What Happened in May 1820

Historical Events

May 11 Launch of HMS Beagle, the ship that would later take a young Charles Darwin on his famous scientific voyage

May 4 Joseph Whitaker, British publisher (Whitaker's Almanack), born in London (d. 1895)
May 4 Julia Gardiner Tyler, 2nd wife of President John Tyler (1841-45), born in Gardiners Island, New York (d. 1889)

May 12 Florence Nightingale, British nurse (revolutionized nursing during the Crimean War), born in Florence, Italy (d. 1910)

May 22 Alexander Fesca, German pianist and composer, born in Karlsruhe, Germany (d. 1849)
May 23 James Buchanan Eads, American engineer and inventor (Eads Bridge-St Louis), born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana (d. 1887)
May 23 Lorenzo Sawyer, 9th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California, born in Le Roy, New York (d. 1891)
May 27 Mathilde Bonaparte, French princess (daughter of Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte and his second wife, Catharina of Württemberg, daughter of King Frederick I of Württemberg) and socialite, born in Trieste, Italy (d. 1904)
May 28 Willem Doorenbos, Dutch literary and critic, born in Deersum, Netherlands (d. 1906)
May 30 Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, French Canadian politician (1st Premier of Quebec), born in Charlesbourg, Quebec (d. 1890)