Events in History
- May 25 American Unitarian Association founded
Birthdays in History
- May 1 George Inness, American landscape painter (Delaware Water Gap), born in Newburgh, New York (d. 1894)
- May 4 Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist (comparative anatomy), born in Ealing, Middlesex, England (d. 1895)
- May 4 Augustus Le Plongeon, French-American photographer and antiquitarian, born in Island of Jersey, France (d. 1908)
- May 6 Joseph Bailey, American civil engineer and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Morgan County, Ohio (d. 1867)
- May 8 George Bruce Malleson, English officer in India and author, born in Wimbledon, London (d. 1898)
- May 20 Antoinette Brown Blackwell, clergy (1st ordained US female minister)
- May 21 George Lafayette Beal, American politician and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Norway, Maine (d. 1896)
- May 29 David Bell Birney, American businessman, lawyer, and Major General (Union Army), born in Huntsville, Alabama (d. 1864)
Weddings in History
Wilhelm Grimm
May 15 Author and scholar Wilhelm Grimm (39) weds Henriette Dorothea
- May 21 Prince Willem FK marries Louise AWA of Prussia