What Happened in May 1850

Historical Events

  • May 1 John Geary becomes 1st mayor of San Francisco
  • May 11 Work starts on 1st brick building in San Francisco
  • May 27 Mormon Temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, destroyed by tornado

Famous Birthdays

  • May 1 Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Governor General of Canada (1911-16), born in Buckingham Palace, London (d. 1942)
  • May 8 Ross Barnes, American baseball infielder (3×NA/NL batting champion 1872, 73, 76; 4×NA/NL runs scored leader; 4×NA/NL hits leader; Boston Red Stockings), born in Mount Morris, New York (d. 1915)
  • May 9 Edward Weston, English-born American electrical engineer who invented the portable voltmeter, born in Wolverhampton, England (d. 1936) [1]
  • May 10 Thomas Lipton, Scottish yachtsman (5-time America's Cup challenger) and tea merchant (Lipton Tea), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1931)
  • May 12 Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. statesman, born in Beverly, Massachusetts (d. 1924)
  • May 14 John Ware, American-Canadian black rancher and cowboy, born a slave in North Texas (d. 1905) [1]
  • May 16 Arthur Henry Mann, English organist and composer (Kings College Cambridge, Church of England Hymnal), born in Norwich, England (d. 1929)
  • May 17 Antonio Scontrino, Italian composer, born in Trapani, Italy (d. 1922)
  • May 18 Oliver Heaviside, English physicist (predicted ionosphere), born in London, England (d. 1925)
  • May 20 (Joseph) Eaton Faning, British organist and composer (The Vikings; Mock Turtles), born in Helston, Cornwall, England (d. 1927)
  • May 21 Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (d. 1914)
  • May 22 Johann Schrammel, Austrian composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1893)
  • May 24 Ernest Albert Waterlow, English water-color painter, born in London (d. 1919)
  • May 27 Thomas Neill Cream, Scottish-Canadian serial killer (Lambeth poisoner), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1892)

Famous Weddings

William Tecumseh Sherman

May 1 American Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman (30) weds Eleanor Boyle Ewing in Washington, D.C., until her death in 1888

Famous Deaths

  • May 9 Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physicist and chemist, dies at 71
  • May 24 Jane Porter, novelist (Scottish Chiefs), dies at 74