Historical Events
- May 5 City-wide fire burns for over 100 hours in Hamburg, Germany
- May 8 Versailles to Paris train catches fire; 50 die
- May 14 Illustrated London News; the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper, begins publication
- May 22 Farmers Lester Howe and Henry Wetsel discover Howe Caverns in New York state when they stumble upon a large gaping hole in the ground
Doppler Effect
May 25 Christian Doppler presents his idea, now known as the Doppler Effect (through the changing colors of binary stars), to the Royal Bohemian Society, Prague
Assassination Attempt on Queen Victoria
May 30 John Francis attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria
Famous Birthdays
- May 5 Johann Nepomuk Fuchs, Austrian composer, born in Frauental, Styria, Austrian Empire (d. 1899)
- May 7 Isla van Diest, Belgian physician, 1st female doctor and 1st female university graduate in Belgium, born in Louvain, Belgiun (d. 1916)
- May 8 Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist, born in Ribe, Denmark (d. 1909)
Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
May 12 French opera composer (Werther; Manon), born in Montaud, France
Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900)
May 13 British composer (The Golden Legend; Onward, Christian Soldiers), major-generally remembered for his comic operas with W.S. Gilbert (The Pirates of Penzance:, H.M.S Pinafore; The Mikado), born in London
Famous Deaths
- May 23 Jose de Espronceda y Delgado, Spanish revolutionary and poet (Cortes), dies of diphtheria at 34
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies