Editing 1990 (section)

===May===
* [[May 1]] – The former [[Episcopal Church in the Philippines]] (supervised by the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]]) is granted full autonomy and raised to the state of an Autocephalous [[Anglican province]] and renamed the [[Episcopal Church of the Philippines]].
* [[May 2]] – In London, a man brandishing a knife robs a courier of [[bearer bond]]s worth £292 million (the second largest [[robbery|mugging]] to date).
* [[May 2]]–[[May 4|4]] – First talks between the government of South Africa and the [[African National Congress]].
* [[May 4]] – [[Singing Revolution]]: The [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Latvian SSR]] declares independence from the [[Soviet Union]].
* [[May 8]]
** [[Singing Revolution]]: The [[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonian SSR]] restores the formal name of the country, the Republic of Estonia, as well as other national emblems ([[Coat of arms of Estonia|the coat of arms]], [[Flag of Estonia|the flag]] and [[Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm|the anthem]]).
** [[Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier]] assumes office as [[President of Costa Rica]].
* [[May 9]] – In South Korea, police battle anti-government protesters in [[Seoul]] and two other cities.
* [[May 13]]
** In the [[Philippines]], gunmen kill two [[United States Air Force]] airmen near [[Clark Air Base]] on the eve of talks between the Philippines and the United States over the future of American military bases in the Philippines.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Drogin|first=Bob|date=1990-05-14|title=2 U.S. Airmen Killed at Base in Philippines : Military: The shootings, believed to be the work of Communist rebels, come on the eve of talks on the future of American bases.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-14-mn-127-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-11-17|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425093643/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-14-mn-127-story.html |archive-date=April 25, 2019 }}</ref>
** The [[Dinamo–Red Star riot]] took place at [[Stadion Maksimir]] in [[Zagreb]], [[Croatia]] between the [[Bad Blue Boys]] (fans of [[GNK Dinamo Zagreb]]) and the [[Delije]] (fans of [[Red Star Belgrade]]).
* [[May 15]]
** [[Singing Revolution]]: The pro-[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Intermovement]] attempts to take power in [[Tallinn]], [[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonia]], but are forced down by local Estonians.
** ''[[Portrait of Dr. Gachet]]'' by [[Vincent van Gogh]] is sold for a record [[List of most expensive paintings|$82.5 million]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/mysteries/portrait.htm |title=Van Gogh's vanishing act |author=Kleiner, Carolyn |date=July 24, 2000 |work=Mysteries of History |publisher=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=2011-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208063600/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/mysteries/portrait.htm |archive-date=December 8, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[May 17]] – The [[World Health Organization]] removes [[homosexuality]] from its list of diseases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/546 |title=May 17th is the Intl Day Against Homophobia |work=ILGA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704014026/http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/546 |archive-date=July 4, 2014 }}</ref>
* [[May 18]] – [[German reunification]]: [[East Germany]] and [[West Germany]] sign a treaty to merge their economic and social systems, effective July 1.
* [[May 19]] – The US and the USSR agree to end production of [[chemical weapon]]s and to destroy most of their stockpiles of chemical weapons.
* [[May 20]] – [[Cold War (1985–1991)|Cold War]]: The first [[Post-communism|post-Communist]] presidential and parliamentary elections are held in [[Romania]].
* [[May 21]] – In [[Kashmir]], a Kashmiri Islamic leader is assassinated and Indian security forces open fire on mourners carrying his body, killing at least 47 people.
* [[May 22]]
** [[Cold War (1985–1991)|Cold War]]: The leaders of the [[Yemen Arab Republic]] and the [[South Yemen|People's Democratic Republic of Yemen]] announce the [[Yemeni unification|unification]] of their countries as the [[Yemen|Republic of Yemen]].
* [[May 27]]
** In the [[1990 Myanmar general election|Burmese general election]], [[Myanmar|Burma]]'s first multiparty election in 30 years, the [[National League for Democracy]] led by [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] wins in a landslide, but the [[State Peace and Development Council|State Law and Order Restoration Council]] nullifies the election results.
** In the [[1990 Colombian presidential election|Colombian presidential election]], [[César Gaviria]] is elected [[President of Colombia]]; he takes office on August 7.
* [[May 28]] – [[1990 Arab League summit (Baghdad)|1990 Arab League summit]]: Saddam Hussein receives the emir of Kuwait for a diplomatic visit, at a time where his country and its decent oil revenues were being pushed into bankruptcy by Kuwait's lowering of the price of oil. A dictator with ambitions, Saddam wanted to continue increasing his military strength, and so confronted Kuwait instead. After the public events, Hussein invited Arab leaders to a private meeting. Here, he threatened war on Kuwait unless Kuwait stopped lowering the price of oil, recalls then-Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
* [[May 29]]
** [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] arrives in [[Ottawa]] for a 29-hour visit.
** [[Boris Yeltsin]] is elected as the first ever elected president of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]].
** [[European Bank for Reconstruction and Development]] (EBRD) is founded.
* [[May 30]] – [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] begin a [[Washington Summit (1990)|four-day summit]] meeting in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gorbachev-arrives-in-washington-for-summit|title=Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Washington for a summit|website=HISTORY|date=November 13, 2009 |access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=August 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815193245/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gorbachev-arrives-in-washington-for-summit|url-status=live}}</ref>