The following events occurred in May 1955:
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- In the UK, the Delph Donkey passenger train service is withdrawn from stations between Oldham and Delph.[2]
- Born: Ed Murray, American politician and 53rd mayor of Seattle
- Born: David Hookes, Australian cricketer, in Mile End, Adelaide (died 2004)
- West Germany becomes a sovereign country recognized by important Western foreign countries, such as France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
- Born: Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, in Adwa (died 2012)
- Japanese National Railways' ferry Shiun Maru sinks after a collision with sister ship Uko Maru in thick fog off Takamatsu, Shikoku, in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan; 166 passengers (many children) and two crew are killed. This event is influential in plans to construct the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge (built 1986–98).
- A shack in a Polish village of Wielopole Skrzyńskie, Subcarpathian Voivodeship housing a movie projection burned down killing 58 people, 48 of which were children. [pl][6][7]
- Died: Gilbert Jessop, 80, English cricketer.
- Famous Scientist Disappears' Carl Vernon Holmberg, Professor Carl Vernon Holmberg, a famous cellulose chemist mysteriously disappeared. Many critics are skeptical. Including his three sons. Stating that there were no symptoms, but More importantly, right before he vanished, he spoke to his wife about a breakthrough at work. Holmberg took much pride in his work. He never spoke to even his wife about exactly what he was working on, in the laboratory. Prof. Holmberg was famous for a good reason. He was one of the best chemists in the world. I can only guess what he was discovered in his lab before he vanished. Professor Holmberg Apparently, was found years later, his mind a blank. No memories of his previous life. Vernon Hasen was the name he made up for himself, he didn't know who he was. Only found due to A traffic stop that occurred years later. Hasen Yielded to authorities and reported he didn't have an I.D. That led to fingerprinting by the local police, in Rockford, Illinois. The FBI stepped in figuring out years later, and A long way away from New York, that he was the famous scientist, that went missing many years previously. He stated he could remember nothing sometimes he felt like he recognized landscapes or had been there before, Holmberg-Hanson remained in Illinois. He lived out the remainder of his life, finding a new wife. His memory was fine after the disappearance it's like he was reborn or brain wiped clean states an anonymous blood relative of Holmberg-Hanson he just couldn't recall the first 50 years of his life before his disappearance. Holmberg-Hasen's Ex-Wife remarried and Sons grew old, a family he wishes he knew, his mind a blank. We will never know what happened in those long three months or what really happened but it is apparent that some things are better left unknown for Verne Hansen or Professor Carl Vernon Holmberg he wasn't so lucky. the FBI claims it to be amnesia. Source Among the missing By Dan Chaon, other facts from an interview with one of his relatives(anonymous)[non sequitur][editorializing]
- New York's Third Avenue Elevated runs its last train between Chathem Square in Manhattan and East 149th Street in the Bronx, thus ending elevated train service in Manhattan.[8]
- Local elections are held in the UK cities of Leeds and Liverpool.[9]
- Eight Communist Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defence treaty in Warsaw, Poland, that is called the Warsaw Pact.[10] It will be dissolved in 1991.
- Born: Jonathan Robert De Mallie[who?], Historian, Philanthropist, Investment Banker;
- Died:
- The Austrian State Treaty, which restores Austria's national sovereignty, is concluded between the four occupying powers following World War II (the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and France) and Austria, setting it up as a neutral country.[12]
- Lufthansa begins its international service, with flights between West Germany and London, Paris, and Madrid.
- Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy become the first people to summit Makalu, the fifth-highest mountain in the world, on the 1955 French Makalu expedition. The entire team of climbers reach the summit over the next two days.[13]
- Dutch coaster Urmajo runs aground on the Goodwin Sands, Kent, United Kingdom. All ten crew are rescued by the Ramsgate lifeboat. They would later be returned to the ship which refloated on the next tide. Urmajo was towed into Ramsgate by the tug Ocean Cock.[15]
- Free movement of residents between North and South Vietnam ended.[16]
- Died: Mary McLeod Bethune, 79, US educator
- The Black Sash women's movement is founded in South Africa by Jean Sinclair, Ruth Foley, Elizabeth McLaren, Tertia Pybus, Jean Bosazza, and Helen Newton-Thompson.[17]
- As tensions in the Formosa Strait ease, the People's Republic of China releases four captured American fliers. It will release all other captured Americans over the summer.[24]
Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949–2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 157. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
"Ammar BELHIMER". Biographie (in French). Ministère de la communication. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
Semczuk, Przemysław (2011). Zatajone katastrofy PRL. Warsaw: Ringier Axel Springer Polska. pp. 39–45. ISBN 978-8375589214.
Paumgarten, Nick (July 4, 2011), "Looking for Someone", The New Yorker, p. 27, The demolition of the Third Avenue Elevated subway line set off a building boom and a white-collar influx.....
Isserman, Maurice; Weaver, Stewart (2008). "The Golden Age of Himalayan Climbing". Fallen Giants : A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes (1 ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 326. ISBN 9780300115017.
"10 Saved From Ship On Goodwins". The Times. No. 53224. London. 19 May 1955. col C, p. 6.
"Minesweeper Holed In Engine Room". The Times. No. 53234. London. 31 May 1955. col F, p. 6.
"Collier Aground Off Norfolk". The Times. No. 53234. London. 31 May 1955. col F, p. 6.
Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-09911-8, p. 621.