Historical Events
Famous Birthdays
- May 1 Bohuslav Jeremiáš, Czech composer, born in Řestoky, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now Czech Republic) (d. 1918)
- May 1 Willem Johannes Leyds, Dutch-South Africa lawyer and diplomat (State Secretary of the South African Republic), born in Magelang, Dutch East Indies (d. 1940)
- May 2 Eugène d'Harcourt, French composer, born in Paris (d. 1918)
- May 2 Jerome K. Jerome, English writer (The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow), born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England (d. 1927)
- May 3 Andy Adams, American writer (Log of a Cowboy), born in Indiana (d. 1935)
- May 6 Luis María Drago, Argentine statesman and author of Drago Doctrine, born in Buenos Aires (d. 1921)
- May 6 Willem Kloos, Dutch poet (Act of Simple Justice), born in Amsterdam (d. 1938)
- May 8 Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician (d. 1925)
- May 13 August Enna, Danish composer (The Witch), born in Nakskov, Denmark (d. 1939)
- May 15 Pierre Curie, French physicist (Nobel 1903) and husband of Marie Curie, born in Paris, France (d. 1906)
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)
May 22 British author who brought Sherlock Holmes to life (twice), born in Edinburgh, Scotland
- May 30 Pierre Janet, French psychologist and neurologist (contributed to the modern concept of mental and emotional disorders involving anxiety, phobias, and other abnormal behaviour), born in Paris (d. 1947)
Famous Deaths
- May 1 John Walker, English inventor and chemist who invented the friction match, dies at 77
- May 2 Eliza Courtney, English illegitimate daughter of Charles Grey and Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, dies at 67
- May 4 Joseph Diez Gergonne, French mathematician, dies at 87
- May 5 Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician (number theory), dies at 53
Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859)
May 6 German naturalist and explorer (Kosmos), dies at 89
