- May 1 Alphonse Wauters, Belgian historian and archivist (Brussels), dies at 81
- May 2 Charles C. Walcutt, American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, dies of an old war wound at 60
William Gladstone
May 19 William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Liberal: 1868-74, 1880-86, 1892-94), dies of heart failure at 88
William Gladstone
- May 22 Edward Bellamy, American author (Looking Backward) and socialist, dies of tuberculosis at 48