Birthdays
Jesse William Barrett
Turns 37 on this date
Robert Franklin Beckham
Turns 22 on this date
John Michael Krebs
Turns 55 on this date
William Elisha Stoker
Turns 22 on this date
Kellian Van Rensalear Whaley
Turns 38 on this date
Events
| Foreign | Alexander von Humboldt dies in Berlin | 05/06/1859 |
| Personal | Joseph Brown Smith, the first fully blind American college graduate, dies in Louisville, Kentucky | 05/06/1859 |
| Lawmaking/Litigating | The trial of Oberlin-Wellington rescuer Charles Langston continues in the federal court in Cleveland, Ohio |
04/19/1859 to 05/09/1859 |
Documents
| Newspaper | Milwaukee (WI) Sentinel, “Flood in the Upper Mississippi,” May 6, 1859 | 05/06/1859 |