Births on May 7

Harry McShane, Scottish engineer and activist (d. 1988)

Harry McShane (7 May 1891 – 12 April 1988) was a Scottish socialist, and a close colleague of John Maclean.

10 Mar

Strowger switch
Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
15 May

Rerum novarum
Pope Leo XIII defends workers' rights and property rights in the encyclical Rerum novarum, the beginning of modern Catholic social teaching.
20 May

Kinetoscope
History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope.