Timeline May 1845

Events in May 1845 5

• 1767 – 1845 August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767-1845) Died 12 May 1845, aged 77 August Wilhelm Schlegel was a German poet, critic and translator, and one of the leading figures of German Romanticism. His translations of Shakespeare became the standard German versions. He was also a pioneering scholar of Sanskrit.
• 1799 – 1845 Thomas Hood (1799-1845) Died 3 May 1845, aged 45 Thomas Hood was an English poet and humorist known for his puns and comic verse. His late poem The Song of the Shirt, about a poor seamstress, made a great impression in Victorian Britain. He also edited several literary magazines.
• 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass published Douglass publishes his autobiography Frederick Douglass published his first autobiography through the Anti-Slavery Office in Boston. It gave a first-hand account of his life under slavery in Maryland. The book sold widely in the United States and Europe and became central to the abolitionist movement.
• 1845 Southern Baptist Convention founded Baptists split over slavery Baptist churches from the southern states met in Augusta, Georgia, and formed the Southern Baptist Convention. They split from northern Baptists after the national mission board refused to appoint slaveholders as missionaries. It became the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.
• 1845 Franklin expedition departs England Search for the Northwest Passage begins Sir John Franklin sailed from Greenhithe with HMS Erebus and HMS Terror and 129 men to chart the Northwest Passage. The ships were last seen by Europeans in Baffin Bay that summer. Every member of the expedition died, and it became the worst disaster in the history of British polar exploration.