- May 4 Matthew Tilghman, American delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1718)
- May 9 William Clingan, American delegate to the Continental Congress
- May 16 Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician, dies at 70
- May 21 Thomas Warton, English critic and poet (Pleasures of Melancholy) British Poet Laureate (1785-90), dies at 62
- May 27 Jeremiah Carlton, laziest man in history, heir to a large fortune at 19 went to bed & stayed there for next 70 yrs, dies at 89
- May 29 Israel Putnam, American Revolutionary War general (b. 1718)