Henry Ossian Flipper (1856-1940)
May 3 American soldier, former slave and first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, dies at 84 [1]
Emma Goldman (1869-1940)
May 14 Russian-American anarchist, writer (Anarchism and Other Essays; Living My Life), publisher (Mother Earth), and feminist, dies from stroke complications at 70 [1]
- May 14 Jacob van Gelderen, Dutch economist (Kondratiev waves), sociologist and politician, dies at 49
- May 14 Menno ter Braak, Dutch writer (Forum, New Elite), commits suicide at 38
- May 14 Willem Johannes Leyds, Dutch-South Africa lawyer and diplomat (State Secretary of the South African Republic), dies at 81
- May 15 Joseph Limburg, Dutch lawyer and politician, dies at 73
- May 15 Willem Adriaan Bonger, Dutch criminologist (Race & Crime), suicide at 63
- May 20 Amar Singh, Indian cricket all-rounder (7 Tests, 28 wickets; India's first half-century in Test cricket), dies of pneumonia at 29
- May 20 Joris van Severen, Flemish politician and founder of the Alliance of Dietsche National Solidarists, dies at 45
- May 20 Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish poet and novelist (Charles Men, Nobel 1916), dies at 80
- May 23 Paul Nizan, French journalist and writer (Ce Soir/Aden Arabia), dies in combat at 35
- May 25 Joe De Grasse, Canadian film director, dies at 67
- May 28 Friedrich Karl von Hessen (b. 1868)
- May 28 Randle Ayrton, British actor (The Manxman, Nell Gwyn), dies at 70
- May 28 Theodor Streicher, Austrian composer, dies at 65
- May 28 Walter Connolly, American actor (It Happened One Night, Good Earth), dies from a stroke at 53
- May 30 Y de Smit-Rog, oldest citizen of Netherlands, dies at 104
- May 31 Victor Neuberg, English poet and publisher (discovered Dylan Thomas), dies at 57
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning