In a three-match contest all square at 1-1, West Indies ended the second day of the third Test on 93 for three in their second innings — a lead of just 22 runs.
Anderson had stumps figures of two for 17 in nine overs.
Shai Hope, West Indies’ batting star this series, was 35 not out and Roston Chase three not out.
After Ben Stokes (60) and Stuart Broad (38) had given England a valuable first-innings lead of 71, it was Anderson who fittingly made the breakthrough.
Starting West Indies’ second innings on 499 Test wickets, it took the 35-year-old just 12 deliveries to become only the sixth bowler and third paceman with 500 when he bowled Kraigg Brathwaite for four with a superb inswinger.
Anderson, arms outstretched in celebration, ran down the pitch before being engulfed by his joyful teammates.
As a capacity crowd at Lord’s rose to give Anderson a standing ovation, he acknowledged their applause by showing them the ball with which he had made history.
Anderson, in his 129th match at this level, had seen his Test career come full circle after making is debut at Lord’s against Zimbabwe in 2003 — a match where he took five wickets in his first innings.
Brathwaite’s wicket meant Anderson was the only active cricketer in a 500 club containing the spin trio of Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800 Test wickets), Australia’s Shane Warne (708), India’s Anil Kumble (619).
He was the third paceman to the milestone, with Australia’s Glenn McGrath (563) and West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh (519), in common with their other 500 club stars, having long since retired.
West Indies were now six for one and that became 21 for two when Kyle Hope, Shai’s older brother, saw his miserable series end when he was lbw to Broad for one.
Stokes was on a hat-trick after taking two wickets in two balls at the end of the tourists first innings.
Kieran Powell, dropped on two, denied him that prize.
But there was nothing Powell, who made a fine 45, could do when Anderson, from around the wicket, produced an unplayable delivery that speared in towards the left-hander’s stumps only move away late off a full length and clip the off bail.
West Indies were now 69 for three — still two runs behind and with plenty of overs left in an extended third session under the floodlights after rain earlier in the day.
Shai Hope, whose twin hundreds — his first in Test cricket — had done so much to secure a series-levelling win at Headingley — again showed his class when he cover-drove Stokes for four after making a stylish 29 in difficult, overcast conditions during West Indies’ first innings 123.
England, finished on 194 all out after resuming on their overnight 46 for four.
Stokes, fresh from his Test-best bowling figures of six for 22 on Thursday, top-scored in a 74 ball-innings featuring 10 fours.
Kemar Roach took five for 72, with West Indies captain and fellow seamer Jason Holder following up with four for 54.
But it might have been a very different story when, just two balls into the second session Stokes, on 24, edged Shannon Gabriel only for Brathwaite to drop a tough chance as he dived far to his left at second slip.
Brathwaite had to go for the catch as there was no third slip.
Next ball saw Holder reinforce his slip cordon but, as if to underline the error, Stokes celebrated his reprieve by driving Gabriel down the ground for four.
West Indies then negated the swing on offer in overcast conditions by bowling too short to tailender Broad, who carved Roach for two sixes before he was last man out.
SCORECARD
West Indies 1st Inn 123
England 1st Inn (o/n 46-4)
A. Cook c Dowrich b Roach 10
M. Stoneman c Dowrich b Roach 1
T. Westley lbw b Holder 8
J. Root c Powell b Holder 1
D. Malan c Dowrich b Roach 20
B. Stokes b Gabriel 60
J. Bairstow lbw b Roach 21
M. Ali c K Hope b Roach 3
T. Roland-Jones c S Hope b Holder 13
S. Broad c Dowrich b Holder 38
J. Anderson not out 8
Extras (lb4, nb7) 11
Total (all out, 52.5 overs, 267 mins) 194
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Stoneman), 2-15 (Cook), 3-19 (Westley), 4-24 (Root), 5-63 (Malan), 6-119 (Bairstow), 7-128 (Stokes), 8-134 (Ali), 9-163 (Roland-Jones), 10-194 (Broad)
Bowling: Roach 24-8-72-5; Gabriel 15-1-64-1 (6nb); Holder 13.5-1-54-4 (1nb)
West Indies 2nd Inn
K. Brathwaite b Anderson 4
K. Powell b Anderson 45
K. Hope lbw b Broad 1
S. Hope not out 35
R. Chase not out 3
Extras (lb5) 5
Total (3 wkts, 31 overs, 148 mins) 93
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Brathwaite), 2-21 (K Hope), 3-69 (Powell)
Bowling: Anderson 9-2-17-2; Broad 8-2-25-1; Roland-Jones 6-2-17-0; Stokes 8-2-29-0
