Historical Events
Byron Swims the Hellespont
May 3 English poet Lord Byron swims across the dangerous Hellespont Strait in Turkey (modern day Dardanelles)
- May 25 In the May Revolution, citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Spanish Viceroy Cisneros during Semana de Mayo
- May 25 The Primera Junta (local government) is established in Argentina
Famous Birthdays
- May 2 Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish waltz composer, and musical director (Tivoli Gardens, 1843-72), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1874)
- May 4 Alexander Walewski, French earl and Foreign Minister, born in Walewice, Warsaw, Poland (d. 1868)
- May 8 James Cooper, American lawyer, politician and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Frederick County, Maryland (d. 1863)
- May 9 Louis Gallait, Belgian historical painter (Egmont & Receiver), born in Tournai, Hainaut, Belgium (d. 1887)
- May 9 Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau and daughter of King Willem I, born in Berlin (d. 1883)
- May 10 James Shields, Irish-American politician and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Altmore, County Tyrone, Ireland (d. 1879)
- May 15 Jacob Thompson, (Confederacy), (d. 1885)
- May 23 Margaret Fuller [Ossoli], American feminist and journalist (NY Tribune), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1850)
- May 24 Abraham Geiger, German theologian and leader of Reform Judaism, born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1874)
- May 28 Alexandre Calamo, Swiss painter, etcher and lithographer (d. 1864)
- May 29 Erasmus Darwin Keyes, American banker, businessman and Major General (Union Army), born in Brinfield, Massachusetts (d. 1895)
- May 29 Solomon Meredith, American politician and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Guilford County, North Carolina (d. 1875)
- May 31 Horatio Seymour, American politician (18th Governor of New York), born in Onondaga, New York (d. 1886)
Famous Deaths
- May 2 Henry Jerome de Salis, English churchman, dies at 69
Benjamin Lincoln (1733-1810)
May 9 American military officer (Battles of Saratoga, Charleston and Yorktown during the American Revolutionary War), dies at 77
- May 21 Chevalier d'Éon [Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont], French spy, dies at 81
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies