Girish Karnad was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright, and Jnanpith awardee who worked primarily in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His success as a playwright in the 1960s heralded the arrival of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada, as Badal Sarkar did in Bengali, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi, and Mohan Rakesh in Hindi. He was the recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honour.

Earhart became the first woman, and the only person after Charles Lindbergh, to fly continuously and alone across the Atlantic on May 20–21, 1932. She took off from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, Canada, in this crimson Lockheed Vega and arrived 15 hours later in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The achievement made Earhart an immediate international star and demonstrated her bravery and ability as a pilot. Later that year, Earhart set another record with the Vega. On August 24–25, she flew solo, nonstop across the United States, from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in roughly 19 hours.

Jessica Marie Alba is a businesswoman and actress from the United States. She first appeared on television and in films at the age of 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994), and rose to prominence at the age of 19 as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel (2000–2002), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. While filming Fantastic Four in 2004, Alba met Cash Warren, son of actor Michael Warren. In May 2008, the couple married in Los Angeles.

A period when climbing Everest was uncrowded and unpolluted, when attempts were at the absolute edges of human endurance. After two failed efforts by the Indian Army, it was eventually on May 20, 1965, that an Indian walked upon the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, for the first time. He ascended the SE Ridge after successfully conquering the peak with Sherpa Nawang Gombu. At the time, he was a Captain in the Parachute Regiment, and he was eventually promoted to Colonel. Colonel Cheema received the Arjuna Award as well as the highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, for his great efforts.

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (March 3, 1839 – May 19, 1904) was a pioneering Indian industrialist who founded the Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate. Several polls and ranking lists named him the greatest philanthropist of the twentieth century, and he also founded the city of Jamshedpur. Jamshedji Tata is known as the "Father of Indian Industry." He was so powerful in the business world that Jawaharlal Nehru referred to him as a "One-Man Planning Commission."

Ho Ch Minh (born Nguyn Sinh Cung on May 19, 1890) was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. From 1945 to 1955, he was Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and from 1945 until his death in 1969, he was President. He was the Chairman and First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Vietnam and an ideological Marxist–Leninist.

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is a media mogul, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist from the United States. He is best known for co-founding Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), of which he is the chairman, CEO, and controlling shareholder. During his sophomore year at Harvard, Zuckerberg met his future wife, Priscilla Chan, at a frat party. They started dating in 2003. Chan, who was then a medical student at the University of California, San Francisco, moved into Zuckerberg's rented house in Palo Alto, California, in September 2010. They married in his backyard on May 19, 2012, as part of an event commemorating her medical school graduation.

The film, Shree Pundalik, was launched on this day in 1912, about a year before Dadasaheb Phalke's full-length film, Raja Harishchandra. Shree Pundalik was a silent film directed by Ram Chandra Gopal Torne, popularly known as Dadasaheb Torne; it was the very first Indian film created, despite the fact that the film negatives were transferred to London for processing. The film had no dialogue and was a silent picture with no sound.

Vasco da Gama (1460s – 24 December 1524) was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to sail to India. His first voyage to India via the Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to connect Europe and Asia via an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and thus the West and the Orient. Da Gama landed in Calicut on May 20, 1498, after decades of sailors attempting to reach the Indies, with thousands of lives and dozens of vessels lost in shipwrecks and attacks. Unrestricted access to the Indian spice routes boosted the Portuguese Empire's economy, which was previously based in northern and coastal West Africa.

Bipin Chandra Pal (7 November 1858 – 20 May 1932) was an Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer, and freedom fighter in the Indian independence movement. He was one of three members of the "Lal Bal Pal" triumvirate. Pal, along with Sri Aurobindo, was a key architect of the Swadeshi movement. He also opposed the British colonial government's partition of Bengal.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui was born in Budhana, Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh on May 19, 1974. He is an Indian model and actor. In 1999, he made his Bollywood debut in the film Sarfarosh, playing the part of a criminal. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is also well-known for his portrayal of Faizal Khan in Gangs of Wasseypur. Raat Akeli Hai and Bole Chudiyan are two of Nawazuddin Siddiqui's future films. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is widely regarded as one of the best performers in Indian cinema. He has appeared in almost 60 films. Nawazuudin has also appeared in a number of renowned Bollywood films, including Talaash, Paan Singh Tomar, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Raees, Kick, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and many others.

H.D. Devegowda served as India's 11th Prime Minister and the 14th Chief Minister of Karnataka. In 1996-97, he was Prime Minister, and in 1994-96, he was Chief Minister. In 1962, he ran for the Karnataka State Assembly for the first time. On behalf of the United Front, he was elected Prime Minister of India in 1996. He is the National President of the Janata Dal party and a member of the 16th Lok Sabha from Karnataka's Hassan seat. H. D. Deve Gowda was born on May 18, 1933, into a Vokkaliga caste family in Haradanahalli, a hamlet in the Holenarasipura Taluk of the former Kingdom of Mysore. Dodde Gowda, his father, was a paddy farmer, as was Devamma, his mother.

Meghan markle, Duchess of Sussex, is a former actress and American member of the British royal family. Markle was born in Los Angeles and raised there. Her acting career began while she was a student at Northwestern University. Her most recent and notable on-screen role was as Rachel Zane in the American television legal drama Suits, which she played for seven seasons (2011–2018). Markle began dating Prince Harry, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, in July 2016. The wedding took place on May 19 at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. Clare Waight Keller, a British designer, created her wedding gown.

Sarah Jessica Parker is most recognised for her role as Carrie Bradshaw in the HBO series Sex and the City, which is being revived. Carrie, her character, is constantly looking for love among New York's bachelors. Parker, on the other hand, quit seeking when she found love with actor Matthew Broderick. Parker and Broderick married on May 19, 1997. The pair married in secret at the Angel Orensanz Synagogue on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The marriage, performed by Broderick's minister sister Jane, was so unexpected that the 100 attendees believed they were attending a party and were surprised to learn it was a wedding. Parker donned a black gown, which was the most unusual feature of the wedding.

Ruskin Bond is a British-born Indian author. Aubrey Alexander Bond, his father, was a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer stationed in India. In Shimla, he attended Bishop Cotton School. In 1957, his first novel, The Room on the Roof, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. In 1992, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel in English, Our Trees Still Grow in the Dehra. Bond has written hundreds of short stories, essays, novels, and children's books. In 1999, he was awarded the Padma Shri, and in 2014, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. He lives in Landour, Mussoorie, with his adopted family.

Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) was Mahatma Gandhi's assassin. He was a Hindu nationalist from western India who shot Gandhi three times in the chest at point blank range on January 30, 1948, during a multi-faith prayer meeting at Birla House in New Delhi. Godse was a member of the Hindu Mahasabha political party; a former member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu paramilitary volunteer organisation; and a popularizer of his mentor Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's work, who had created the ideology of Hindutva and ridiculed the philosophy of nonviolence more than two decades earlier. During the partition of India in 1947, Godse believed Gandhi favoured the political demands of British India's Muslims.

On Friday, May 18, 2012, the Internet company Facebook, Inc. launched its first public offering (IPO). With a peak market value of more than $104 billion, the IPO was the largest in technology and one of the largest in Internet history. Prior to the official appraisal, the stock's target price progressively grew. The business was aiming for a value of $28 to $35 per share in early May. On Friday, May 18, 2012, trading was scheduled to commence at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. However, trade was delayed until 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time owing to NASDAQ exchange technical issues.

Malhar Rao Holkar (16 March 1693 – 20 May 1766) was a Maratha Empire noble subedar in modern-day India. He was one of the first officers, along with Ranoji Sindhia, to help spread Maratha rule to the northern states, and he was given the estate of Indore to rule by the Peshwas during the reign of Maratha emperor Shahu I. He died on May 20, 1766, in Alampur. Khanderao Holkar's only son had already died in 1754 during the seizure of Kumher by the Jat maharaja Suraj Mal of Bharatpur State.

Nicholas was born on May 18, 1868, to Russian Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna. He had Russian, Danish, French, and German ancestors. Nicholas II, Russia's last Tsar, was a notorious ruler who was executed at the age of 50. Nicholas, who ascended to the throne at the age of 26 following the sudden death of his father, proved to be an inept monarch for Russia's huge and spreading empire. During this period, Empress Alexandra was in charge, and she relied heavily on Grigori Rasputin, a magician, healer, and counsellor. Many ministers resigned, and the Empress picked individuals on the recommendation of Rasputin to replace them.

Sushmita Sen (born November 19, 1975) is an Indian actress, model, and Miss Universe 1994 winner. She is the first Indian woman to win the Miss Universe title. At the age of 18, she was crowned Femina Miss India 1994. She has worked as a film actress since winning the Miss Universe pageant. Sen won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the comedy Biwi No.1, and she was also nominated for her roles in the dramas Sirf Tum and Filhaal. Aankhen, Main Hoon Na, and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya? are among her commercially successful films.

AMS-02, which was installed on May 19, 2011, was originally intended to function for only three years. The data from these studies helps scientists comprehend whether cosmic dark matter and antimatter exist in huge amounts in the cosmos, as well as the genesis and spread of cosmic ray particles in our Milky Way galaxy. These findings may also aid scientists in better understanding the radiation hazards associated with future crew trips to the Moon and Mars, as some cosmic rays can be detrimental to humans. AMS-02 has acquired data from almost 175 billion cosmic ray occurrences over its lifespan. According to NASA's AMS Project Manager Ken Bollweg, data gathered by AMS-02 is thoroughly filtered, with less than one of 1,000 occurrences initially recorded being retained.

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, paving the way for widespread European exploration and colonisation of the Americas. He was born between 25 August and 31 October 1451 and died on 20 May 1506. His expeditions were the first European contacts with the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, and were sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain.