Historical Events
- May 6 Suriname sold to Great Britain (until Feb 1816)
Appointment of Interest
May 10 British Prime Minister Henry Addington resigns, replaced by William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger
Henry Addington
Historic Expedition
May 14 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's expedition commissioned by Thomas Jefferson sets out from St Louis for Pacific Coast
Meriwether Lewis
Thomas Jefferson
William Clark
Napoléon Bonaparte
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov, Russian poet, born in Moscow (d. 1860) [NS 13/05]
- May 5 Jacob Kats, Flemish writer (Earthly Paradise), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1886)
- May 12 Robert Baldwin, (L) help establish government in Canada (or 1904)
- May 16 Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, American educator, founder of first English-language kindergarten in the US, born in Billerica, Massachusetts (d. 1894)
- May 17 Ottho Gerhard Heldring, Dutch preacher and reformer (Heldring Institutions), born in Zevenaar, Netherlands (d. 1876)
- May 22 John William Livingston, American Commander (Union Navy), born in NYC, New York (d. 1885)
- May 31 Louise Farrenc, French pianist, composer and only female professor at the Paris Conservatory during the 19th century, born in Paris (d. 1875)
Famous Deaths
- May 24 Simon Style, Fries medical/writer, dies at 73
