Top 12 Must-Know Fun Facts About May: Intriguing Trivia, Unusual Events, and More!

1. Month of May: Named after Greek Mythology's Maia

When May comes swaggering in like a Greek god, bringing lush greenery, blooming flowers, and devastating good looks: it turns out the month is named after Maia, the Greek mythology figure who is the mother of Hermes, and a mountain nymph. Maia, one of the Pleiades, is the daughter of Atlas and Pleione the Oceanid, and she embodied the concept of growth in ancient Roman religion and myth. Fittingly, her name has been bestowed upon this month, marking the beginning of the growing season across many parts of the world.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

2. May Fourth Movement: Chinese Communist Party's Birth

When "Mr. Science" met "Mr. Democracy" at a 1919 Chinese shindig, little did they know they were about to crash a political party and spark a fiery bromance that would make global headlines: The May Fourth Movement turned what started as student protests into the game-changing birth of the Chinese Communist Party, forever altering the course of Chinese history.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

Discover the ancient secret behind June's popularity for weddings, connected to the Roman goddess of marriage and childbirth, and debunk a common myth about its origin. Find out more fascinating facts about this beloved month!

=> Fun Facts about June

3. Famous May Birthdays: Royalty, Celebrities, and Geniuses

In the merry month of May, an eclectic ensemble of famous faces emerge like fresh flowers from the birthday cake soil: brace yourselves for a monarch, a madman, a master of the mind, and the maker of intergalactic wars. And that's just the beginning of this star-studded soirée: May boasts of royal cake-sharers like Queen Victoria and John Wilkes Booth, mind-gobbling luminary Sigmund Freud, and galaxy-far-far-awayizer George Lucas, accompanied by the Hepburn cousins Audrey and Katharine, dulcet duo Bono and Adele, and fisticuff fan favorites Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Source => holidayinsights.com

4. Bats: Nocturnal Superheroes Emerging in May

Who turned out the lights? It's just our nocturnal, mosquito-slaying superheroes making a grand entrance after their beauty sleep: Behold, as bats emerge from hibernation in May, just in time for International Bat Appreciation Day on April 17th, celebrating over 1,200 species of these fascinating mammals known for their impeccable grooming habits, ability to devour up to 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour, and soaring through the skies as the only mammals truly designed for sustained flight - from the grandiose Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Fox with a wingspan rivaling an NBA player, to the petite Kitti's hog-nosed bat, the tiniest of their kind.
Source => nationaldaycalendar.com

5. Indianapolis 500: Victory Milk Chugging

If milk does a body good, then imagine the lactose-powered delight of chugging victory milk at breakneck speeds: The Indianapolis 500, famously known as the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, treats the winner to a traditional swig of ice-cold milk and a cash prize of over $3 million. This year, Marcus Ericsson of Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda team milked the opportunity, winning the race on May 30th by leading 175 out of 200 laps.
Source => indianapolismotorspeedway.com

6. Mother's Day: Anna Reeves Jarvis' Campaign

Once upon a May, a daughter thought - Mom del Fuego: Anna Reeves Jarvis, the mother of all Mother's Days, was the catalyst for the beloved holiday we celebrate every May. It was her daughter, Anna Jarvis, who danced a jig of campaign efforts to establish a Memorial Mothers Day in 1914. Rocking those carnations like they were going out of style, these 19th-century matriarchs (alongside gal pals Julia Ward Howe and Elizabeth Cady Stanton) strove to change the world through motherly power, peace, and the fight for women suffrage, armed with their fearsome library of letters, photographs, and tunes including "That Wonderful Mother of Mine."
Source => loc.gov

7. May Birthstone: Ancient Egypt's Emerald Obsession

Before Cleopatra got jealous of everyone else's bling, she demanded an upgrade; little did we know that we owe our love for a certain green gemstone to her fashion-forward mentality: The ancient Egyptians started mining the May birthstone, the emerald, on an industrial scale in 1500 BCE, sourcing them from an area called Mons Smaragdus and making it a statement piece for the queen and other nobles for over six thousand years and counting.
Source => gemselect.com

8. Microplastic Consumption: 50,000 Particles Per Year

Feeling a little heavier than usual after dinner? It might be more than just the food on your plate: Did you know that each person on Earth unknowingly noshes on over 50,000 microplastic particles per year? Meanwhile, our aquatic pals are swimming through a sea of 2,200 Eiffel Towers’ worth of plastic pollution, as 19-23 million tonnes of the stuff never makes its way to a recycling center. Time to trade in our plastic forks for reusable ones – bon appétit!
Source => un.org

9. UK Flower Bloom: April Showers Become Colorful May

Ah, May! The month when those sneaky April showers finally cash in their IOUs for bundles of colorful flowery dividends, giving birth to an abundance of vibrant botanical stock markets and transforming the landscape into a kaleidoscopic Wall Street for bees: This phenomenon is due to the United Kingdom's cooler climate where the much-awaited blooming of flowers takes place in April and May, creating a riot of colors that symbolize the peak of vegetation with Mother Nature proudly painting the town – or rather, the countryside – in breath-taking shades of life.
Source => blogs.missouristate.edu

10. Donkey Mating Season: May Wedding Taboo

In the land of baguettes and berets, donkeys had an uncanny influence over wedding bells: it is believed that in southern France, May was considered the ultimate wedding no-go because it happened to be donkey mating season! According to an 1840 article, ladies in waiting would avoid the entire month for their nuptials, declaring it indecent to marry when their donkey friends were feeling "amorous." In the present day, of course, May weddings face no such qualms or restrictions.
Source => refinery29.com

11. May the Fourth: Margaret Thatcher's Election Win

When Margaret Thatcher boldly went where no British woman had gone before, even the force couldn't resist joining her cosmic celebrations: The phrase "May the Fourth Be With You" first made its appearance during Thatcher's 1979 election win, was later adopted by Star Wars fans as an unofficial holiday, and finally made its way to California lawmakers, who officially declared May 4 as Star Wars Day in 2019.
Source => abc7ny.com

12. Maypole: Twirling Tradition to Welcome Summer

Before twirling became the spinning sensation of dance floors everywhere, village folk would take their lanky friend May Pole for a whirl: marking the arrival of summer, Maypoles were widely practiced and celebrated in England, with the tallest one standing 143 feet high on London's Strand in 1661 before being repurposed by Isaac Newton in 1717 to support a groundbreaking telescope.
Source => projectbritain.com