Historical Events
- May 5 The British and Foreign Society for Improving the Embossed Literature of the Blind adopts Braille as best format for blind people
- May 10 Jem Mace & defends his heavyweight crown against Irish champ Joe Coburn, it lasts 1 hr & 17 minutes, & neither is struck by a punch
- May 12 Royal assent passes Manitoba Act of 1870, approving Manitoba becoming a province of Canada
- May 20 Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament abolishes capital punishment in The Netherlands
- May 24 Memoria of Jackson Kemper, 1st Missionary Bishop in US
- May 25 Irish Fenians raid Eccles Hill, Quebec
- May 31 Congress passes 1st Enforcement Act (rights of blacks)
- May 31 E. J. DeSemdt patents asphalt pavement
Famous Birthdays
Amadeo Giannini (1870-1949)
May 6 American banker and entrepreneur (founded Bank of America), born in San Jose, California
- May 6 John T. McCutcheon, American cartoonist (Pulitzer Prize-1931), born in South Raub, Tippecanoe County, Indiana (d. 1949)
Harry Vardon (1870-1937)
May 9 Jersey golfer (6 time British Open champion, US Open 1900), born in Grouville, Jersey
- May 14 Zygmunt Stojowski, Polish-American concert pianist, composer, and pedagogue, born near Kielce, Russian Empire (now Poland) (d. 1946)
- May 19 Albert Fish, American serial killer (d. 1936)
- May 19 Nishida Kitarō, Japanese philosopher (Kyoto School), born in Unoke, Japan (d. 1945)
- May 24 Benjamin N. Cardozo, American lawyer and jurist, born in New York City (d. 1938)
Jan Smuts (1870-1950)
May 24 Prime Minister of South Africa (1919-24, 1939-48), military leader (Boer War, WWI, Smuts Report that led to the RAF) and internationalist statesman (Commonwealth, League of Nations, United Nations), born in Bovenplaats, Cape Colony, British Empire
- May 27 Lionel Palairet, British cricket batsman (2 Tests; Somerset CCC, Oxford Uni CC), born in Grange-over-Sands, Lancashire, England (d. 1933)
