Birthday wishes go out to American singer-songwriter Billy Joel (1949).
In 2012, an airplane crashes into Mount Salak in West Java, Indonesia, killing all 45 people on board.
May 10
See veteran Australian pop singer Olivia Newton John return to Bangkok for a concert. The show starts at 8 pm at Royal Paragon Hall, Siam Paragon. Tickets are 2,500 to 5,500 baht from Thai Ticketmajor. For more information, call 02 262 3456.
In 1975, Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder in Japan.
May 11
Until June 30 at Kathmandu Photo Gallery on Pan Road, see My Daughters, an exhibition by photographer H.H. Capor, who poses for portraits with girls that he imagines could resemble his now adult long-lost daughter. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 11 am to 6 pm. For more details call 02 234 6700.
In 1997, Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player.
May 12
Happy Birthday to American professional skateboarder and actor Tony Hawk (1968).
In 2008, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake occurs in Sichuan, China, killing more than 69,000 people.
May 13
In 1966, English rock band the Kinks record their hit single "Sunny Afternoon." In 2006, Pitchfork Media places the song at No. 200 on its list of the 200 greatest songs of the 1960s.
In 1989, around 300,000 students occupy Beijing's Tiananmen Square and start a hunger strike as part of a pro-democracy protest.
May 14
In 1973, Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.
In 1925, Virginia Woolf's famous novel Mrs Dalloway is published.
May 15
In 1940, the first McDonald's restaurant opens in San Bernardino, California.
In 2010, 16-year-old Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted, around the world.
