Historical Events
- May 2 Uprising against French occupation begins in Madrid
The Third of May
May 3 Day depicted by Spanish painter Francisco Goya in his "The Third of May", painted 1814
- May 3 Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia
- May 3 Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose up on May 2 are fired upon near Príncipe Pío hill
Famous Birthdays
- May 15 Gottfried Herrmann, German violinist, organist, Kapellmeister, and composer, born in Sondershausen, Confederation of the Rhine (now Germany) (d. 1878)
- May 15 Michael William Balfe, Irish violinist and composer (The Bohemian Girl), born in Dublin (d. 1870)
- May 17 Charles-Louis-Adolphe Vogel, French composer (Les trois couleurs), born in Lille, France (d. 1892)
- May 19 Samuel Jameson Gholson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1883)
- May 22 Gérard de Nerval [Gérard Labrunie], French writer, born in Paris (d. 1855)
- May 30 Joaquim Casimiro Jr., Portuguese composer, born in Lisbon (d. 1862)
Famous Deaths
- May 5 Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist, dies at 50
- May 18 Elijah Craig, American minister and inventor, dies at 70
- May 18 Jacob Albright, German-American Christian leader, founder of Albright's People (Evangelical Association), dies at 49
- May 28 Richard Hurd, English bishop and writer (b. 1720)
