Historical Events
- May 6 Chinese Exclusion Act: US Congress ceases Chinese immigration
Epping Forest
May 6 Epping Forest, England, dedicated by Queen Victoria
- May 6 Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed and killed during the Phoenix Park Murders in Dublin
- May 8 David Belasco's "La Belle Russe" premieres in NYC
- May 9 Telegraph Hill RR Co (Cable Cars) in San Francisco organized
- May 13 Toba indians kill 20 members of French expedition in Argentina, including explorer Jules Nicolas Crevaux
May Laws
May 15 May Laws: Russian Tsar Alexander III bans Jews from living in rural Romania
- May 16 8th Kentucky Derby: Babe Hurd aboard Apollo wins in 2:40.00
Triple Alliance Signed
May 20 Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy sign the Triple Alliance
- May 20 Gotthard rail tunnel between Switzerland & Italy opens
Ghosts
May 20 Henrik Ibsen's play "Ghosts" (Gengangere) premieres in Chicago
Famous Birthdays
- May 4 Wilhelm Lehmann, German writer, born in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (d. 1968)
- May 5 Douglas Mawson, Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and educator, born in Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England (d. 1958)
- May 5 Sylvia Pankhurst, English feminist and suffragette, born in Old Trafford, Manchester, England (d. 1960)
- May 6 Georgi Atanasov, Bulgarian composer (Gergana), born in Plovdiv (d. 1931)
- May 6 Wilhelm, the last Crown Prince of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, born in Marmorpalais, Potsdam, German Empire (d. 1951)
- May 7 Willem Elsschot [Alfons Josephus de Ridder], Flemish writer (Mend), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1960)
- May 8 Philips Christiaan Visser, Dutch explorer and diplomat (Karakoram mountains), born in Schiedam, Netherlands (d. 1955)
- May 9 George Barker, American portrait and landscape painter, born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1965)
Henry J. Kaiser (1882-1967)
May 9 American ship builder and industrialist (Liberty Ships, Jeep, Boulder/Hoover Dam; Kaiser Broadcasting), born in Sprout Brook, New York
- May 10 Thurston Hall, American actor (Roaming Lady, In Society), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1958)
- May 11 Joseph Marx, Austrian composer and music critic, born in Graz, Austria (d. 1964)
- May 12 Kyrylo Stetsenko, Ukrainian composer (Burlaka), choral conductor, music critic, teacher, and later, Ukrainian Orthodox priest, born in Kvitkiv, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) (d. 1922)
- May 13 Georges Braque, French cubist painter and sculptor (My bicycle) who helped develop Cubism with Pablo Picasso, born in Argenteuil, Val-d'Oise (d. 1963)
- May 18 Charles "Babe" Adams, American MLB baseball pitcher, 1906-26 (1 game with St. Louis Cardinals; Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Tipton, Indiana (d. 1968)
- May 18 Eduardo Fabini, Uruguayan composer, born in Solís de Mataojo, Uruguay (d. 1950)
- May 19 Mohammed Mosaddeq, Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1967)
- May 20 Sigrid Undset, Danish-born Norwegian writer (Kristin Lavransdatter, Nobel Prize for Literature 1928), born in Kalundborg, Denmark (d. 1949)
- May 21 Georgine M "May" Basting, actress (Occupier, Hostage Rights of Aemstel), (d. 1950)
- May 23 James Gleason, American writer and actor (Bishop's Wife, Flying Fool), born in New York City (d. 1959)
- May 25 Harry Fox [Arthur Carringford], American vaudeville dancer, comedian and actor (Talent Scout), born in Pomona, California (d. 1959)
- May 25 Marie Doro, American stage and film actress of the early silent film era (The Heart of Nora Flynn, The White Pearl), born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania (d. 1956)
- May 29 Doris Ulmann, American photographer best known for her portraits of the people of Appalachia, born in New York City (d. 1934)
- May 30 Wyndham Halswelle, British athlete (Olympic gold 400m 1908), born in London, England (d. 1915)
- May 31 Sándor Graf Festetics, Hungarian nobleman and politician, born in Dég, Fejér county, Hungary (d. 1956)
Famous Deaths
- May 6 Lord Frederick Cavendish, English politician who was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland in May 1882 and murdered only hours after his arrival in Dublin, dies at 45
- May 6 Thomas Henry Burke, assassinated by Fenian Invincibles, in Dublin
- May 13 Jules Nicolas Crevaux, French naval doctor and explorer (French Guiana and the Amazon), murdered on the Pilcomayo River at 35
- May 29 Vasily Perov, Russian painter (b. 1833)
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies