May 3 Adolfo Fumagalli, composer, dies at 27 May 3 Adolphe Charles Adam, French composer/critic (Giselle), dies at 52 May 6 William Hamilton, metaphysicist, dies May 12 Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician (b. 1786) May 22 Jacques-Nicolas-Augustin Thierry, French historian, dies at 61 Apr 1856 Famous Deaths by Year Jun 1856 Famous People by Cause of Death Assassination Car Crash Hanging Killed in Action Plane Crash Poisoning