Birthdays
Daniel Weisiger Adams
Turns 39 on this date
John W. Campbell
Turns 61 on this date
Nathan Fellows Dixon II
Turns 48 on this date
Augustus van Horne Ellis
Turns 33 on this date
William George Ferguson
Turns 28 on this date
George Franklin Fort
Turns 51 on this date
Thomas Harrison
Turns 37 on this date
William Young Conn Humes
Turns 30 on this date
John Bankhead Magruder
Turns 53 on this date
Events
| Science/Technology | A meteor shower falls to earth over Muskingum County, Ohio | 05/01/1860 |
| Campaigns/Elections | Democrats hold their National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina |
04/23/1860 to 05/01/1860 |
| US/the World | Garibaldi and his thousand volunteers set out on their invasion of Bourbon Sicily | 05/01/1860 |
| Slavery/Abolition | In Charleston, South Carolina, sympathizers briefly rescue indicted slave ship officer from jail |
05/01/1860 to 05/02/1860 |
| Campaigns/Elections | Opposition Party holds on to power in the Philadelphia municipal elections | 05/01/1860 |
| Lawmaking/Litigating | The 36th U.S. Congress is in session in Washington, D.C. |
12/06/1859 to 06/24/1860 |
| Campaigns/Elections | The Delaware Opposition Party Convention meets to select delegates for Chicago | 05/01/1860 |
Documents
| Newspaper | New York Times, "The Slave Rescue at Troy," May 1, 1860 | 05/01/1860 |
| Newspaper | New York Times, “The Charleston Convention,” May 1, 1860 | 05/01/1860 |