Birthdays in History May 2 Elias Boudinot, American lawyer and patriot, President of the Continental Congress, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1821) May 7 Nikolai Arkharov, Russian general (d. 1814) Deaths in History May 15 Ephraim Chambers, English encyclopaedist (b. 1680) May 17 Jean Cavalier, French Huguenot chief of the Camisards, dies at 58 May 31 Frederik Willem I, King of Prussia (1713-1740), dies at 51 1739 On This Day in History 1741