May 1885 in History

Events in History

Battle of Batoche

May 12 Battle of Batoche: Louis Riel and the Metis defeated by Frederick Middleton, leads to collapse of Provincial Government of Saskatchewan and surrender of Riel

May 15 Canadian Métis insurgent Louis Riel captured in the aftermath of the Battle of Batoche in Saskatchewan
May 19 1st mass production of shoes (Jan Matzeliger's Consolidated Lasting Machine Company in Lynn, Massachusetts)

Germany Colonizes Cameroon and Togoland

May 19 German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck takes possession of Cameroon and Togoland

Kellogg's Flaked Cereal

May 31 Dr John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek, Michigan files application for patent for "flaked cereal, and process of making same", controversially excluding his younger brother Will Keith Kellogg

Industrialist and Founder of Kellogg Company Will Keith Kellogg

Birthdays in History

May 2 Hedda Hopper [Elda Furry], American gossip columnist, born in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1966)
May 5 Henri Velge, 1st chairman (Belgian Council of State) (d. 1951)
May 10 Fritz von Unruh, German writer, (d. 1970)
May 18 Eurico Gaspar Dutra, Brazilian leader, President of Brazil (1945-50), born in Cuiabá, Brazil (d. 1974)
May 20 Faisal I, Arab statesman, King of Syria (1920) and King of Iraq (1921-33), born in Mecca, Ottoman Empire (d. 1933)
May 21 Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg, wife of Prince William of Wied (d. 1936)
May 22 Giacomo Matteotti, Italian Socialist Party leader, born in Fratta Polesine, Italy (d. 1924)
May 22 Soemu Toyoda, Japanese admiral during World War II, born in Kitsuki, Ōita, Japan (d. 1957)
May 24 Susan Sutherland Isaacs, English educational psychologist and psychoanalyst, born in Turton, Lancashire (d. 1948).
May 29 Erwin Finlay-Freundlich, British astronomer (theory of relativity), born in Biebrich, Germany (d. 1964)
May 31 Alois Hudal, Austrian bishop who helped Nazi war criminals escape trial, born in Graz, Austria-Hungary (d. 1963)

Weddings in History

Gerhart Hauptmann

May 5 Author Gerhart Hauptmann (22) weds Marie Thienemann

Deaths in History

May 4 Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia (1842-58), dies at 78
May 13 Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German pathologist, dies at 75
May 13 Juliana Horatia Ewing [Gatty], English children's author (Lob Lie-by-the-Fire), dies at 43
May 19 Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)