May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 231 days remaining until the end of the year.
- 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England.
- 1483 - Coronation of Charles VIII of France ("Charles l'Affable").
- 1509 - Battle of Agnadello: In northern Italy, French forces defeat the Venetians.
- 1607 - Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony.
- 1608 - The Protestant Union is founded in Auhausen.
- 1610 - Assassination of Henri IV of France, bringing Louis XIII to the throne.
- 1643 - Four-year-old Louis XIV becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.
- 1747 - A British fleet under Admiral George Anson defeats the French at first battle of Cape Finisterre.
- 1796 - Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination.
- 1804 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs from Camp Dubois and begins its historic journey by traveling up the Missouri River.
- 1811 - Paraguay gains independence from Spain.
- 1861 - The Canellas meteorite, an 859-gram chondrite-type meteorite, strikes the earth near Barcelona, Spain.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Jackson takes place.
- 1868 - Japanese Boshin War: end of the Battle of Utsunomiya Castle, former Shogunate forces withdraw northward to Aizu by way of Nikkō.
- 1870 - The first game of rugby in New Zealand is played in Nelson between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club.
- 1879 - The first group of 463 Indian indentured labourers arrive in Fiji aboard the Leonidas.
- 1889 - The children's charity the NSPCC is launched in London.
- 1913 - New York Governor William Sulzer approves the charter for the Rockefeller Foundation, which begins operations with a $100 million donation from John D. Rockefeller.
- 1925 - Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway is published.
- 1927 - Cap Arcona is launched at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg.
- 1927 - The University of Chicago's local collegiate organization, Phi Sigma, becomes incorporated under Illinois law as Eta Sigma Phi, the National Honorary Classical Fraternity.
- 1929 - Wilfred Rhodes takes his 4000th first-class wicket during a performance of 9 for 39 at Leyton.
- 1931 - Ådalen shootings: five people are killed in Ådalen, Sweden, as soldiers open fire on an unarmed trade union demonstration.
- 1935 - The Philippines ratifies an independence agreement.
- 1935 - Northamptonshire County Cricket Club gains (over Somerset at Taunton by 48 runs) what proved to be their last victory for 99 matches, a record in the County Championship. Their next Championship win was not until May 29, 1939.
- 1939 - Lina Medina becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five.
- 1940 - World War II: Rotterdam is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
- 1940 - World War II: The Netherlands surrenders to Germany.
- 1943 - Sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur off the coast of Queensland, by a Japanese submarine.
- 1948 - Israel is declared to be an independent state and a provisional government is established. Immediately after the declaration, Israel is attacked by the neighboring Arab states, triggering the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
- 1955 - Cold War: Eight communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.
- 1961 - American civil rights movement: The Freedom Riders bus is fire-bombed near Anniston, Alabama, and the civil rights protesters are beaten by an angry mob.
- 1961 - Stirling Moss wins the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix.
- 1970 - The Red Army Faction is established in Germany.
- 1973 - Human Space Flight: Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched. It is the last launch of the Saturn V rocket.
- 1978 - First round of the presidential elections in Upper Volta.
- 1986 - Pride of Baltimore lost at sea.
- 1988 - Carrollton bus collision: a drunk driver going the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky, United States hits a converted school bus carrying a church youth group. The crash and ensuing fire kill 27.
- 1995 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, proclaims six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the eleventh reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.
- 2002 - Ten members of the Darwin-based Network Against Prohibition invade the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory of Australia.
- 2004 - The Constitutional Court of South Korea overturns the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun.
- 2004 - The marriage of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark and Mary Donaldson takes place in Copenhagen.
- 2005 - Pope Benedict XVI observes his first beatification, elevating Blessed Marianne of Molokai on the road to canonization into sainthood.
- 2005 - The former USS America (CV-66), a decommissioned supercarrier of the United States Navy, is deliberately sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after four weeks of live-fire exercises. She is the largest ship ever to be disposed of as a target in a military exercise.
- 1265 - Dante Alighieri, Italian poet (d. 1321)
- 1316 - Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1378)
- 1553 - Margaret of Valois, wife of Henry IV (d. 1615)
- 1666 - Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (d. 1732)
- 1679 - Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer (d. 1764)
- 1699 - Hans Joachim von Zieten, Prussian field marshal (d. 1786)
- 1701 - William Emerson, English mathematician (d. 1782)
- 1710 - King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (d. 1771)
- 1725 - Ludovico Manin, last Doge of Venice (d. 1802)
- 1727 - Thomas Gainsborough, English artist (d. 1788)
- 1737 - George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, British statesman (d. 1806)
- 1752 - Timothy Dwight, American theologian (d. 1817)
- 1752 - Albrecht Thaer, German agronomist (d. 1828)
- 1771 - Robert Owen, Welsh social reformer (d. 1858)
- 1781 - Friedrich Ludwig Georg von Raumer, German historian (d. 1873)
- 1814 - Charles Beyer, German-British locomotive engineer (d. 1876)
- 1817 - Alexander Kaufmann, German poet (d. 1893)
- 1832 - Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (d. 1903)
- 1867 - Kurt Eisner, German politician (d. 1919)
- 1872 - Elia Dalla Costa, Italian cardinals (d. 1961)
- 1878 - James L. Wilkinson, American baseball executive (d. 1964)
- 1880 - Wilhelm List, German field marshal (d. 1971)
- 1881 - G. Murray Hulbert, American politician (d. 1950)
- 1881 - Ed Walsh, American baseball player (d. 1959)
- 1885 - Otto Klemperer, German-born conductor (d. 1973)
- 1890 - Alex Pompez, American baseball executive (d. 1974)
- 1893 - Louis Verneuil, French playwright (d. 1952)
- 1897 - Sidney Bechet, American musician (d. 1959)
- 1897 - Ed Ricketts, American marine biologist (d. 1948)
- 1899 - Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist (d. 1993)
- 1899 - Earle Combs, American baseball player (d. 1976)
- 1900 - Hal Borland, American author (d. 1978)
- 1900 - Leo Smit, Dutch composer (d. 1943)
- 1900 - Edgar Wind, German art historian (d. 1971)
- 1900 - Walter Rehberg, Swiss concert pianist, composer and writer (d. 1957)
- 1901 - Robert Ritter, German psychologist (d. 1951)
- 1903 - Billie Dove, American actress (d. 1997)
- 1904 - Hans Albert Einstein, American professor (d. 1973)
- 1904 - Marcel Junod, Swiss physician (d. 1961)
- 1905 - Jean Daniélou, French cardinal (d. 1974)
- 1905 - Herbert Morrison, American radio announcer (d. 1989)
- 1907 - Hans von der Groeben, German diplomat (d. 2005)
- 1907 - Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 1974)
- 1907 - Johnny Moss, American poker player (d. 1995)
- 1916 - Lance Dossor, British-born concert pianist (d. 2005)
- 1916 - Del Moore, American comedian (d. 1970)
- 1916 - Marco Zanuso, Italian architect
- 1917 - Lou Harrison, American composer (d. 2003)
- 1919 - Solange Chaput-Rolland, French-Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2001)
- 1919 - John Hope, American meteorologist (d. 2002)
- 1921 - Richard Deacon, American actor (d. 1984)
- 1921 - Arve Opsahl, Norwegian actor (d. 2007)
- 1922 - Franjo Tuđman, Croatian politician (d. 1999)
- 1923 - Adnan Pachachi, Iraqi politician
- 1923 - Mrinal Sen, Indian film director
- 1925 - Patrice Munsel, American opera soprano
- 1925 - Al Porcino, American jazz trumpet player
- 1926 - Eric Morecambe, British comedian (d. 1984)
- 1927 - Herbert W. Franke, Austrian writer
- 1928 - Will "Dub" Jones, American singer (The Coasters) (d. 2000)
- 1928 - Frederik H. Kreuger, Dutch scientist and inventor
- 1929 - Henry McGee, straight man to Benny Hill (d. 2006)
- 1929 - Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
- 1929 - Barbara Branden, Canadian writer and lecturer
- 1931 - Alvin Lucier, American composer
- 1932 - Robert Bechtle, American painter
- 1933 - Frank Harte, Irish singer and song collector
- 1933 - Michael Chevalier, German voice actor
- 1934 - Siân Phillips, Welsh actress
- 1936 - Bobby Darin, American singer (d. 1973)
- 1936 - Charlie Gracie, American singer
- 1936 - Waheeda Rehman, Indian actress
- 1940 - Troy Shondell, American singer
- 1940 - 'H'. Jones, British Soldier (VC recipient) (d. 1982)
- 1942 - Valeriy Brumel, Soviet athlete (d. 2003)
- 1942 - Byron Dorgan, American politician
- 1942 - Prentis Hancock, British actor
- 1942 - Tony Pérez, Cuban baseball player
- 1942 - Rüdiger Vogler, German actor
- 1943 - Jack Bruce, Scottish bassist (Cream)
- 1943 - Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland
- 1943 - Derek Leckenby, British musician (Herman's Hermits) (d. 1994)
- 1943 - Elizabeth Ray, American sex scandal figure
- 1944 - George Lucas, American film director
- 1945 - Francesca Annis, British actress
- 1945 - George Nicholls, British rugby league footballer
- 1945 - Yochanan Vollach, Israeli footballer and president of Maccabi Haifa
- 1947 - Tamara Dobson, American actress (d. 2006)
- 1948 - Bob Woolmer, English cricket coach (d. 2007)
- 1949 - Klaus-Peter Thaler, German cyclist
- 1950 - Adolfo Dominguez, Spanish fashion designer
- 1952 - David Byrne, Scottish-born American musician (Talking Heads)
- 1952 - Scott Irwin, American professional wrestler (d. 1987)
- 1952 - Donald R. McMonagle, American astronaut
- 1952 - Robert Zemeckis, American film director
- 1953 - Tom Cochrane, Canadian musician (Red Rider)
- 1953 - Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia
- 1954 - Jens Sparschuh, German writer
- 1955 - Dennis Martínez, Nicaraguan baseball player
- 1955 - Peter Kirsten, former South African cricketer
- 1957 - Leon White, American professional wrestler
- 1958 - Christine Brennan, American sports columnist
- 1959 - Patrick Bruel, French singer
- 1959 - Steve Hogarth, British singer (Marillion)
- 1959 - Rick Vaive, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1960 - Anne Clark, English singer
- 1960 - Steve Williams, American wrestler
- 1961 - Ulrike Folkerts, German actress
- 1961 - Jean Leclerc, French-Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1961 - Tim Roth, English actor
- 1961 - Alain Vigneault, Canadian ice hockey coach
- 1962 - Ian Astbury, English singer (The Cult)
- 1962 - C. C. DeVille, American musician (Poison)
- 1963 - Pat Borders, American baseball player
- 1964 - James M. Kelly, American astronaut
- 1964 - Eric Peterson, American musician (Testament)
- 1964 - Suzy Kolber, American sportscaster
- 1965 - Eoin Colfer, Irish writer
- 1966 - Marianne Denicourt, French actress
- 1966 - Mike Inez, American bassist
- 1966 - Fabrice Morvan, French music artist (Milli Vanilli)
- 1966 - Raphael Saadiq, American musician (Tony! Toni! Toné!)
- 1967 - Tony Siragusa, American football player
- 1969 - Cate Blanchett, Australian actress
- 1969 - Danny Wood, American singer (New Kids on the Block)
- 1971 - Sofia Coppola, American director
- 1972 - Gabriel Mann, American actor
- 1972 - Mark Ruskell, England-born Scottish politician
- 1973 - Voshon Lenard, American basketball player
- 1973 - Natalie Appleton, Canadian-born singer
- 1973 - Anais Granofsky, Canadian actress and director
- 1973 - Julian White, English rugby union footballer
- 1973 - Shanice, American singer
- 1974 - Jennifer Allan, American model
- 1974 - Krister Axel, American poet and songwriter
- 1975 - Salim Iles, Algerian swimmer
- 1975 - Nicki Sørensen, Danish road bicycle racer
- 1976 - Hunter Burgan, American musician (AFI)
- 1976 - Brian Lawrence, American baseball player
- 1976 - Martine McCutcheon, British actress
- 1977 - Sophie Anderton, English model and television personality
- 1977 - Roy Halladay, American baseball player
- 1977 - Ada Nicodemou, Australian actress
- 1978 - Eddie House, American basketball player
- 1978 - Brent Harvey, Australian footballer
- 1978 - André Macanga, Angolan footballer
- 1978 - Gustavo Varela, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 - Clinton Morrison, English-born Irish footballer
- 1979 - Carlos Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1980 - Zdeněk Grygera, Czech footballer
- 1980 - Eugene Martineau, Dutch decathlete
- 1980 - Júlia Sebestyén, Hungarian figure skater
- 1980 - Hugo Southwell, Scottish rugby union footballer
- 1981 - Sarbel, Greek-born singer
- 1982 - BeardyMan, English beatboxer
- 1982 - Ai Shibata, Japanese swimmer
- 1983 - Anahí, Mexican actress and singer (RBD)
- 1983 - Uroš Slokar, Slovenian basketball player
- 1983 - Amber Tamblyn, American actress
- 1983 - Tom Welham, British musician (Thirteen Senses)
- 1984 - Gary Ablett, Jr., Australian rules footballer
- 1984 - Michael Rensing, German footballer
- 1984 - Nigel Reo-Coker, English footballer
- 1984 - Mark Zuckerberg, American internet entrepreneur
- 1985 - Sally Martin, American actress
- 1986 - Camila Sodi, Mexican actress
- 1987 - Franck Songo'o, Cameroonian footballer
- 1987 - Francois Steyn, South African rugby union footballer
- 1990 - Emily Samuelson, American ice dancer
- 1993 - Miranda Cosgrove, American actress and singer
- 964 - Pope John XII
- 1470 - Charles VIII of Sweden (b. 1409)
- 1574 - Guru Amar Das, third Sikh Guru (b. 1479)
- 1608 - Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1543)
- 1610 - Henry IV of France (b. 1553)
- 1643 - Louis XIII of France (b. 1601)
- 1649 - Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian (b. 1600)
- 1669 - Georges de Scudéry, French writer (b. 1601)
- 1688 - Antoine Furetière, French writer (b. 1619)
- 1754 - Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French writer (b. 1692)
- 1761 - Thomas Simpson, British mathematician (b. 1710)
- 1818 - Matthew Gregory Lewis, English novelist (b. 1775)
- 1847 - Fanny Mendelssohn, German composer and pianist (b. 1805)
- 1860 - Ludwig Bechstein, German writer (b. 1801)
- 1873 - Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician and writer (b. 1797)
- 1878 - Ookubo Toshimichi, Japanese statesman, samurai, and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration (b. 1830)
- 1887 - Lysander Spooner, American philosopher (b. 1808)
- 1889 - Volney E. Howard, American politician (b. 1809)
- 1893 - Ernst Kummer, German mathematician (b. 1810)
- 1906 - Carl Schurz, German revolutionary and statesman (b. 1829)
- 1912 - Frederick VIII of Denmark (b. 1843)
- 1912 - August Strindberg, Swedish author (b. 1849)
- 1918 - James Gordon Bennett, Jr., American newspaper publisher (b. 1841)
- 1919 - Henry John Heinz, founder of the H. J. Heinz Company (b. 1844)
- 1923 - Charles de Freycinet, French prime minister (b. 1828)
- 1925 - H. Rider Haggard, English author (b. 1856)
- 1931 - David Belasco, American theatrical producer (b. 1853)
- 1931 - Denys Finch Hatton, English big-game hunter (b. 1887)
- 1934 - Lou Criger, American baseball player (b. 1872)
- 1936 - Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, British general (b. 1861)
- 1940 - Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-born anarchist (b. 1869)
- 1943 - Henri La Fontaine, Belgian Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1854)
- 1945 - Heber J. Grant, seventh president of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1856)
- 1954 - Heinz Guderian, German General (b. 1888)
- 1957 - Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (b. 1884)
- 1959 - Sidney Bechet, American musician (b. 1897)
- 1962 - Florence Auer, American actress (b. 1880)
- 1968 - Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (b. 1882)
- 1969 - Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (b. 1888)
- 1970 - Billie Burke, American actress (b. 1884)
- 1973 - Jean Gebser, German-born author, linguist, and poet (b. 1905)
- 1976 - Keith Relf, British singer and musician (The Yardbirds) (b. 1943)
- 1978 - Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
- 1980 - Hugh Griffith, Welsh actor (b. 1912)
- 1982 - Hugh Beaumont, American actor (b. 1909)
- 1983 - Roger J. Traynor, American judge (b. 1900)
- 1983 - Miguel Alemán Valdés, President of Mexico (b. 1900)
- 1984 - Walter Rauff, German colonel (b. 1906)
- 1985 - Mei Ling Barbara Yung, Hong Kong actress (b. 1959)
- 1987 - Rita Hayworth, American actress (b. 1918)
- 1988 - Willem Drees, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1886)
- 1991 - Jiang Qing, wife of Mao Zedong (b. 1914)
- 1992 - Lyle Alzado, American football player (b. 1949)
- 1992 - Nie Rongzhen, Chinese Communist military leader (b. 1899)
- 1993 - Patrick Haemers, Belgian criminal (b. 1953)
- 1993 - William Randolph Hearst Jr., American newspaper magnate (b. 1908)
- 1995 - Christian B. Anfinsen, American Nobel laureate (b. 1916)
- 1997 - Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician (b. 1934)
- 1998 - Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (b. 1915)
- 1998 - Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American conservationist (b. 1890)
- 2000 - Obuchi Keizo, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)
- 2003 - Dave DeBusschere, American basketball player (b. 1940)
- 2003 - Wendy Hiller, British actress (b. 1912)
- 2003 - Robert Stack, American actor (b. 1919)
- 2004 - Anna Lee, British actress (b. 1913)
- 2006 - Lew Anderson, American actor and bandleader (b. 1922)
- 2006 - Stanley Kunitz, American poet (b. 1905)
- 2006 - Eva Norvind, Mexican actress (b. 1944)
- 2007 - Mary Goldsmith, American ceramist (b. 1908)
- 2007 - Ülo Jõgi, Estonian freedom fighter (b. 1921)
