What Happened in May 1896

Historical Events

PM Charles Tupper

May 1 Seven days after parliament was dissolved, Charles Tupper is sworn in as the 6th Prime Minister of Canada

  • May 4 1st edition of London Daily Mail (halfpenny)
  • May 4 Grease fire ignites half ton of dynamite at Cripple Creek, Colorado
  • May 6 22nd Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Ben Brush wins first Derby held at the current distance of 1.25 miles (2.0km)
  • May 6 Samuel Pierpont Langley flies his unpiloted Number 5 aircraft using a catapult launch from a boat on the Potomac River, USA. The aircraft travels almost 3/4 of a mile - ten times further than any previous heavier-than-air flying machine.
  • May 8 Bobby Peel scores 210 not out as Yorkshire is dismissed for 887 in drawn County Cricket match against Warwickshire in Birmingham
  • May 9 1st horseless carriage show in London (featured 10 models)
  • May 14 Lowest US temperature in May recorded (-10°F /-23°C at Climax, Colorado)
  • May 15 Tornado kills 78 in Texas
  • May 18 US Supreme court affirms legitimacy of racial separation (Plessy v Ferguson), a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal"

Automotive History

May 19 1st auto (Karl Benz) arrives in Netherlands

  • May 20 The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris falls on the crowd resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others
  • May 26 Dow Jones index begins with an average of 12 industrial stocks (closing is 40.94)
  • May 26 James Dunham murders six people in Campbell, California

Coronation of Nicholas II

May 26 Last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, crowned

  • May 26 Worst streetcar disaster in North American history when part of Port Ellice Bridge collapses killing 55 people at Victoria harbour, British Columbia [1]
  • May 27 Bay District Race Track in San Francisco closes
  • May 27 Tornado hit St Louis, killing 255, leaving thousands homeless
  • May 30 First car accident occurs; Henry Wells hits a cyclist in NYC
  • May 30 Khodynka Tragedy: Stampeding crowd on Khodynka Field, Moscow, during the festivities for coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, results in the deaths of about 1,300 people
1896 History

Famous Birthdays

  • May 1 Herbert Backe, German Nazi politician (Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture), born in Batumi, Kutais Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1947)
  • May 1 J. Lawton Collins, American general, born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1987)
  • May 1 Mark W. Clark, American general, born in Madison Barracks, Sackets Harbor, New York (d. 1984)
  • May 2 Helen of Greece and Denmark, Queen Mother of Romania, born in Athens, Greece (d. 1982)
  • May 3 Dodie Smith, English novelist and playwright (101 Dalmatians), born in Whitefield, Lancashire, England (d. 1990)
  • May 3 Karl Allmenröder, German World War I flying Ace, born in Wald, Rhine Province, Germany (d. 1917)
  • May 7 Pavel Sergeevich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician (topology), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1982)
  • May 11 Josip Slavenski, Croatian composer and pedagogue, born in Čakovec, Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1955)
  • May 11 Philippo de Pisis, Italian painter and poet, born in Ferarra, Itay (d. 1956)
  • May 13 Charles Pahud de Mortanges, Dutch equestrian (Olympic gold individual 3 day event 1928, 32; team 3 day event 1924, 28), born in The Hague (d. 1971)
  • May 17 Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha Luz, Brazilian composer, born in Curitiba, State of Paraná, Brazil (d. 1967)
  • May 17 Hannah Tillich, German-American writer (Harbor Mouse) and wife of Paul Tillich, born in Rotenburg an der Fulda, Germany (d. 1988)
  • May 18 Walter Fitzgerald, English actor, born in Devonport, England (d. 1976)
  • May 19 Michael Balcon, English film producer (head of Ealing Studios), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1977)
  • May 22 Cyril Fagan, Irish astrologer and author, born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1970)
  • May 23 Felix Martin Julius Steiner, German Heer and Waffen-SS officer (d. 1966)
  • May 25 Jan Nicolaas Bakhuizen van den Brink, Dutch theologist and church historian, born in Joure, Netherlands (d. 1987)
  • May 28 Marius Monnikendam, Dutch choir composer, born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1977)
  • May 28 Warren Giles, American Baseball HOF executive (President National League 1951-69; GM Cincinnati Reds 1937–51), born in Tiskilwa, Illinois (d. 1979)
  • May 29 George L. Funke, Dutch botanist (Flower Physiology), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1947)
  • May 30 Howard Hawks, American director and producer (Rio Bravo, Scarface), born in Goshen, Indiana (d. 1977)
Born in 1896

Famous Deaths

  • May 1 Nasr-ed-Din, shah of Persia (184.-96), murdered at 65
  • May 5 Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)

H. H. Holmes (1861-1896)

May 7 American serial killer associated with 27 deaths, executed by hanging at 34

  • May 12 Juan Morel Campos, Puerto Rican composer (Danza), dies at 38
  • May 13 Nora Perry, American poet, journalist and children's writer, dies (b. 1831)
  • May 17 Sophus Tromholt, Norwegian astrophysicist and photographer (photographed Sami people), dies at 45 [1]

Clara Schumann (1819-1896)

May 20 German pianist and composer of the Romantic era, dies of a stroke at 76

  • May 23 Jose Asunción Silva, Colombian poet (Nocturno III), dies at 30
  • May 27 Aleksandr Grigorievich Stoletov, Russian physicist (b. 1839)
  • May 27 Allard Pierson, Dutch theologist, philosopher and art historian, dies at 65
  • May 29 Gabriel Auguste Daubrée, French geologist, dies at 81