Famous Birthdays
- May 4 John Hanning Speke, British explorer, the first European to reach Lake Victoria in east Africa, born in Bideford, Devon (d. 1864)
- May 7 Francis Engle Patterson, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1862)
- May 11 Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (d. 1875)
- May 11 Septimus Winner, American songwriter (Listen To The Mockingbird), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1902)
- May 16 P.J.H. [Pierre] Cuypers, Dutch architect (Amsterdam Museum, Central station), born in Roermond, the Netherlands (d. 1921)
- May 19 Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French statesman (d. 1896)
- May 21 Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Russian reactionary lawyer and senator, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1907)
- May 21 William P. Sprague, American politician from Ohio (d. 1899)
- May 27 Samuel F. Miller, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York), born in Franklin, New York (d. 1892)
- May 29 Reuben Lindsay Walker, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Logan, Virginia (d. 1890)
Famous Weddings
Andrew Johnson
May 17 Future US President Andrew Johnson (18) weds Eliza McCardle (16) in Warrenton, Tennessee
Famous Deaths
- May 5 Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (1806-27), dies at 76
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies