May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. May is a month of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and spring in the Northern Hemisphere (Summer in Europe). Therefore May in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of November in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.
May symbols: The birthstone of May is the emerald which is emblematic of love and success. The May birth flower is the Lily of the Valley and the Crataegus monogyna. The mayflower Epigaea repens is a North American harbinger of May, and the floral emblem of both Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. Its native range extends from Newfoundland south to Florida, west to Kentucky in the southern range, and to Northwest Territories in the north. The zodiac signs for the month of May are Taurus (until May 20) and Gemini (May 21 onwards).
Historical Events for May, 1900
Day of Week 1st » The Scofield Mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.
Day of Week 17th » Second Boer War: British troops relieve Siege of Mafeking called Mafeking.
Day of Week 18th » The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
Day of Week 23rd » American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863.
Day of Week 24th » Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
Famous Birthdays on May in 1900
1st » Ignazio Silone, Italian author and politician (d. 1978)
10th » Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, English-American astronomer and astrophysicist (d. 1979)
12th » Joseph Rochefort, American captain and cryptanalyst (d. 1976)
12th » Helene Weigel, Austrian-German actress (d. 1971)
14th » Hal Borland, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
14th » Walter Rehberg, Swiss pianist and composer (d. 1957)
14th » Leo Smit (Dutch composer) named Leo Smit, Dutch pianist and composer (d. 1943)
14th » Edgar Wind, German-English historian and educator (d. 1971)