May 1st 1555: Death of Marcellus II, who was Pope for only 22 days. Marcello Cervini degli Spanocchi was the last pope not to change his name on becoming pontiff. 1572: Death of Pope Pius V (r. 1566-72). May 3rd 1719: Death of the French sculptor Pierre Le Gros the Younger (b. 1666). 1758: Death of Pope Benedict XIV (r. 1740-58).
May 4th 1611: Birth of the architect Carlo Rainaldi (d. 1691).
May 6th 1527: Sack of Rome.
May 8th 1906: Birth of the film director Roberto Rossellini (d. 1977).
May 9th 1946: Abdication of Vittorio Emanuele III (r. 1900-46), the third king of Italy. 1978: Body of former prime minister Aldo Moro (b. 1916) found dead in the back of a car in Via Caetani. Moro had been assassinated by the Brigate Rosse (Red Brigades).
May 13th 34 BCE: Death of the historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus (b. 86 BCE), known in English as Sallust. 609: The ancient temple known as the Pantheon was consecrated as the church of Santa Maria ad Martyres. 1572: Election of Gregory XIII (r. 1572-85), the pope who corrected the Julian calendar. 1981: Attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II (r. 1978-2005) in St Peter's Square.
May 16th 1605: Election of Pope Paul V (r. 1605-21). 1679: Death of the painter and architect Pietro da Cortona (b. 1597), who is interred in the church of Santi Luca e Martina, which he designed.