- May 15 Stephen Heller, Hungarian composer and pianist, born in Pest (d. 1888)
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
May 22 German composer, noted chiefly for his operas (The Ring of the Nibelung; The Flying Dutchman), born in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
May 22 German composer, noted chiefly for his operas (The Ring of the Nibelung; The Flying Dutchman), born in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany