What Happened in May 1883

Historical Events

May 24 Brooklyn Bridge opened by President Chester A. Arthur and NY Governor Grover Cleveland

May 27 Alexander III crowned Tsar of Russia in Moscow

May 30 Stampede caused by a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge was going to collapse kills 12
May 31 French fleet under Pierre begins siege of Tamatave, Madagascar

May 5 Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, British general, born in Colchester, Essex, England (d. 1950)
May 5 Charles "Chief" Bender, American Baseball HOF pitcher (only indigenous American in BHOF; World Series 1910, 11, 13; no-hitter 1910; Philadelphia A's), born in Crow Wing County, Minnesota (d. 1954)
May 5 Léopold Samuel, Belgian composer, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1975)
May 5 Petar Konjović, Serbian composer, born in Čurug, Serbia (d. 1970)
May 6 José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher and author (The Revolt of the Masses), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 1955)
May 6 Victor Neuberg, English poet and publisher (discovered Dylan Thomas), born in London, England (d. 1940)
May 7 Gino Roncaglia, Italian composer, born in Modena, Italy (d. 1968)
May 7 Martin Albertz, German theologist (Jesus Christ's Church) and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime, born in Halle, Province of Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia (now Germany) (d. 1956)

May 13 Greek-American doctor, cytopathologist, and inventor of the Pap smear, born in Kymi, Greece

May 13 Henk Sneevliet, Dutch Communist, editor (Spartacus) and WWII resistance fighter, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1942)
May 14 Jan Olieslagers, Belgian aviation and motorcycle pioneer (WWI flying ace, Antwerp Devil), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1942)
May 14 Julian Eltinge [Dalton], American vaudeville, Broadway, and silent film female impersonator star (The Crinoline Girl), born in Newtownville, Massachusetts (d. 1941)
May 15 Stanley Marchant, English composer, born in London (d. 1949)
May 18 Walter Gropius, German architect (founder of the Bauhaus school), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1969)
May 19 Henricus W. J. M. Keuls, Dutch lawyer and poet (Dancing Lamp), born in Obdam, Netherlands (d. 1968)
May 20 Faisal I of Iraq, King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria (1920–1933) & King of Iraq (1921–1933), born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (d. 1933)
May 20 Paul Arntzenius, Dutch painter, graphic artist and etcher, born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1965)

May 23 American actor (The Mark of Zorro, 3 Musketeers, Robin Hood), born in Denver, Colorado

May 25 Elsa Maxwell, American writer (Jack Paar Show), born in Keokuk, Iowa (d. 1963)
May 26 Mamie Smith, American vaudeville singer, dancer and actress (Crazy Blues), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1946)
May 28 Clough Williams-Ellis, British architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales, born in Gayton, Northamptonshire, England (d. 1978)
May 28 George Dyson, British organist and composer (The Canterbury Pilgrims), born in Halifax, Yorkshire, England (d. 1964)
May 28 Luigi Perrachio, Italian pianist, composer (Nove Poemetti; 25 Preludi), and pedagogue (Liceo Musicale Torino), born in Turin, Italy (d. 1966)
May 28 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian independence activist and writer (The Indian War of Independence), born in Bhagur, India (d. 1966)
May 29 William Beatton Moonie, Scottish composer (The Weird of Colbar; Echoes of Perthshire), born in Stobo, Pebbleshire (d. 1961)
May 30 Riccardo Zandonai, Italian composer, born in Borgo Sacco, Rovereto, Austria-Hungary (d. 1944)
May 31 Lauri Kristian Relander, 2nd President of Finland (1925-31), born in Kurkijoki, Finland (d. 1942)

May 7 US Senator Albert B. Fall (21) weds Emma Garland Morgan in Clarksville, Texas

May 16 Ferdinand de Braekeleer the Elder, Belgian painter of genre scenes, dies at 91
May 17 Lydia Estes Pinklham, patent-medicine manufacturer, dies
May 20 William Chambers, Scottish author and publisher (Basis of Communication & Coding), dies at 83
May 23 Cyprian Norwid, Polish painter, poet and playwright (Wanda), dies at 61
May 24 Abdel Kadir, Algerian leader (b. 1808)
May 26 Abdelkader El Djezairi, Algerian leader, scholar and national hero (b.1808)
May 26 Edward Sabine, Irish astronomer (b. 1788)
May 28 August Freyer, Polish organist (Warsaw Evangelical Church, 1837-83), composer, and pedagogue, dies at 81
May 29 Marianne, Princess of the Netherlands, wife of Prince Albert of Prussia (dissolved 1849), Dutch unconventional princess who left her marriage, dies at 73
May 29 Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau and daughter of King Willem I, dies at 73