- May 10 François Andrieux, French playwright, dies at 74
- May 14 Johann Wilhelm Cornelius von Konigslow, German composer, dies at 88
- May 15 Edmund Kean, British Shakespearean actor (Edmund Kean's Masonic Career), dies at 46
- May 24 John Randolph [of Roanoke], American planter, Congressman (Virginia) and Minister to Russia, dies of tuberculosis at 59
- May 28 Johann Christian Friedrich Haeffner, German-Swedish organist, composer, conductor, choirmaster, and educator (Studentsång), dies at 74
- May 29 William Marshall, Scottish fiddle composer (strathspeys The Marchioness of Huntly), dies at 84
- May 30 Josef Slavik, Czech composer, dies at 27
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning