- May 3 Anthony Philip Heinrich, America's 1st "full-time" composer, dies at 80
- May 9 Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philologist and politician, dies at 55
- May 12 Christian Heinrich Hohmann, German composer, dies at 50
- May 24 Elmer E. Ellsworth, American soldier who was the 1st Union officer killed in the American Civil War, dies at 24
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning