A Spiritual is a African-American song with a religious text. Traditionally monophonic and a capella, these songs are antecedents of the blues. They began on Southern slaveplantations as work songs[?], sometimes with hidden messages of rebellion and escape from the slaves' owners.
... physicist (+ 1967)
May 6 - Harry Martinson, swedish author, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature
May 11 - Salvador Dalí, artist
May 17 - Jean Gabin[?], ...