| 56851 | May.18 | Birth | 1905 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1943) |
| 56852 | May.18 | Birth | 1907 – Irene Hunt, American author and educator (d. 2001) |
| 56853 | May.18 | Birth | 1907 – Lincoln Stedman, American actor (d. 1948) |
| 56854 | May.18 | Birth | 1909 – Fred Perry, English-Australian tennis player and academic (d. 1995) |
| 56855 | May.18 | Birth | 1910 – Ester Boserup, Danish economist and author (d. 1999) |
| 56856 | May.18 | Birth | 1911 – Big Joe Turner, American singer (d. 1985) |
| 56857 | May.18 | Birth | 1912 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1992) |
| 56858 | May.18 | Birth | 1912 – Perry Como, American singer and actor (d. 2001) |
| 56859 | May.18 | Birth | 1912 – Walter Sisulu, South African politician (d. 2003) |
| 56860 | May.18 | Birth | 1913 – Jane Birdwood, Baroness Birdwood, Canadian-English publisher and politician (d. 2000) |
| 56861 | May.18 | Birth | 1913 – Mary Howard de Liagre, American actress and singer (d. 2009) |
| 56862 | May.18 | Birth | 1913 – Charles Trenet, French singer-songwriter (d. 2001) |
| 56863 | May.18 | Birth | 1914 – Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer, founded Balmain (d. 1982) |
| 56864 | May.18 | Birth | 1914 – Boris Christoff, Bulgarian-Italian opera singer (d. 1993) |
| 56865 | May.18 | Birth | 1914 – Robert J. Wilke, American actor (d. 1989) |
| 56866 | May.18 | Birth | 1917 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (d. 1973) |
| 56867 | May.18 | Birth | 1918 – Massimo Girotti, Italian actor (d. 2003) |
| 56868 | May.18 | Birth | 1919 – Margot Fonteyn, English-Panamanian ballerina and academic (d. 1991) |
| 56869 | May.18 | Birth | 1920 – Pope John Paul II (d. 2005) |
| 56870 | May.18 | Birth | 1920 – Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer and actress (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 2012) |
| 56871 | May.18 | Birth | 1921 – Michael A. Epstein, English pathologist and academic |
| 56872 | May.18 | Birth | 1922 – Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian-English psychologist and academic (d. 2005) |
| 56873 | May.18 | Birth | 1922 – Bill Macy, American actor |
| 56874 | May.18 | Birth | 1922 – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (d. 1983) |
| 56875 | May.18 | Birth | 1923 – Jean-Louis Roux, Canadian actor and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013) |
| 56876 | May.18 | Birth | 1923 – Hugh Shearer, Jamaican journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2004) |
| 56877 | May.18 | Birth | 1924 – Priscilla Pointer, American actress |
| 56878 | May.18 | Birth | 1925 – Lillian Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 1998) |
| 56879 | May.18 | Birth | 1926 – Dirch Passer, Danish actor, singer, and producer (d. 1980) |
| 56880 | May.18 | Birth | 1927 – Richard Body, English politician |