- May 7 Indiana Territory organized
Event of Interest
May 11 French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck give a lecture first outlining his theories of evolution at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, France
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
- May 14 Friedrich von Schiller's "Macbeth" premieres in Weimar
Assassination Attempt
May 15 King George III survives a second assassination attempt
George III
- May 15 Pope Pius VII calls on French bishops to return to Gospel principles