- 200 Sun Ce, warlord of the Han Dynasty (b. 175)
- 311 Gaius VM Galerius, emperor of Rome, dies at about 50
- 984 Gerberga of Saxony, Queen of Western Francia
- 1028 Alfonso V, King of Leon/Galicia (999-1028), dies in battle
- 1194 Casimir II, the Just, grand duke of Poland (1177-94), dies. Born 1138
- 1219 King Leo II of Armenia (b. 1150)
- 1309 Charles II, the Lame, King of Naples (1285-1309), dies
- 1316 Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, youngest daughter of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile, dies at 33
- 1504 Anton of Burgundy, the Great Bastard, knight, dies at about 82
- 1525 Frederik III, the Wise, ruler of Saxon (1486-1525), dies at 62
- 1582 Charlotte de Bourbon, Princess of Orange, dies
- 1586 Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1529)
- 1672 Samuel Cooper, English painter (b. 1609)
- 1678 Anna M van Schurman, Dutch poet/spoke 10 languages, dies at about 70
- 1705 Leopold I von Hapsburg, Emperor of Holy Roman Empire, dies at 64
- 1766 Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b. 1684)
- 1801 Philippe-Lambert-Joseph Spruyt, Flemish painter and engraver, dies at 74
- 1808 Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist, dies at 50
- 1811 Robert Mylne, Scottish architect (b. 1734)
Napoléon Bonaparte
1821 Napoleon Bonaparte, French military leader and Emperor of the French (1804-14, 1815), dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena, officially from stomach cancer but rumours of arsenic poisoning persist
Napoléon Bonaparte
- 1827 Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (1806-27), dies at 76
- 1855 Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (b. 1786)
- 1859 Peter G L Dirichlet, German mathematician, dies at 53
- 1864 Alexander Hays, US Union-general-major, dies in battle at 44
- 1864 John Marshall Jones, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies in battle at 43
- 1864 Leroy Augustus Stafford, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies in battle at 42
- 1886 Joseph Albert, German photographer (Albertotype), dies at 61
- 1892 August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist (b. 1818)
- 1896 Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
- 1900 Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian painter (b. 1817)
- 1901 Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, Parsi entrepreneur and founder of the first textile mills in India, dies at 77
- 1902 Bret Harte, American author (Outcasts of Poker Flat), dies at 65
- 1909 Pauline Staegeman, German feminist, dies
- 1921 Alfred H Fried, Austrian/German pacifist (Nobel 1911), dies
- 1921 William Friese-Greene, British photographer and inventor (motion pictures), dies at 65
- 1927 Charles Boissevain, editor in chief (General Trade 1885-1908), dies
- 1941 Natalija Obrenović, Queen of Serbia (b. 1859)
- 1942 Qemal Stafa, Albanian politician (b. 1920)
- 1945 Peter Van Pels, Jewish Refugee (b. 1926)
- 1945 Elsie Mitchell and five Sunday school students become the only people to die during World War II on US soil when they are killed by a Japanese fire balloon that lands in the forest of Gearhart Mountain, near Bly, Southern Oregon
- 1956 Karel Rudolph Gallas, Dutch lexicographer (French Dictionary), dies at 88
- 1958 James Branch Cabell, American novelist and essayist (Restless Heads), dies at 79
Carlos Saavedra Lamas
1959 Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician (Nobel Peace Prize 1936), dies at 80
Carlos Saavedra Lamas
- 1963 Jacobus JP Old, architect/co-founder (Stijl), dies at 73
- 1971 Harry Moorman, Dutch vice-admiral (KVP), dies at 71
- 1971 Petro Scaglione, Italian procureur-general, killed by Mafia
- 1971 Violet Jessop, Titanic survivor (b. 1887)
- 1976 Thomas Burnett Swann, American sci-fi author (Day of Minotaur), dies at 47
- 1977 Ludwig Erhard, German minister of Economic Affairs (CDU), dies at 80
- 1980 Edmond Vandercammen, Belgian writer/poet (Grand Combat), dies at 79
- 1981 Bobby Sands, Irish IRA activist dies in the 66th day of his hunger strike at 26
- 1983 Horst Schumann, Nazi physician, dies at 77
- 1985 Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
- 1988 Tamara Pos, Suriname/Dutch activist
- 1988 Michael Shaara, American author (Killer angels), dies of a heart attack at 59
- 1992 Stefano d'Arrigo, Siciilian writer, dies at 72
- 1993 Balak Brahmachari, [Marxist Godman], Indies guru, dies at 73
- 1993 Irving Howe, American writer and critic (Dissent), dies at 72
- 1993 Lenore Kingston Jenson, dies of cancer at 79
- 1993 Dermot Boyle, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, dies at 88
- 1994 Hein Salomonson, architect, dies at about 83
- 1994 Joe Layton, American director (Richard Pryor Live on Sunset Strip), dies at 63
- 1995 Anthony Wagner, Officer of Arms at the College of Arms in London, dies at 86
- 1995 Bernard Benjamin Gillis, judge, dies at 89
- 1995 James Pack, naval officer museum curator, dies at 81
- 1995 Lionel Alexander Bethune [Alastair] Pilkington, British engineer (float glass), dies at 75
- 1996 Ai Qing, Chinese poet, dies at 86
- 2001 Cliff Hillegass, American publisher (Cliffsnotes), dies at 83
- 2002 Hugo Banzer, Bolivian dictator (b. 1926)
- 2002 Paul Klipsch, American engineer, noted for his loudspeaker designs, dies at 98
- 2003 Walter Sisulu, South African activist (b. 1912)
- 2007 Theodore Harold Maiman, American Inventor and engineer (created 1st working laser), dies at 79
- 2008 Irv Robbins, Canadian-American entrepreneur (b. 1917)
- 2011 Claude Choules, last surviving World War I veteran (b. 1901)
- 2013 Sarah Kirsch, German poet, dies at 78
- 2018 Aaron D. Panken, American rabbi, dies in a plane crash at 53
- 2018 Rosemarie Schruder, German writer, dies at 89
- 2018 Stanley Falkow, American microbiologist (molecular mechanisms of infectious diseases), dies at 84
- 2018 Ludwig Harig, German writer, dies at 90
May in History
The 100-year Football Curse that Appears to be Working
S.L. Benfica has failed to win a European Championship since 1962, when former coach Béla Guttmann placed a 100 year curse on the club. Is the curse working?
May 2, 1962Volunteers Help Defeat General Strike
Britain's fist and only General Strike occurred in May 1926 and was quickly defeated by volunteers and a cunning plan by Winston Churchill.
May 3, 1926Latest Wonder of the World
Often referred to as "the Chunnel", the 31-mile undersea tunnel linking England to France has been hailed as one of the "seven wonders of the modern world".
May 6, 1994Suicide Woman Floats To Safety
Nobody could expect to survive a fall from the 100-metre high Clifton Suspension Bridge. But one woman was saved on this day by her billowing skirt.
May 8, 1885
