Historical Events
- May 9 Britain sends fleet to the Mediterranean Sea & West Indies
Aldersgate Day
May 24 John Wesley is converted, launching the Methodist movement; celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day
Famous Birthdays
- May 4 Josef Kohaut, Czech composer, born in Žatec, Czech Republic (d. 1777)
- May 8 Mikhail Kamensky, Russian field marshal, born in Russian Empire (d. 1809)
- May 9 John Wolcot, English satirist (Peter Pindar), baptized in Dodbrooke, Kingsbridge, Devon (d. 1819)
- May 27 Bonaventura Furlanetto, Italian composer, born in Venice (d. 1817)
- May 27 Nathaniel Gorham, American politician (6th President of the Confederation Congress), born in Charlestown, Massachusetts (d. 1796)
- May 28 Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician and freemason who proposed and became the namesake of the guillotine, born in Saintes, France (d. 1814)
Famous Deaths
- May 1 Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, English statesman (b. c. 1669)
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