- May 3 Howard T Ricketts, American pathologist (studied typhus fever), dies of typhus at 39
- May 10 Stanislao Cannizzaro, Italian chemist (advocated for single system of atomic formulas), dies at 85
- May 10 William Huggins, discoverer of stellar nature of Andromeda, dies
- May 16 Henri-Edmond Cross [Delacroix], French painter (Fauvism), dies at 53
- May 18 Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish novelist (Dziurdziowie), dies at 68
- May 18 Florimond Van Duyse, Belgian composer, dies at 66
- May 18 Pauline Viardot, French pianist, mezzo-soprano, and composer (Cendrillon), dies at 88
- May 20 Jean-Baptiste Theodore Weckerlin, French composer, dies at 88
- May 22 Jules Renard, French writer (Le plaisir the rompre), dies at 46
Robert Koch (1843-1910)
May 27 German pioneering bacteriologist (TB, Cholera, Nobel Prize 1905), dies at 66
- May 29 Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist and composer (Islamej; Tamara), dies at 73
Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910)
May 31 English-American physician who was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, dies at 89
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning