- May 3 The University of Athens is founded
Historic Event
May 6 US blacksmith John Deere creates the first steel plough in Grand Detour, Illinois
- May 9 "Sherrod" burns in the Mississippi River below Natchez, Mississippi; 175 die
- May 10 Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
- May 25 The Patriots of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebel against the British for freedom.
- May 31 Astor Hotel opens in NYC, it later becomes the Waldorf-Astoria