 1946
• Memorial Day * (last Mon.)
• Missing Children’s Day
• Nerd Pride Day or Geek Pride Day
• Dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson born 1878
• Star Wars premiered 1977
• Tap Dance Day
• Towel Day

May 26

• Blueberry Cheesecake Day
• Georgia Independence 1918
• Guyana Independence 1966
• Indian Removal Act signed into law 1830
• Astronaut Sally Ride born 1951
• Tiananmen Square Protest 1989
• Actor John Wayne born 1907

May 27

• Activist Amelia Jenks Bloomer born 1818
• Conservationist Rachel Carson born 1907
• Cellophane Tape introduced 1930
• Golden Gate Bridge opened 1964
• Grape Popsicle Day
• Sunscreen Day

May 28

• Amnesty International Day
• Big Ben arrived in Westminster 1859
• Brisket Day
• Author Ian Flemming born 1908
• Hamburger Day
• Poet May Swenson born 1913
• Whooping Crane Day

May 29

• Heat Awareness Day * (last Fri.)
• Patriot Patrick Henry born 1736
• International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
• President John Kennedy born  1917
• Learn About Composting Day
• Oak Apple Day (Pinch-Bum Day)
• Paperclip patented 1867
• Pink Flamingo Day
• Rhode Island Statehood 1790
• Shavuot *
• Wisconsin Statehood 1848

May 30

• Compact Disc introduced 1981
• Hole in My Bucket Day
• Hug Your Cat Day
• International Jazz Day
• Joan of Arc died 1431
• Lincoln Memorial dedicated 1922
• Civil Rights Leader Clara Luper born 1923
• Mariner launched 1971
• Queen of England Jane Seymour born 1508
• Water a Flower Day
• Wireless Telegraph patented 1872

May 31

• Autonomous Vehicle Day
• Macaroon Day
• Pentecost *
• Save Your Hearing Day
• Speak in Sentences Day
• Poet Walt Whitman born 1819
• What You Think Upon Grows Day
• World No Tobacco Day

PDF Special Days in May

May Resources (currently being updated for 2020)

Here’s my favorite resources for help with teaching special days each month   https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2016/07/31/learning-resources-for-special-days/

How I use Special Days lists in our homeschool blog series :

Special Days and the Evolution of Morning Calendar Time

Special Days and Biographies

Special Days and Geography

Special Days and Science

Special Days Archive    – Direct links to the most recent Special Days and Resource lists for each month.

I make my monthly special days lists by using several sources including old calendars, holiday books, newspapers, and the web. If you know of a special day that I do not have listed, please comment and let me know what it is so I can add it in. Below are the links to my favorite online calendars.

https://whatismyspiritanimal.com/animal-holidays-celebrations/

http://www.holidayinsights.com/

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/

http://www.se7en.org.za/

http://chartsbin.com/view/2295

https://food.unl.edu/food-calendar

http://projectbritain.com/calendars/index.htm

http://www.holidayscalendar.com/

Happy May!

betty jo