Browse Historical Events by Month: What Happened in May?

Future President Abraham Lincoln was granted Patent No. 6,469, for a device called "Buoying Vessels Over Shoals". This invention was a method of lifting boats over shallow water, which was inspired by a trip to Niagara Falls where Lincoln witnessed a boat getting stuck. Lincoln's device used expandable bellows attached to the sides of a boat. These bellows would be inflated to lift the boat over shoals or obstructions. Lincoln was 40 years old at the time. He remains the only U.S. president to ever receive a patent. More

Pro-slavery forces attacked and burned the free-state town of Lawrence, Kansas, in what became known as the "Sacking of Lawrence." More

Minnesota is admitted to the Union and becomes the 32nd State.

Big Ben - The Great Clock starts ticking and the Great Bell's strikes are heard for the first time on July 11.  A brief history of Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower

Abraham Lincoln, a former U.S. Representative from Illinois, secures the Republican Party's nomination for President beating Senator William H. Seward of New York who was considered the front-runner. Lincoln went on to win the 1860 election, becoming the first Republican president. The Republican Party was founded in 1854.

Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, presented the first color photograph at the Royal Institution. He and photographer Thomas Sutton created the image of a tartan ribbon by taking three separate black and white photographs through red, green, and blue filters and then combining them. This method, based on Maxwell's earlier work, demonstrated that any color could be created by mixing the three primary colors of light. More

North Carolina became the last of the Confederate states to secede rom the United States, triggering the start of the American Civil War.

The Battle of Puebla - An elite French military force led by General Charles de Lorencez headed for Mexico City was stopped at Puebla by an outnumbered Mexican army of 2,000—5,000 led by Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza. The larger French forces, which were experiencing a larger loss of troops withdrew by the end of the day. The victory at the Battle of Puebla rallied the Mexicans, eventually culminating in the complete withdraw of all French forces in 1867 and the capture and execution by firing squad of Emperor, Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who had been installed in 1864 as emperor of Mexico by Napoleon III. More

President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act making millions of government owned acres in the west available to "homesteaders". More

The Territory of Arizona is created by Congress with Prescott as capital.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis is captured by Union forces in Irwinville, Georgia. General, Robert E. Lee, had surrendered on April 9 at Appomattox in Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant.

The U.S. Congress authorizes the creation of a new American coin: the five-cent piece composed of copper and “not exceeding twenty-five per centum of nickel.” The new coin was quickly nick named the "Nickel". It has been minted every year since then except for 1922, 1932, and 1933.  As of 2020, it costs 7 cents to produce the 5 cents coin. 

Martha Jones of Amelia County, Va., become the first black woman known to receive a United States patent. Her application for an “Improvement to the Corn Husker, Sheller” was granted U.S. patent No. 77,494 in 1868. Jones claimed her invention could husk, shell, cut up, and separate husks from corn in one operation, representing a significant step forward in the automation of agricultural processes. More

In the first vote of President Andrew Johnson's Impeachment trial; the U.S. Senate votes 35 to 19 to acquit him on article 11. Ten days later, on May 26 the Senate, with the same margin, votes to acquit on articles 2 and 3 and adjourns as court of impeachment. More

In the final vote of President Andrew Johnson's Impeachment trial; the U.S. Senate votes 35 to 19 to acquit him on articles 2 and 3 and adjourns as court of impeachment. Ten days earlier on May 16, the Senate, with the same margin, voted to acquit on article 11 More

The U.S. Transcontinental railroad opens for through traffic linking the East Coast and West Coast by rail, when CPRR President Leland Stanford ceremonially drove the gold "Last Spike" (later often referred to as the "Golden Spike") at Promontory Summit in Utah. More

The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was founded in New York City by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The NWSA was formed after the women's rights movement split over the proposed Fifteenth Amendment, which would grant voting rights to African American men but not to women. The NWSA opposed the amendment as written, advocating for women's suffrage along with the rights of Black men. More

The peace Treaty of Frankfurt is signed, formally ending the Franco-Prussian War and leaving a stronger unified Germany under Prussian leadership, emerging as a dominant force. It also resulted in significant territorial losses for France, including Alsace and part of Lorraine. More

Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis obtained a U.S. patent for the process of putting rivets in men’s work pants for the very first time creating what we now call jeans. More

The American Red Cross is founded in Washington, D.C. by Clara Barton and a circle of her acquaintances. Barton led the Red Cross for 23 years. More