Historical Events
- May 8 US passes 1st foreign aid bill, authorizing up to $50K to assist victims of Caracas, Venezuela earthquake of March 26
British PM Assassinated
May 11 British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London. Ironically, descendants of both later stand for the same seat in Parliament at the same time but neither win.
- May 11 Waltz introduced into English ballrooms; some observers consider it disgusting and immoral
Perceval Assassin Hung
May 18 John Bellingham, a Liverpool merchant who assassinated British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval on May 11, is hung for the crime at the Old Bailey in London
Famous Birthdays
- May 6 Martin Delany, African-American abolitionist and physician (1st African American major in US Army), born in Charles Town, Virginia (d. 1885)
- May 12 Edward Lear, English landscape painter and poet (Complete Nonsense Book), born in London, England (d. 1888)
- May 12 Louis Ludwig Blenker, German-American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Worms, Germany (d. 1863)
- May 14 Emilie Mayer, German composer of Romantic music, born in Friedland, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Swedish Pomerania (now Germany) (d. 1883)
- May 17 Joseph Warren Revere, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1880)
- May 19 Felix Zollicoffer, American journalist and Confederate Brigadier General who was killed in the Battle of Mill Springs, born in Maury County, Tennessee (d. 1862)
- May 20 Gustav Mankell, Moravian-Swedish organist and composer, born in Christiansfeld, Denmark (d. 1880)
- May 23 Henri-François-Alphonse Esquiros, French poet and writer (Les Vierges Folles), born in Paris (d. 1876)
- May 30 John Alexander McClernand, American politician and Major General (Union Army), born in Breckinridge County, Kentucky (d. 1900)
Famous Deaths
Spencer Perceval (1762-1812)
May 11 British statesman and Prime Minister (Tory: 1809-12), assassinated by John Bellingham at 49
- May 13 Johann Matthias Sperger, Austrian double bassist and composer, dies at 62
John Bellingham (1769-1812)
May 18 English merchant who assassinated British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval, executed by hanging at 42 or 43
- May 21 Joseph Wolfl, Austrian composer, dies at 38
