Events in History
- May 9 The first horse-drawn bus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, plying two routes
- May 12 US Assay Office in Helena, Montana, authorized
- May 13 Pope Pius IX encyclical "On Greek-Ruthenian rite"
- May 14 1st admission charge at a football game, Harvard beats Uni of McGill (Montreal) 3-0
- May 16 1st recorded dam disaster in US (Williamsburg, Massachusetts)
- May 29 Present constitution of Switzerland takes effect
Birthdays in History
- May 1 Romaine Brooks [Beatrice Romaine Goddard], American painter, born in Rome, Italy (d. 1970)
- May 3 François Coty, French perfume manufacturer, born in Ajaccio, Corsica, France (d. 1934)
- May 3 V. Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1954)
- May 10 Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, senator, historian and orientalist (d. 1941)
- May 12 Clemens Freiherr von Pirquet, Austrian physician (Reaction of Pirquet)
- May 20 Folkert E Posthuma, Dutch minister of Agriculture/Industry
- May 22 Daniel François Malan, Prime Minister of South Africa (1948-54) who began the implementation of apartheid, born in Riebeek-Wes, Cape Colony (d. 1959)
Henri Farman
May 26 Henri Farman, British-French aviator who broke several aviation records, born in Paris (d. 1958)
Deaths in History
- May 11 Franklin Buchanan, American first superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, dies at 73
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists