Historical Events
- May 11 In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth, lead an expedition westwards from Sydney. Their route opens up inland Australia for continued expansion throughout the 19th century.
El Libertador
May 23 South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador ("The Liberator")
Famous Birthdays
- May 5 Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1855)
- May 6 Joseph Tarr Copeland, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in New Castle, Maine (d. 1893)
- May 10 Montgomery Blair, American lawyer (Dred Scott v. Sandford), born in Franklin County, Kentucky (d. 1883)
- May 12 Johann Czerski, German clergyman, founded German Catholicism, born in Warlubien, West Prussia (d. 1893)
- May 15 Stephen Heller, Hungarian composer and pianist, born in Pest (d. 1888)
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
May 22 German composer, noted chiefly for his operas (The Ring of the Nibelung; The Flying Dutchman), born in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
- May 23 Mason Brayman, American attorney, newspaperman and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1895)
