Historical Events
Event of Interest
May 17 Native American fighter General William T. Sherman escapes from the Comanches in an ambulance

William Tecumseh Sherman
Famous Birthdays
- May 4 Mynona, Polish writer (The Creator), born in Gołańcz, Poland (d. 1946)
- May 5 Alberto Cametti, Italian composer, born in Rome (d. 1935)
- May 6 August Reusner, German composer, born in Löwenberg, Silesia (d. 1935)
- May 6 Christian Morgenstern, German poet (Ich und die Welt), born in Munich (d. 1914)
- May 6 Victor Grignard, French chemist (Nobel 1912 - development of the Grignard reaction), born in Cherbourg, France (d. 1935)
- May 11 Frank Schlesinger, American astronomer (d. 1943)
- May 17 Henk Bremmer, Dutch art historian (Modern Kunstwerken), born in Leiden, Netherlands (d. 1956)
- May 18 Franiska [Franny] zu Reventlow, German writer and feminist, born in Husum, Germany (d. 1918)
- May 19 Reginald Aldworth Daly, Napanee Ontario, Canadian-American Geologist who independently developed the theory of magmatic stopping
- May 23 Sigurd Lie, Norwegian composer and conductor, born in Drammen (d. 1904)
- May 26 Camille Huysmans, Belgian premier (1946-47), born in Bilzen, Belgium (d. 1968)
- May 27 Georges Rouault, French expressionist painter (Miserere et Guerre), born in Paris (d. 1958)
- May 30 Olga Engl, Austrian actress (Phantom), born in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1946)
Famous Deaths
- May 7 Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian political reformer (Patriote movement), dies at 84
- May 11 John Herschel, English cataloguer of southern hemisphere stars, dies at 79
- May 12 Daniel François Esprit Auber, French opera composer (Fra Diavolo), dies at 89
- May 12 John F. W. Herschel, British astronomer (Catalogue of Nebulae), dies at 79
- May 24 Francisco Salvador Daniel, composer, dies at 40
- May 26 Aimé Maillart, French opera composer (Les Dragons de Villars), dies at 54