1813

  • June 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 455 – Sack of Rome: Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks.
    • 1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later.
    • 1615 – The first Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France.
    • 1676 – Franco-Dutch War: France ensured the supremacy of its naval fleet for the remainder of the war with its victory in the Battle of Palermo.
    • 1692 – Bridget Bishop is the first person to be tried for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts; she was found guilty and later hanged.
    • 1763 – Pontiac’s Rebellion: At what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison’s attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort.
    • 1774 – Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act is enacted, allowing a governor in colonial America to house British soldiers in uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings if suitable quarters are not provided.
    • 1793 – French Revolution: François Hanriot, leader of the Parisian National Guard, arrests 22 Girondists selected by Jean-Paul Marat, setting the stage for the Reign of Terror.
    • 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: A Franco-Spanish fleet recaptures Diamond Rock, an uninhabited island at the entrance to the bay leading to Fort-de-France, from the British.
    • 1835 – P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States.
    • 1848 – The Slavic congress in Prague begins.
    • 1866 – The Fenians defeat Canadian forces at Ridgeway and Fort Erie, but the raids end soon after.
    • 1896 – Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his wireless telegraph.
    • 1909 – Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
    • 1910 – Charles Rolls, a co-founder of Rolls-Royce Limited, becomes the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane.
    • 1919 – Anarchists simultaneously set off bombs in eight separate U.S. cities.
    • 1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.
    • 1941 – World War II: German paratroopers murder Greek civilians in the villages of Kondomari and Alikianos.
    • 1946 – Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum, King Umberto II of Italy is exiled.
    • 1953 – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, the first major international event to be televised.
    • 1955 – The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between both countries, discontinued since 1948.
    • 1962 – During the FIFA World Cup, police had to intervene multiple times in fights between Chilean and Italian players in one of the most violent games in football history.
    • 1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is formed.
    • 1966 – Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.
    • 1967 – Luis Monge is executed in Colorado’s gas chamber, in the last pre-Furman execution in the United States.
    • 1967 – Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran turn into riots, during which Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group Movement 2 June.
    • 1979 – Pope John Paul II starts his first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
    • 1983 – After an emergency landing because of an in-flight fire, twenty-three passengers aboard Air Canada Flight 797 are killed when a flashover occurs as the plane’s doors open. Because of this incident, numerous new safety regulations are put in place.
    • 1990 – The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 66 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12.
    • 1997 – In Denver, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people died. He was executed four years later.
    • 2003 – Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
    • 2012 – Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
    • 2014 – Telangana officially becomes the 29th state of India, formed from ten districts of northwestern Andhra Pradesh.

    Births on June 2 

    • 1305 – Abu Sa’id Bahadur Khan, ruler of Ilkhanate (d. 1335)
    • 1423 – Ferdinand I of Naples (d. 1494)
    • 1489 – Charles, Duke of Vendôme (d. 1537)
    • 1535 – Pope Leo XI (d. 1605)
    • 1602 – Rudolf Christian, Count of East Frisia, Ruler of East Frisia (d. 1628)
    • 1621 – Rutger von Ascheberg, Courland-born soldier in Swedish service (d. 1693)
    • 1621 – (baptized) Isaac van Ostade, Dutch painter (d. 1649)
    • 1638 – Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (d. 1709)
    • 1644 – William Salmon, English medical writer (d. 1713)
    • 1739 – Jabez Bowen, American colonel and politician, 45th Deputy Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1815)
    • 1740 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher and politician (d. 1814)
    • 1743 – Alessandro Cagliostro, Italian occultist and explorer (d. 1795)
    • 1773 – John Randolph of Roanoke, American planter and politician, 8th United States Ambassador to Russia (d. 1833)
    • 1774 – William Lawson, English-Australian explorer and politician (d. 1850)
    • 1813 – Daniel Pollen, Irish-New Zealand politician, 9th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1896)
    • 1823 – Gédéon Ouimet, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Quebec (d. 1905)
    • 1835 – Pope Pius X (d. 1914)
    • 1838 – Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Oldenburg (d. 1900)
    • 1840 – Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet (d. 1928)
    • 1840 – Émile Munier, French artist (d. 1895)
    • 1857 – Edward Elgar, English composer and educator (d. 1934)
    • 1857 – Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
    • 1861 – Concordia Selander, Swedish actress and manager (d. 1935)
    • 1863 – Felix Weingartner, Croatian-Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1942)
    • 1865 – George Lohmann, English cricketer (d. 1901)
    • 1865 – Adelaide Casely-Hayford, Sierra Leone Creole advocate and activist for cultural nationalism (d. 1960)
    • 1869 – Jack O’Connor, American baseball player and manager (d. 1937)
    • 1875 – Charles Stewart Mott, American businessman and politician, 50th Mayor of Flint, Michigan (d. 1973)
    • 1878 – Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (d. 1912)
    • 1881 – Walter Egan, American golfer (d. 1971)
    • 1891 – Thurman Arnold, American lawyer and judge (d. 1969)
    • 1891 – Takijirō Ōnishi, Japanese admiral and pilot (d. 1945)
    • 1899 – Lotte Reiniger, German animator and director (d. 1981)
    • 1899 – Edwin Way Teale, American environmentalist and photographer (d. 1980)
    • 1904 – Frank Runacres, English painter and educator (d. 1974)
    • 1904 – Johnny Weissmuller, Hungarian-American swimmer and actor (d. 1984)
    • 1907 – Dorothy West, American journalist and author (d. 1998)
    • 1907 – John Lehmann, English poet and publisher (d. 1987)
    • 1910 – Hector Dyer, American sprinter (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Joe McCluskey, American runner (d. 2002)
    • 1913 – Barbara Pym, English author (d. 1980)
    • 1913 – Elsie Tu, English-Hong Kong educator and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1914 – Johnny Bulla, American golfer (d. 2003)
    • 1915 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian spy (d. 1992)
    • 1917 – Heinz Sielmann, German photographer and director (d. 2006)
    • 1918 – Ruth Atkinson, Canadian-American illustrator (d. 1997)
    • 1918 – Kathryn Tucker Windham, American journalist and author (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – Nat Mayer Shapiro, American painter (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Frank G. Clement, American lawyer and politician, 41st Governor of Tennessee (d. 1969)
    • 1920 – Yolande Donlan, American-English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1920 – Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish-German author and critic (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Tex Schramm, American businessman (d. 2003)
    • 1920 – Johnny Speight, English screenwriter and producer (d. 1998)
    • 1921 – Betty Freeman, American photographer and philanthropist (d. 2009)
    • 1921 – Ernie Royal, American trumpet player (d. 1983)
    • 1921 – Sigmund Sternberg, Hungarian-English businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
    • 1921 – András Szennay, Hungarian priest (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Juan Antonio Bardem, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2002)
    • 1922 – Carmen Silvera, Canadian-English actress (d. 2002)
    • 1923 – Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
    • 1924 – June Callwood, Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2007)
    • 1926 – Chiyonoyama Masanobu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 41st Yokozuna (d. 1977)
    • 1926 – Milo O’Shea, Irish-American actor (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Colin Brittan, English footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Christopher Slade, English lawyer and judge
    • 1928 – Erzsi Kovács, Hungarian singer (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Rafael A. Lecuona, Cuban-American gymnast and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Ron Reynolds, English footballer (d. 1999)
    • 1929 – Norton Juster, American architect, author, and academic
    • 1929 – Ken McGregor, Australian tennis player (d. 2007)
    • 1930 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1999)
    • 1933 – Jerry Lumpe, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Lew “Sneaky Pete” Robinson, drag racer (d. 1971)
    • 1934 – Johnny Carter, American singer (d. 2009)
    • 1935 – Carol Shields, American-Canadian novelist and short story writer (d. 2003)
    • 1935 – Dimitri Kitsikis, Greek poet and educator
    • 1936 – Volodymyr Holubnychy, Ukrainian race walker
    • 1937 – Rosalyn Higgins, English lawyer and judge
    • 1937 – Sally Kellerman, American actress
    • 1937 – Jimmy Jones, American singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1937 – Robert Paul, Canadian figure skater and choreographer
    • 1937 – Deric Washburn, American screenwriter and playwright
    • 1938 – Kevin Brownlow, English historian and author
    • 1938 – George William Penrose, Lord Penrose, Scottish lawyer and judge
    • 1939 – Charles Miller, American musician (d. 1980)
    • 1939 – John Schlee, American golfer (d. 2000)
    • 1940 – Constantine II of Greece
    • 1941 – Ünal Aysal, Turkish businessman
    • 1941 – Stacy Keach, American actor
    • 1941 – Lou Nanne, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager
    • 1941 – Charlie Watts, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
    • 1942 – Mike Ahern, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of Queensland
    • 1943 – Charles Haid, American actor and director
    • 1943 – Crescenzio Sepe, Italian cardinal
    • 1944 – Robert Elliott, American actor (d. 2004)
    • 1944 – Marvin Hamlisch, American composer and conductor (d. 2012)
    • 1945 – Richard Long, English painter, sculptor, and photographer
    • 1945 – Bonnie Newman, American businesswoman and politician
    • 1946 – Lasse Hallström, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1946 – Peter Sutcliffe, UK serial killer
    • 1948 – Jerry Mathers, American actor
    • 1949 – Heather Couper, English astronomer and physicist (d. 2020)
    • 1949 – Frank Rich, American journalist and critic
    • 1950 – Jonathan Evans, Welsh lawyer and politician
    • 1950 – Joanna Gleason, Canadian actress and singer
    • 1950 – Anne Phillips, English theorist and academic
    • 1950 – Momčilo Vukotić, Serbian footballer and manager
    • 1951 – Gilbert Baker, American artist, gay rights activist, and designer of the rainbow flag (d. 2017)
    • 1951 – Arnold Mühren, Dutch footballer and manager
    • 1951 – Larry Robinson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1951 – Alexander Wylie, Lord Kinclaven, Scottish lawyer, judge, and educator
    • 1952 – Gary Bettman, American commissioner of the National Hockey League
    • 1953 – Vidar Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist
    • 1953 – Craig Stadler, American golfer
    • 1953 – Cornel West, American philosopher, author, and academic
    • 1954 – Dennis Haysbert, American actor and producer
    • 1955 – Dana Carvey, American comedian and actor
    • 1955 – Nandan Nilekani, Indian businessman, co-founded Infosys
    • 1955 – Mani Ratnam, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Michael Steele, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1956 – Jan Lammers, Dutch race car driver
    • 1957 – Mark Lawrenson, English footballer and manager
    • 1958 – Lex Luger, American wrestler and football player
    • 1959 – Rineke Dijkstra, Dutch photographer
    • 1959 – Lydia Lunch, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
    • 1959 – Erwin Olaf, Dutch photographer
    • 1960 – Olga Bondarenko, Russian runner
    • 1960 – Tony Hadley, English singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1960 – Kyle Petty, American race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Dez Cadena, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1962 – Mark Plaatjes, South African-American runner and coach
    • 1963 – Anand Abhyankar, Indian actor (d. 2012)
    • 1964 – Caroline Link, German director and screenwriter
    • 1965 – Russ Courtnall, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1965 – Mark Waugh, Australian cricketer and journalist
    • 1965 – Steve Waugh, Australian cricketer
    • 1966 – Dayana Cadeau, Haitian born Canadian-American professional bodybuilder
    • 1966 – Candace Gingrich, American activist
    • 1966 – Pedro Guerra, Spanish singer-songwriter
    • 1966 – Petra van Staveren, Dutch swimmer
    • 1967 – Remigija Nazarovienė, Lithuanian heptathlete and coach
    • 1967 – Mike Stanton, American baseball player
    • 1968 – Merril Bainbridge, Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1968 – Andy Cohen, American television host
    • 1969 – Kurt Abbott, American baseball player
    • 1969 – Paulo Sérgio, Brazilian footballer
    • 1969 – David Wheaton, American tennis player, radio host, and author
    • 1970 – B Real, American rapper and actor
    • 1971 – Kateřina Jacques, Czech translator and politician
    • 1972 – Wayne Brady, American actor, comedian, game show host, and singer
    • 1972 – Raúl Ibañez, American baseball player
    • 1972 – Wentworth Miller, American actor and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Marko Kristal, Estonian footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Neifi Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1974 – Gata Kamsky, Russian-American chess player
    • 1974 – Matt Serra, American mixed martial artist
    • 1975 – Salvatore Scibona, American author
    • 1976 – Earl Boykins, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Martin Čech, Czech ice hockey player (d. 2007)
    • 1976 – Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brazilian mixed martial artist and boxer
    • 1976 – Tim Rice-Oxley, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1977 – Teet Allas, Estonian footballer
    • 1977 – A.J. Styles, American wrestler
    • 1977 – Zachary Quinto, American actor and producer
    • 1978 – Dominic Cooper, English actor
    • 1978 – Nikki Cox, American actress
    • 1978 – Justin Long, American actor
    • 1978 – Yi So-yeon, biotechnologist and astronaut, the first Korean in space
    • 1978 – Luke Williamson, Australian rugby league player
    • 1979 – Morena Baccarin, Brazilian-American actress
    • 1979 – Butterfly Boucher, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1979 – Natalia Rodríguez, Spanish runner
    • 1980 – Fabrizio Moretti, Brazilian-American drummer
    • 1980 – Bobby Simmons, American basketball player
    • 1980 – Richard Skuse, English rugby player
    • 1980 – Abby Wambach, American soccer player and coach
    • 1980 – Tomasz Wróblewski, Polish bass player and songwriter
    • 1981 – Nikolay Davydenko, Russian tennis player
    • 1981 – Chin-hui Tsao, Taiwanese baseball player
    • 1982 – Jewel Staite, Canadian actress
    • 1983 – Chris Higgins, American ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Leela James, American singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Toni Livers, Swiss skier
    • 1983 – Brooke White, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1984 – Jack Afamasaga, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1984 – Max Boyer, Canadian wrestler
    • 1984 – Feleti Mateo, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
    • 1985 – Miyuki Sawashiro, Japanese voice actress and singer
    • 1985 – Maggie Thrash, American graphic novelist and writer
    • 1986 – Todd Carney, Australian rugby league player
    • 1987 – Maryka Holtzhausen, South African netball player
    • 1987 – Yoann Huget, French rugby player
    • 1987 – Matthew Koma, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1987 – Angelo Mathews, Sri Lankan cricketer
    • 1987 – Darin Zanyar, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1987 – Sonakshi Sinha, Indian actress
    • 1988 – Sergio Agüero, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Patrik Berglund, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Staniliya Stamenova, Bulgarian canoeist
    • 1989 – Freddy Adu, Ghanaian-American footballer
    • 1989 – Steve Smith, Australian cricketer
    • 1990 – Jack Lowden, Scottish actor
    • 1992 – Pajtim Kasami, Swiss footballer
    • 1993 – Adam Taggart, Australian footballer
    • 1994 – Mike Grzesiek, Esports player and streamer
    • 1999 – Campbell Graham, Australian rugby league player
    • 2000 – Lilimar Hernandez, Venezuelan actress

    Deaths on June 2 

    • 657 – Pope Eugene I
    • 891 – Al-Muwaffaq, Abbasid general (b. 842)
    • 910 – Richilde of Provence (b. 845)
    • 1200 – Bishop John of Oxford
    • 1258 – Peter I, Count of Urgell
    • 1292 – Rhys ap Maredudd, Welsh nobleman and rebel leader
    • 1418 – Katherine of Lancaster, queen of Henry III of Castile
    • 1453 – Álvaro de Luna, Duke of Trujillo, Constable of Castile
    • 1567 – Shane O’Neill, head of the O’Neill dynasty in Ireland (b. 1530)
    • 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (b. 1536)
    • 1581 – James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, Scottish soldier and politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1525)
    • 1603 – Bernard of Wąbrzeźno, Roman Catholic priest (b. 1575)
    • 1693 – John Wildman, English soldier and politician, Postmaster General of the United Kingdom (b. 1621)
    • 1701 – Madeleine de Scudéry, French author (b. 1607)
    • 1716 – Ogata Kōrin, Japanese painter and educator (b. 1658)
    • 1754 – Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish minister and theologian (b. 1680)
    • 1761 – Jonas Alströmer, Swedish businessman (b. 1685)
    • 1785 – Jean Paul de Gua de Malves, French mathematician and academic (b. 1713)
    • 1806 – William Tate, English painter (b. 1747)
    • 1853 – Henry Trevor, 21st Baron Dacre, English general (b. 1777)
    • 1865 – Ner Middleswarth, American judge and politician (b. 1783)
    • 1875 – Józef Kremer, Polish psychologist, historian, and philosopher (b. 1806)
    • 1881 – Émile Littré, French lexicographer and philosopher (b. 1801)
    • 1882 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician (b. 1807)
    • 1901 – George Leslie Mackay, Canadian missionary and author (b. 1844)
    • 1927 – Hüseyin Avni Lifij, Turkish painter (b. 1886)
    • 1929 – Enrique Gorostieta, Mexican general (b. 1889)
    • 1933 – Frank Jarvis, American runner and triple jumper (b. 1878)
    • 1937 – Louis Vierne, French organist and composer (b. 1870)
    • 1941 – Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (b. 1903)
    • 1942 – Bunny Berigan, American singer and trumpet player (b. 1908)
    • 1947 – John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, English sailor and politician (b. 1867)
    • 1948 – Viktor Brack, German physician (b. 1904)
    • 1948 – Karl Brandt, German SS officer (b. 1904)
    • 1948 – Karl Gebhardt, German physician (b. 1897)
    • 1948 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (b. 1903)
    • 1948 – Wolfram Sievers, German SS officer (b. 1905)
    • 1952 – Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect, designed the Central Sofia Market Hall (b. 1880)
    • 1956 – Jean Hersholt, Danish-American actor and director (b. 1886)
    • 1959 – Lyda Borelli, Italian actress (b. 1884)
    • 1961 – George S. Kaufman, American director, producer, and playwright (b. 1889)
    • 1962 – Vita Sackville-West, English author and poet (b. 1892)
    • 1967 – Benno Ohnesorg, German student and activist (b. 1940)
    • 1968 – André Mathieu, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
    • 1969 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (b. 1917)
    • 1970 – Orhan Kemal, Turkish author (b. 1914)
    • 1970 – Albert Lamorisse, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
    • 1970 – Bruce McLaren, New Zealand race car driver and engineer, founded the McLaren racing team (b. 1937)
    • 1970 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian soldier, journalist, and academic (b. 1888)
    • 1974 – Hiroshi Kazato, Japanese race car driver (b. 1949)
    • 1976 – Kenneth Mason, English soldier and geographer (b. 1887)
    • 1976 – Juan José Torres, Bolivian general and politician, 61st President of Bolivia (b. 1920)
    • 1977 – Albert Bittlmayer, German footballer (b. 1952)
    • 1977 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish-born American actor (b. 1931)
    • 1978 – Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1895)
    • 1979 – Jim Hutton, American actor (b. 1934)
    • 1982 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th President of Pakistan (b. 1904)
    • 1983 – Stan Rogers, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
    • 1983 – Ray Stehr, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1913)
    • 1986 – Aurèle Joliat, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1901)
    • 1987 – Anthony de Mello, Indian-American priest and psychotherapist (b. 1931)
    • 1987 – Sammy Kaye, American bandleader and songwriter (b. 1910)
    • 1987 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (b. 1893)
    • 1988 – Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, director, and producer (b. 1924)
    • 1989 – Ted a’Beckett, Australian cricketer and footballer (b. 1907)
    • 1990 – Jack Gilford, American actor and comedian (b. 1908)
    • 1990 – Rex Harrison, English actor (b. 1908)
    • 1991 – Ahmed Arif, Turkish poet and author (b. 1927)
    • 1992 – Philip Dunne, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
    • 1993 – Johnny Mize, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1913)
    • 1993 – Tahar Djaout, Algerian journalist, writer and poet (b. 1954)
    • 1994 – David Stove, Australian philosopher, author, and academic (b. 1927)
    • 1996 – John Alton, Hungarian-American cinematographer and director (b. 1901)
    • 1996 – Leon Garfield, English author (b. 1921)
    • 1996 – Ray Combs, American game show host (b. 1956)
    • 1997 – Doc Cheatham, American trumpet player, singer, and bandleader (b. 1905)
    • 1999 – Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican singer (b. 1949)
    • 2000 – Svyatoslav Fyodorov, Russian ophthalmologist, academic, and politician (b. 1927)
    • 2000 – John Schlee, American golfer (b. 1939)
    • 2000 – Gerald James Whitrow, English mathematician, cosmologist, and historian (b. 1912)
    • 2001 – Imogene Coca, American actress and comedian (b. 1908)
    • 2001 – Joey Maxim, American boxer (b. 1922)
    • 2002 – Hugo van Lawick, Dutch director and photographer (b. 1937)
    • 2003 – Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (b. 1918)
    • 2003 – Alma Ricard, Canadian broadcaster and philanthropist (b. 1906)
    • 2005 – Lucien Cliche, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1916)
    • 2005 – Gunder Gundersen, Norwegian skier (b. 1930)
    • 2005 – Samir Kassir, Lebanese journalist and educator (b. 1950)
    • 2005 – Melita Norwood, English civil servant and spy (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Keith Smith, English rugby player and coach (b. 1952)
    • 2007 – Kentarō Haneda, Japanese pianist and composer (b. 1949)
    • 2007 – Huang Ju, Chinese engineer and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1938)
    • 2008 – Bo Diddley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
    • 2008 – Mel Ferrer, American actor (b. 1917)
    • 2008 – Cevher Özden, Turkish banker and businessman (b. 1933)
    • 2009 – David Eddings, American author (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Avraham Botzer, Polish-Israeli commander (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Adolfo Calero, Nicaraguan businessman and political activist (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Richard Dawson, English-American soldier, actor, television personality, and game show host (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – LeRoy Ellis, American basketball player (b. 1940)
    • 2012 – Kathryn Joosten, American actress (b. 1939)
    • 2012 – Jan Gmelich Meijling, Dutch commander and politician (b. 1943)
    • 2013 – Mario Bernardi, Canadian pianist and conductor (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Chen Xitong, Chinese politician, 8th Mayor of Beijing (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Mandawuy Yunupingu, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1956)
    • 2014 – Ivica Brzić, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Anjan Das, Indian director and producer (b. 1951)
    • 2014 – Gennadi Gusarov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Nikolay Khrenkov, Russian bobsledder (b. 1984)
    • 2014 – Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, Indian cardinal (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Kuaima Riruako, Namibian politician (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Alexander Shulgin, American pharmacologist and chemist (b. 1925)
    • 2015 – Fernando de Araújo, East Timorese politician, President of East Timor (b. 1963)
    • 2015 – Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
    • 2017 – Peter Sallis, English actor (b. 1921)

    Holidays and observances on June 2 

    • Children’s Day (North Korea)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Alexander (martyr)
      • Elmo
      • Felix of Nicosia
      • Marcellinus and Peter
      • Martyrs of Lyon, including Blandina
      • Pope Eugene I
      • Pothinus
      • June 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Civil Aviation Day (Azerbaijan)
    • Coronation of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, also Social Forestry Day (Bhutan)
    • Day of Hristo Botev (Bulgaria)
    • Decoration Day (Canada)
    • Festa della Repubblica (Italy)
    • International Sex Workers Day
    • Telangana Day (Telangana, India)

  • June 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.
    • 1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed king of Castile and León.
    • 1298 – Residents of Riga and Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the Livonian Order in the Battle of Turaida.
    • 1495 – A monk, John Cor, records the first known batch of Scotch whisky
    • 1533 – Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England.
    • 1535 – Combined forces loyal to Charles V attack and expel the Ottomans from Tunis during the Conquest of Tunis.
    • 1648 – The Roundheads defeat the Cavaliers at the Battle of Maidstone in the Second English Civil War.
    • 1649 – Start of the Sumuroy Revolt: Filipinos in Northern Samar led by Agustin Sumuroy revolt against Spanish colonial authorities.
    • 1670 – In Dover, England, Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France sign the Secret Treaty of Dover, which will force England into the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
    • 1676 – Battle of Öland: allied Danish-Dutch forces defeat the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, during the Scanian War (1675–79).
    • 1679 – The Scottish Covenanters defeat John Graham of Claverhouse at the Battle of Drumclog.
    • 1773 – Wolraad Woltemade rescues 14 sailors at the Cape of Good Hope from the sinking ship De Jonge Thomas by riding his horse into the sea seven times. He drowned on his eighth attempt.
    • 1779 – The court-martial for malfeasance of Benedict Arnold, a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, begins.
    • 1792 – Kentucky is admitted as the 15th state of the United States.
    • 1794 – The battle of the Glorious First of June is fought, the first naval engagement between Britain and France during the French Revolutionary Wars.
    • 1796 – Tennessee is admitted as the 16th state of the United States.
    • 1812 – War of 1812: U.S. President James Madison asks the Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom.
    • 1813 – Capture of USS Chesapeake.
    • 1815 – Napoleon promulgates a revised Constitution after it passes a plebiscite.
    • 1831 – James Clark Ross becomes the first European at the North Magnetic Pole.
    • 1849 – Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey declared the Territory of Minnesota officially established.
    • 1855 – The American adventurer William Walker conquers Nicaragua.
    • 1857 – Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal is published.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fairfax Court House is fought.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: The Battle of Seven Pines (or the Battle of Fair Oaks) ends inconclusively, with both sides claiming victory.
    • 1868 – The Treaty of Bosque Redondo is signed, allowing the Navajo to return to their lands in Arizona and New Mexico.
    • 1879 – Napoléon Eugène, the last dynastic Bonaparte, is killed in the Anglo-Zulu War.
    • 1890 – The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith’s tabulating machine to count census returns.
    • 1913 – The Greek–Serbian Treaty of Alliance is signed, paving the way for the Second Balkan War.
    • 1916 – Louis Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
    • 1918 – World War I: Western Front: Battle of Belleau Wood: Allied Forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord engage Imperial German Forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince.
    • 1922 – The Royal Ulster Constabulary is founded.
    • 1929 – The 1st Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America is held in Buenos Aires.
    • 1930 – The Deccan Queen is introduced as first intercity train between Bombay VT (Now Mumbai CST) and Poona (Pune) to run on electric locomotives.
    • 1939 – First flight of the German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft.
    • 1941 – World War II: The Battle of Crete ends as Crete capitulates to Germany.
    • 1941 – The Farhud, a massive pogrom in Iraq, starts and as a result, many Iraqi Jews are forced to leave their homes.
    • 1943 – BOAC Flight 777 is shot down over the Bay of Biscay by German Junkers Ju 88s, killing British actor Leslie Howard and leading to speculation that it was actually an attempt to kill British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
    • 1946 – Ion Antonescu, “Conducator” (“Leader”) of Romania during World War II, is executed.
    • 1950 – The Chinchaga fire ignites. By September, it would become the largest single fire on record in North America.
    • 1958 – Charles de Gaulle comes out of retirement to lead France by decree for six months.
    • 1961 – The Canadian Bank of Commerce and Imperial Bank of Canada merge to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the largest bank merger in Canadian history.
    • 1962 – Adolf Eichmann is hanged in Israel.
    • 1964 – Kenya becomes a republic with Jomo Kenyatta (1897 – 22 August 1978) as its first President (1964 to 1978).
    • 1974 – The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine.
    • 1975 – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was founded by Jalal Talabani, Nawshirwan Mustafa, Fuad Masum and others.
    • 1978 – The first international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty are filed.
    • 1979 – The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power.
    • 1980 – Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting.
    • 1988 – European Central Bank is founded in Brussels.
    • 1988 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty comes into effect.
    • 1990 – Cold War: George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production.
    • 1993 – Dobrinja mortar attack: Thirteen are killed and 133 wounded when Serb mortar shells are fired at a soccer game in Dobrinja, west of Sarajevo.
    • 1994 – Republic of South Africa becomes a Commonwealth republic.
    • 1999 – American Airlines Flight 1420 slides and crashes while landing at Little Rock National Airport, killing 11 people on a flight from Dallas to Little Rock.
    • 2001 – Nepalese royal massacre: Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shoots and kills several members of his family including his father and mother.
    • 2001 – Dolphinarium discotheque massacre: A Hamas suicide bomber kills 21 at a disco in Tel Aviv.
    • 2004 – Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols is sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of a parole, breaking a Guinness World Record.
    • 2008 – A fire on the back lot of Universal Studios breaks out, destroying the attraction King Kong Encounter and a large archive of master tapes for music and film, the full extent of which was not revealed until 2019.
    • 2009 – Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 passengers and crew are killed.
    • 2009 – General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourth largest United States bankruptcy in history.
    • 2011 – A rare tornado outbreak occurs in New England; a strong EF3 tornado strikes Springfield, Massachusetts, during the event, killing four people.
    • 2011 – Space Shuttle Endeavour makes its final landing after 25 flights.
    • 2015 – A ship carrying 458 people capsizes on Yangtze river in China’s Hubei province, killing 400 people.

    Births on June 1

    • 1134 – Geoffrey, Count of Nantes (d. 1158)
    • 1300 – Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, English politician, Lord Marshal of England (d. 1338)
    • 1451 – Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney (d. 1508)
    • 1460 – Enno I, Count of East Frisia, German noble (d. 1491)
    • 1480 – Tiedemann Giese, Polish bishop (d. 1550)
    • 1498 – Maarten van Heemskerck, Dutch painter (d. 1574)
    • 1522 – Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert, Dutch writer and scholar (d. 1590)
    • 1563 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Secretary of State for England (d. 1612)
    • 1612 – Frans Post, Dutch painter (d. 1680)
    • 1633 – Geminiano Montanari, Italian astronomer and academic (d. 1687)
    • 1637 – Jacques Marquette, French missionary and explorer (d. 1675)
    • 1653 – Georg Muffat, French organist and composer (d. 1704)
    • 1675 – Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist and playwright (d. 1755)
    • 1762 – Edmund Ignatius Rice, Irish priest and missionary, founded the Irish Christian Brothers (d. 1844)
    • 1765 – Christiane Vulpius, mistress and wife of Johann Wolfgang Goethe (d. 1816)
    • 1770 – Friedrich Laun, German author (d. 1849)
    • 1790 – Ferdinand Raimund, Austrian actor and playwright (d. 1836)
    • 1796 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, French physicist and engineer (d. 1832)
    • 1800 – Edward Deas Thomson, Australian educator and politician, Chief Secretary of New South Wales (d. 1879)
    • 1801 – Brigham Young, American religious leader, 2nd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1877)
    • 1804 – Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (d. 1857)
    • 1808 – Henry Parker, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of New South Wales (d. 1881)
    • 1815 – Otto of Greece (d. 1862)
    • 1819 – Francis V, Duke of Modena (d. 1875)
    • 1822 – Clementina Maude, Viscountess Hawarden, English portrait photographer (d. 1865)
    • 1825 – John Hunt Morgan, American general (d. 1864)
    • 1831 – John Bell Hood, American general (d. 1879)
    • 1833 – John Marshall Harlan, American lawyer, judge, and politician, Attorney General of Kentucky (d. 1911)
    • 1843 – Henry Faulds, Scottish physician and missionary, developed fingerprinting (d. 1930)
    • 1844 – John J. Toffey, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1911)
    • 1869 – Richard Wünsch, German philologist (d. 1915)
    • 1873 – Elena Alistar, Bessarabian politician (d. 1955)
    • 1874 – Yury Nikolaevich Voronov, Russian botanist (d. 1931)
    • 1878 – John Masefield, English author and poet (d. 1967)
    • 1879 – Max Emmerich, American triathlete and gymnast (d. 1956)
    • 1882 – Nicolae Bivol, Moldovan businessman and politician, Mayor of Chișinău (d. 1940)
    • 1887 – Clive Brook, English actor (d. 1974)
    • 1889 – James Daugherty, American author, illustrator, and painter (d. 1974)
    • 1889 – Charles Kay Ogden, English linguist and philosopher (d. 1957)
    • 1890 – Frank Morgan, American actor (d. 1949)
    • 1892 – Amanullah Khan, sovereign of the Kingdom of Afghanistan, (d. 1960)
    • 1899 – Edward Charles Titchmarsh, English mathematician and academic (d. 1963)
    • 1901 – Hap Day, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and manager (d. 1990)
    • 1901 – Tom Gorman, Australian rugby league player (d. 1978)
    • 1901 – John Van Druten, English-American playwright and director (d. 1957)
    • 1903 – Vasyl Velychkovsky, Ukrainian-Canadian bishop and martyr (d. 1973)
    • 1903 – Hans Vogt, Norwegian linguist and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1905 – Robert Newton, English-American actor (d. 1956)
    • 1907 – Jan Patočka, Czech philosopher (d. 1977)
    • 1907 – Frank Whittle, English airman and engineer, developed the jet engine (d. 1996)
    • 1908 – Julie Campbell Tatham, American author (d. 1999)
    • 1909 – Yechezkel Kutscher, Slovakian-Israeli philologist and linguist (d. 1971)
    • 1910 – Gyula Kállai, Hungarian communist leader, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Hungary (d. 1996)
    • 1912 – Herbert Tichy, Austrian geologist, author, and mountaineer (d. 1987)
    • 1913 – Bill Deedes, English journalist and politician (d. 2007)
    • 1915 – John Randolph, American actor (d. 2004)
    • 1916 – Jean Jérôme Hamer, Belgian Cardinal (d. 1996)
    • 1917 – William Standish Knowles, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Robert Clarke, American actor and producer (d. 2005)
    • 1921 – Nelson Riddle, American composer and bandleader (d. 1985)
    • 1922 – Joan Caulfield, American model and actress (d. 1991)
    • 1922 – Povel Ramel, Swedish singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2007)
    • 1924 – William Sloane Coffin, American minister and activist (d. 2006)
    • 1925 – Dilia Díaz Cisneros, Venezuelan teacher (d. 2017)
    • 1926 – Johnny Berry, English footballer (d. 1994)
    • 1926 – Andy Griffith, American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – Marilyn Monroe, American model and actress (d. 1962)
    • 1926 – George Robb, English international footballer and teacher (d. 2011)
    • 1926 – Richard Schweiker, American soldier and politician, 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Georgy Dobrovolsky, Ukrainian pilot and astronaut (d. 1971)
    • 1928 – Steve Dodd, Australian actor and composer (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Bob Monkhouse, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1929 – Nargis, Indian actress (d. 1981)<ref”>Dilip Kumar (28 July 2014). Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow. Hay House, Inc. p. 137. ISBN 978-93-81398-96-8.</ref>
    • 1929 – James H. Billington, American academic and Thirteenth Librarian of Congress (d. 2018)
    • 1930 – John Lemmon, English logician and philosopher (d. 1966)
    • 1930 – Richard Levins, American ecologist and geneticist (d. 2016)
    • 1930 – Matt Poore, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2020)
    • 1930 – Edward Woodward, English actor (d. 2009)
    • 1931 – Walter Horak, Austrian footballer (d. 2019)
    • 1932 – Frank Cameron, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1932 – Christopher Lasch, American historian and critic (d. 1994)
    • 1933 – Haruo Remeliik, Palauan politician, 1st President of Palau (d. 1985)
    • 1933 – Charles Wilson, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2010)
    • 1934 – Pat Boone, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1934 – Peter Masterson, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2018)
    • 1934 – Doris Buchanan Smith, American author (d. 2002)
    • 1935 – Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, English architect, founded Foster and Partners
    • 1935 – Reverend Ike, American minister and television host (d. 2009)
    • 1935 – Jack Kralick, American baseball player (d. 2012)
    • 1935 – Percy Adlon, German director, screenwriter and producer
    • 1935 – John C. Reynolds, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Anatoly Albul, Soviet and Russian wrestler (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – André Bourbeau, Canadian politician (d. 2018)
    • 1936 – Bekim Fehmiu, Bosnian actor (d. 2010)
    • 1936 – Gerald Scarfe, English illustrator and animator
    • 1937 – Morgan Freeman, American actor and producer
    • 1937 – Rosaleen Linehan, Irish actress
    • 1937 – Colleen McCullough, Australian neuroscientist and author (d. 2015)
    • 1939 – Cleavon Little, American actor and comedian (d. 1992)
    • 1940 – René Auberjonois, American actor (d. 2019)
    • 1940 – Katerina Gogou, Greek writer and actress (d. 1993)
    • 1940 – Kip Thorne, American physicist, astronomer, and academic
    • 1941 – Dean Chance, American baseball player and manager (d. 2015)
    • 1941 – Toyo Ito, Japanese architect, designed the Torre Realia BCN and Hotel Porta Fira
    • 1941 – Alexander V. Zakharov, Russian physicist and astronomer
    • 1942 – Parveen Kumar, Pakistani-English physician and academic
    • 1943 – Orietta Berti, Italian singer and actress
    • 1943 – Richard Goode, American pianist
    • 1943 – Lorrie Wilmot, South African cricketer (d. 2004)
    • 1944 – Colin Blakemore, British neurobiologist
    • 1944 – Robert Powell, English actor
    • 1945 – Jim McCarty, American blues rock guitarist
    • 1945 – Linda Scott, American singer
    • 1945 – Lydia Shum, Chinese-Hong Kong actress (d. 2008)
    • 1945 – Kerry Vincent, Australian chef and author
    • 1945 – Frederica von Stade, American soprano and actress
    • 1946 – Brian Cox, Scottish actor
    • 1947 – Ron Dennis, English businessman, founded the McLaren Group
    • 1947 – Jonathan Pryce, Welsh actor and singer
    • 1947 – Ronnie Wood, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1948 – Powers Boothe, American actor (d. 2017)
    • 1948 – Tomáš Halík, Czech Roman Catholic priest, philosopher, theologian and scholar
    • 1948 – Michel Plasse, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2006)
    • 1948 – Juhan Viiding, Estonian poet and actor (d. 1995)
    • 1950 – Perrin Beatty, Canadian businessman and politician
    • 1950 – Charlene, American singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Jean Lambert, English educator and politician
    • 1950 – Michael McDowell, American author and screenwriter (d. 1999)
    • 1952 – Şenol Güneş, Turkish footballer and manager
    • 1952 – David Lan, South African-English director and playwright
    • 1952 – Mihaela Loghin, Romanian shot putter
    • 1953 – Ronnie Dunn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1953 – Ted Field, American entrepreneur and race car driver
    • 1954 – Jill Black, English lawyer and judge
    • 1955 – Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 2016)
    • 1955 – Lorraine Moller, New Zealand runner
    • 1955 – Tony Snow, American journalist, 26th White House Press Secretary (d. 2008)
    • 1956 – Patrick Besson, French writer and journalist
    • 1956 – Lisa Hartman Black, American actress
    • 1956 – Petra Morsbach, German author
    • 1958 – Nambaryn Enkhbayar, Mongolian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Mongolia
    • 1958 – Gennadiy Valyukevich, Belarusian triple jumper (d. 2019)
    • 1959 – Martin Brundle, English racing driver and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Alan Wilder, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1960 – Simon Gallup, English musician (The Cure)
    • 1960 – Vladimir Krutov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2012)
    • 1960 – Sergey Kuznetsov, Russian footballer and manager
    • 1960 – Giorgos Lillikas, Cypriot politician, 8th Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1960 – Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (d. 2006)
    • 1961 – Paul Coffey, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1961 – Mark Curry, American actor
    • 1961 – Werner Günthör, Swiss shot putter and bobsledder
    • 1961 – John Huston, American golfer
    • 1961 – Peter Machajdík, Slovakian-German pianist and composer
    • 1963 – Vital Borkelmans, Belgian footballer
    • 1963 – Miles J. Padgett, Scottish physicist and academic
    • 1963 – David Westhead, English actor and producer
    • 1965 – Larisa Lazutina, Russian skier
    • 1965 – Olga Nazarova, Russian sprinter
    • 1965 – Nigel Short, English chess player and journalist
    • 1966 – Greg Schiano, American football player and coach
    • 1968 – Jason Donovan, Australian actor and singer
    • 1968 – Jeff Hackett, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1968 – Mathias Rust, German aviator
    • 1969 – Luis García Postigo, former Mexican footballer
    • 1969 – Teri Polo, American actress
    • 1970 – Georgie Gardner, Australian journalist and television host
    • 1970 – Alexi Lalas, American soccer player, manager, and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Mario Cimarro, Cuban-American actor and singer
    • 1973 – Frédérik Deburghgraeve, Belgian swimmer
    • 1973 – Adam Garcia, Australian actor
    • 1973 – Derek Lowe, American baseball player
    • 1973 – Heidi Klum, German-American model, fashion designer, and producer
    • 1974 – Alanis Morissette, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actress
    • 1974 – Michael Rasmussen, Danish cyclist
    • 1974 – Sarah Teather, English politician
    • 1974 – Akis Zikos, Greek footballer and coach
    • 1975 – Michal Grošek, Czech-Swiss ice hockey player and coach
    • 1975 – Frauke Petry, German politician
    • 1975 – Ēriks Rags, Latvian javelin thrower
    • 1976 – Marlon Devonish, English sprinter and coach
    • 1976 – Kōhei Murakami, Japanese actor
    • 1977 – Andrea Bogart, American actress
    • 1977 – Arsen Gitinov, Russian and Kyrgyzstani freestyle wrestler
    • 1977 – Danielle Harris, American actress
    • 1977 – Brad Wilkerson, American baseball player and coach
    • 1977 – Sarah Wayne Callies, American actress
    • 1978 – Antonietta Di Martino, Italian high jumper
    • 1978 – Matthew Hittinger, American poet and author
    • 1979 – Santana Moss, American football player
    • 1979 – Markus Persson, Swedish game designer, founded Mojang
    • 1981 – Brandi Carlile, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1981 – Amy Schumer, American actress
    • 1981 – Carlos Zambrano, Venezuelan-American baseball player
    • 1981 – Aleksei Mikhailovich Uvarov, Russian footballer
    • 1982 – Justine Henin, Belgian tennis player
    • 1983 – Tetyana Hamera-Shmyrko, Ukrainian runner
    • 1983 – Tõnis Sahk, Estonian long jumper
    • 1984 – Jean Beausejour, Chilean footballer
    • 1984 – Olivier Tielemans, Dutch racing driver
    • 1985 – Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopian runner
    • 1985 – Mário Hipólito, Angolan footballer
    • 1985 – Dinesh Karthik, Indian cricketer
    • 1985 – Nick Young, American basketball player
    • 1985 – Sam Young, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Moses Ndiema Masai, Kenyan runner
    • 1986 – Chinedu Obasi, Nigerian footballer
    • 1986 – Ben Smith, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1987 – Zoltán Harsányi, Slovakian footballer
    • 1987 – Jerel McNeal, American basketball player
    • 1987 – Yarisley Silva, Cuban pole vaulter
    • 1988 – Javier Hernández, Mexican footballer
    • 1989 – Nataliya Goncharova, Ukrainian/Russian volleyball player
    • 1989 – Sammy Alex Mutahi, Kenyan runner
    • 1990 – Miller Bolaños, Ecuadoran footballer
    • 1990 – Kennie Chopart, Danish footballer
    • 1990 – Carlota Ciganda, Spanish golfer
    • 1990 – Martin Pembleton, English footballer
    • 1990 – Bianca Perie, Romanian hammer thrower
    • 1991 – Tyrone Roberts, Australian rugby league player
    • 1993 – Sam Anas, American ice hockey player
    • 1994 – Kagayaki Taishi, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1996 – Edvinas Gertmonas, Lithuanian footballer
    • 1996 – Tom Holland, English actor
    • 1999 – Dmitri Aliev, Russian figure skater

    Deaths on June 1

    • 195 BC – Emperor Gaozu of Han (b. 256 BC)
    • 193 – Didius Julianus, Roman Emperor (b. 133)
    • 352 – Ran Min, “Heavenly Prince” (Tian Wang) during the Sixteen Kingdoms
    • 654 – Pyrrhus, patriarch of Constantinople
    • 829 – Li Tongjie, general of the Tang Dynasty
    • 847 – Xiao, empress of the Tang Dynasty
    • 896 – Theodosius Romanus, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch
    • 932 – Thietmar, duke of Saxony
    • 1146 – Ermengarde of Anjou, Duchess regent of Brittany (b. 1068)
    • 1186 – Minamoto no Yukiie, Japanese warlord
    • 1220 – Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford (b. 1176)
    • 1310 – Marguerite Porete, French mystic
    • 1354 – Kitabatake Chikafusa (b. 1293)
    • 1434 – King Wladislaus II of Poland
    • 1571 – John Story, English martyr (b. 1504)
    • 1616 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shogun (b. 1543)
    • 1625 – Honoré d’Urfé, French author and poet (b. 1568)
    • 1639 – Melchior Franck, German composer (b. 1579)
    • 1660 – Mary Dyer, English-American martyr (b. 1611)
    • 1662 – Zhu Youlang, Chinese emperor (b. 1623)
    • 1681 – Cornelis Saftleven, Dutch genre painter (b. 1607)
    • 1710 – David Mitchell, Scottish admiral and politician (b. 1642)
    • 1740 – Samuel Werenfels, Swiss theologian (b. 1657)
    • 1769 – Edward Holyoke, American pastor and academic (b. 1689)
    • 1773 – Wolraad Woltemade, South African folk hero (b. 1708)
    • 1795 – Pierre-Joseph Desault, French anatomist and surgeon (b. 1744)
    • 1815 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier, French general and politician, French Minister of War (b. 1753)
    • 1823 – Louis-Nicolas Davout, French general and politician, French Minister of War (b. 1770)
    • 1826 – J. F. Oberlin, French pastor and philanthropist (b. 1740)
    • 1830 – Swaminarayan, Indian religious leader (b. 1781)
    • 1833 – Oliver Wolcott Jr., American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Treasury, 24th Governor of Connecticut (b. 1760)
    • 1841 – David Wilkie, Scottish painter and academic (b. 1785)
    • 1846 – Pope Gregory XVI (b. 1765)
    • 1861 – John Quincy Marr, American captain (b. 1825)
    • 1864 – Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebel, led the Taiping Rebellion (b. 1812)
    • 1868 – James Buchanan, American lawyer and politician, 15th President of the United States (b. 1791)
    • 1872 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr., American publisher, founded the New York Herald (b. 1795)
    • 1873 – Joseph Howe, Canadian journalist and politician, 5th Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1804)
    • 1876 – Hristo Botev, Bulgarian poet and journalist (b. 1848)
    • 1879 – Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France (b. 1856)
    • 1908 – Allen Butler Talcott, American painter (b. 1867)
    • 1927 – Lizzie Borden, American accused murderer (b. 1860)
    • 1927 – J. B. Bury, Irish historian, philologist, and scholar (b. 1861)
    • 1934 – Sir Alfred Rawlinson, 3rd Baronet, English colonel and polo player (b. 1867)
    • 1935 – Arthur Arz von Straußenburg, Romanian-Hungarian general (d. 1857)
    • 1938 – Ödön von Horváth, Croatian-French author and playwright (b. 1901)
    • 1941 – Hans Berger, German neurologist and academic (b. 1873)
    • 1941 – Hugh Walpole, New Zealand-English author (b. 1884)
    • 1943 – Leslie Howard, English actor, director, and producer (b. 1893)
    • 1943 – Wilfrid Israel, English-German businessman and philanthropist (b. 1899)
    • 1946 – Ion Antonescu, Romanian marshal and politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1882)
    • 1948 – Alex Gard, Russian-American cartoonist (b. 1900)
    • 1952 – John Dewey, American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1859)
    • 1953 – Emanuel Vidović, Croatian painter and illustrator (b. 1870)
    • 1954 – Martin Andersen Nexø, Danish-German journalist and author (b. 1869)
    • 1960 – Lester Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1883)
    • 1960 – Paula Hitler, German-Austrian sister of Adolf Hitler (b. 1896)
    • 1962 – Adolf Eichmann, a German Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer (b. 1906)
    • 1963 – Walter Lee, Australian politician, 24th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1874)
    • 1965 – Curly Lambeau, American football player and coach, founded the Green Bay Packers (b. 1898)
    • 1966 – Papa Jack Laine, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1873)
    • 1968 – Helen Keller, American author and activist (b. 1880)
    • 1968 – André Laurendeau, Canadian playwright, journalist, and politician (b. 1912)
    • 1969 – Ivar Ballangrud, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1904)
    • 1971 – Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologian and academic (b. 1892)
    • 1979 – Werner Forssmann, German physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1980 – Arthur Nielsen, American businessman, founded the ACNielsen company (b. 1897)
    • 1981 – Carl Vinson, American lawyer and politician (b. 1883)
    • 1983 – Prince Charles, Count of Flanders (b. 1903)
    • 1985 – Richard Greene, English actor and soldier (b. 1918)
    • 1986 – Jo Gartner, Austrian racing driver (b. 1958)
    • 1987 – Rashid Karami, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1921)
    • 1988 – Herbert Feigl, Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1902)
    • 1989 – Aurelio Lampredi, Italian engineer, designed the Ferrari Lampredi engine (b. 1917)
    • 1991 – David Ruffin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
    • 1996 – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Indian politician, 6th President of India (b. 1913)
    • 1999 – Christopher Cockerell, English engineer, invented the hovercraft (b. 1910)
    • 2000 – Tito Puente, American drummer, composer, and producer (b. 1923)
    • 2001 – Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist, created Dennis the Menace (b. 1920)
    • 2001 – notable victims of the Nepalese royal massacre
      • Aishwarya of Nepal (b. 1949)
      • Birendra of Nepal (b. 1945)
      • Dhirendra of Nepal (b. 1950)
      • Prince Nirajan of Nepal (b. 1978)
      • Princess Shruti of Nepal (b. 1976)
    • 2002 – Hansie Cronje, South African cricketer (b. 1969)
    • 2004 – William Manchester, American historian and author (b. 1922)
    • 2005 – Hilda Crosby Standish, American physician (b. 1902)
    • 2005 – George Mikan, American basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Rocío Jurado, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)
    • 2007 – Tony Thompson, American singer and songwriter (Hi-Five) (b. 1975)
    • 2008 – Tommy Lapid, Israeli journalist and politician, 17th Justice Minister of Israel (b. 1931)
    • 2008 – Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer, founded Saint Laurent Paris (b. 1936)
    • 2009 – Bob Christie, American race car driver (b. 1924)
    • 2009 – Vincent O’Brien, Irish horse trainer (b. 1917)
    • 2010 – Kazuo Ohno, Japanese dancer (b. 1906)
    • 2010 – Andrei Voznesensky, Russian poet (b. 1933)
    • 2011 – Haleh Sahabi, Iranian humanitarian and activist (b. 1957)
    • 2012 – Faruq Z. Bey, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1942)
    • 2012 – Pádraig Faulkner, Irish educator and politician, 19th Irish Minister of Defence (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Milan Gaľa, Slovak politician (b. 1953)
    • 2013 – James Kelleher, Canadian lawyer and politician, 33rd Solicitor General of Canada (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Ann B. Davis, American actress (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Valentin Mankin, Ukrainian sailor (b. 1938)
    • 2015 – Charles Kennedy, Scottish journalist and politician (b. 1959)
    • 2015 – Joan Kirner, Australian educator and politician, 42nd Premier of Victoria (b. 1938)
    • 2015 – Nicholas Liverpool, Dominican lawyer and politician, 6th President of Dominica (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Jacques Parizeau, Canadian economist and politician, 26th Premier of Quebec (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Jean Ritchie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1922)
    • 2018 – Sinan Sakić, Serbian pop-folk singer (b. 1956)
    • 2019 – Ani Yudhoyono, Indonesian politician, 6th First Lady of Indonesia. (b. 1952)

    Holidays and observances on June 1

    • Children’s Day (International), and its related observances:
      • The Day of Protection of Children Rights (Armenia)
      • Mothers’ and Children’s Day (Mongolia)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Annibale Maria di Francia
      • Crescentinus
      • Fortunatus of Spoleto
      • Herculanus of Piegaro
      • Íñigo of Oña
      • Justin Martyr (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran)
      • Ronan of Locronan
      • June 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Canadian Forces Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Canada)
    • Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Lithuania)
    • Earliest day on which June Holiday can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in June. (Ireland)
    • Earliest day on which Labour Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Friday in June. (The Bahamas)
    • Earliest day on which Teacher’s Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Hungary)
    • Earliest day on which the Queen’s Birthday can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in June. (New Zealand, Cook Islands, Fiji)
    • Earliest day on which Seamen’s Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Iceland)
    • Earliest day on which Western Australia Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Western Australia)
    • Global Day of Parents (International)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Samoa from New Zealand in 1962.
    • Madaraka Day (Kenya)
    • National Maritime Day (Mexico)
    • National Tree Planting Day (Cambodia)
    • Pancasila Day (Indonesia)
    • President’s Day (Palau)
    • The beginning of Crop over, celebrated until the first Monday of August. (Barbados)
    • Victory Day (Tunisia)
    • World Milk Day (International)
  • |

    May 31- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.
    • 1223 – Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus’ and Cumans.
    • 1293 – Mongol invasion of Java was a punitive expedition against King Kertanegara of Singhasari, who had refused to pay tribute to the Yuan and maimed one of its ministers. However, it ended with failure for the Mongols. Regarded as establish City of Surabaya
    • 1578 – King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris, France.
    • 1669 – Citing poor eyesight as a reason, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.
    • 1775 – American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolves are adopted in the Province of North Carolina.
    • 1790 – Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
    • 1790 – The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
    • 1795 – French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.
    • 1805 – French and Spanish forces begin the assault against British forces occupying Diamond Rock.
    • 1813 – In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.
    • 1859 – The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston and G.W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: The Army of Northern Virginia engages the Army of the Potomac.
    • 1879 – Gilmore’s Garden in New York City is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
    • 1884 – The arrival at Plymouth of Tāwhiao, King of Maoris, to claim the protection of Queen Victoria.
    • 1889 – Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam fails and sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
    • 1902 – Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.
    • 1909 – The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), convenes for the first time.
    • 1910 – The South Africa Act comes into force, establishing the Union of South Africa.
    • 1911 – The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
    • 1911 – The President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.
    • 1916 – World War I: Battle of Jutland: The British Grand Fleet engages the High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.
    • 1921 – The Tulsa race massacre kills at least 39, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300.
    • 1935 – A 7.7 Mw  earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan killing 40,000.
    • 1941 – Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns ‘Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
    • 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.
    • 1947 – Ferenc Nagy, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary, resigns from office after blackmail from the Hungarian Communist Party accusing him of being part of a plot against the state. This grants the Communists effective control of the Hungarian government.
    • 1961 – The South African Constitution of 1961 becomes effective, thus creating the Republic of South Africa, which remains outside the Commonwealth of Nations until 1 June 1994, when South Africa is returned to Commonwealth membership.
    • 1961 – In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.
    • 1962 – The West Indies Federation dissolves.
    • 1970 – The 7.9 Mw  Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794–70,000 were killed and 50,000 were injured.
    • 1971 – In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.
    • 1973 – The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.
    • 1977 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.
    • 1985 – United States–Canada tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.
    • 1991 – Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations’ UNAVEM II mission.
    • 2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was “Deep Throat”.
    • 2008 – Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal (+1.7 m/s) 9.72 seconds
    • 2010 – Israeli Shayetet 13 commandos boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while still in international waters trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip; nine Turkish citizens on the flotilla were killed in the ensuing violent affray.
    • 2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.
    • 2013 – A record breaking 2.6 mile wide tornado strikes El Reno, Oklahoma, United States, causing eight fatalities and over 150 injuries.
    • 2017 – A car bomb explodes in a crowded intersection in Kabul near the German embassy during rush hour, killing over 90 and injuring 463.
    • 2017 – U.S. President Donald Trump tweets the word “covfefe” and quickly becomes a worldwide viral phenomenon.
    • 2019 – A shooting occurs inside a municipal building at Virginia Beach, Virginia, leaving 13 people dead, including the shooter, and four others injured.

    Births on May 31

    • 1443 (or 1441) – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (d. 1509)
    • 1462 – Philipp II, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1504)
    • 1469 – Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
    • 1535 – Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (d. 1607)
    • 1556 – Jerzy Radziwiłł, Catholic cardinal (d. 1600)
    • 1577 – Nur Jahan, Empress consort of the Mughal Empire (d. 1645)
    • 1613 – John George II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1680)
    • 1640 – Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland (d. 1673)
    • 1641 – Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem (d. 1707)
    • 1725 – Ahilyabai Holkar, Queen of the Malwa Kingdom under the Maratha Empire (d. 1795)
    • 1732 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (d. 1812)
    • 1753 – Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French lawyer and politician (d. 1793)
    • 1754 – Andrea Appiani, Italian painter and educator (d. 1817)
    • 1773 – Ludwig Tieck, German poet, author, and critic (d. 1853)
    • 1801 – Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist and scholar (d. 1887)
    • 1815 – Adye Douglas, English-Australian cricketer and politician, 15th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1906)
    • 1818 – John Albion Andrew, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1867)
    • 1819 – Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (d. 1892)
    • 1827 – Kusumoto Ine, first Japanese female doctor of Western medicine (d. 1903)
    • 1835 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese commander (d. 1869)
    • 1838 – Henry Sidgwick, English economist and philosopher (d. 1900)
    • 1842 – John Cox Bray, Australian politician, 15th Premier of South Australia (d. 1894)
    • 1847 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Canadian-Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast (d. 1924)
    • 1852 – Francisco Moreno, Argentinian explorer and academic (d. 1919)
    • 1852 – Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist, invented the Petri dish (d. 1921)
    • 1857 – Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
    • 1858 – Graham Wallas, English socialist, social psychologist, and educationalist (d. 1932)
    • 1860 – Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
    • 1863 – Francis Younghusband, Indian-English captain and explorer (d. 1942)
    • 1866 – John Ringling, American entrepreneur; one of the founders of the Ringling Brothers Circus (d. 1936)
    • 1875 – Rosa May Billinghurst, British suffragette and women’s rights activist (d.1953)
    • 1879 – Frances Alda, New Zealand-Australian soprano (d. 1952)
    • 1882 – Sándor Festetics, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of War (d. 1956)
    • 1883 – Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish politician, 2nd President of Finland (d. 1942)
    • 1885 – Robert Richards, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of South Australia (d. 1967)
    • 1887 – Saint-John Perse, French poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
    • 1892 – Michel Kikoine, Belarusian-French painter (d. 1968)
    • 1892 – Erich Neumann, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1951)
    • 1892 – Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian poet and author (d. 1968)
    • 1892 – Gregor Strasser, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1934)
    • 1894 – Fred Allen, American comedian, radio host, game show panelist, and author (d. 1956)
    • 1898 – Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (d. 1993)
    • 1900 – Lucile Godbold, American Olympic athlete (d. 1981)
    • 1901 – Alfredo Antonini, Italian-American conductor and composer (d. 1983)
    • 1908 – Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
    • 1909 – Art Coulter, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2000)
    • 1911 – Maurice Allais, French economist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
    • 1912 – Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American experimental physicist (d. 1997)
    • 1914 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer and educator (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Bert Haanstra, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1997)
    • 1918 – Robert Osterloh, American actor (d. 2001)
    • 1918 – Lloyd Quarterman, African American chemist (d. 1982)
    • 1919 – Robie Macauley, American editor, novelist and critic (d. 1995)
    • 1921 – Edna Doré, English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1921 – Andrew Grima, Anglo-Italian jewellery designer (d. 2007)
    • 1921 – Howard Reig, American radio and television announcer (d. 2008)
    • 1921 – Alida Valli, Austrian-Italian actress and singer (d. 2006)
    • 1922 – Denholm Elliott, English-Spanish actor (d. 1992)
    • 1923 – Ellsworth Kelly, American painter and sculptor (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
    • 1925 – Julian Beck, American actor and director (d. 1986)
    • 1927 – James Eberle, English admiral (d. 2018)
    • 1927 – Michael Sandberg, Baron Sandberg, English lieutenant and banker (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Pankaj Roy, Indian cricketer (d. 2001)
    • 1929 – Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, musician, and producer
    • 1931 – John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Shirley Verrett, American soprano and actress (d. 2010)
    • 1932 – Ed Lincoln, Brazilian pianist, bassist, and composer (d. 2012)
    • 1932 – Jay Miner, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 1994)
    • 1933 – Henry B. Eyring, American religious leader, educator, and author
    • 1934 – Jim Hutton, American actor (d. 1979)
    • 1935 – Jim Bolger, New Zealand businessman and politician, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1938 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
    • 1938 – John Prescott, British sailor and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    • 1938 – Peter Yarrow, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1939 – Terry Waite, English humanitarian and author
    • 1940 – Anatoliy Bondarchuk, Ukrainian hammer thrower and coach
    • 1940 – Augie Meyers, American musician and singer-songwriter
    • 1940 – Gilbert Shelton, American illustrator
    • 1941 – June Clark, Welsh nurse and educator
    • 1941 – Louis Ignarro, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1941 – William Nordhaus, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1943 – Sharon Gless, American actress
    • 1943 – Joe Namath, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
    • 1945 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1945 – Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian academic and politician, 4th President of Côte d’Ivoire
    • 1945 – Bernard Goldberg, American journalist and author
    • 1946 – Ted Baehr, American publisher and critic
    • 1946 – Steve Bucknor, Jamaican cricketer and umpire
    • 1946 – Krista Kilvet, Estonian journalist, politician, and diplomat (d. 2009)
    • 1946 – Debbie Moore, English model and businesswoman
    • 1947 – Junior Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1947 – Gabriele Hinzmann, German discus thrower
    • 1948 – Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1948 – John Bonham, English musician, songwriter and drummer (d. 1980)
    • 1948 – Martin Hannett, English bass player, guitarist, and record producer (d. 1991)
    • 1948 – Duncan Hunter, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician
    • 1949 – Tom Berenger, American actor, film producer and television writer
    • 1950 – Jean Chalopin, French director, producer, and screenwriter, founded DIC Entertainment
    • 1950 – Gregory Harrison, American actor
    • 1950 – Edgar Savisaar, Estonian politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior
    • 1951 – Karl-Hans Riehm, German hammer thrower
    • 1952 – Karl Bartos, German singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1953 – Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Finnish actor and screenwriter
    • 1954 – Thomas Mavros, Greek footballer
    • 1954 – Vicki Sue Robinson, American actress and singer (d. 2000)
    • 1955 – Tommy Emmanuel, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1955 – Susie Essman, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Fritz Hilpert, German drummer and composer
    • 1956 – John Young, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1957 – Jim Craig, American ice hockey player
    • 1959 – Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver (d. 2014)
    • 1959 – Phil Wilson, English politician
    • 1960 – Greg Adams, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman
    • 1960 – Chris Elliott, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Peter Winterbottom, English rugby player
    • 1961 – Ray Cote, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1961 – Justin Madden, Australian footballer and politician
    • 1961 – Lea Thompson, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1962 – Corey Hart, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1963 – David Leigh, holder of the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry at the University of Manchester
    • 1963 – Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician, 38th Prime Minister of Hungary
    • 1963 – Wesley Willis, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2003)
    • 1964 – Leonard Asper, Canadian lawyer and businessman
    • 1964 – Stéphane Caristan, French hurdler and coach
    • 1964 – Yukio Edano, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs
    • 1964 – Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, American rapper and producer
    • 1965 – Brooke Shields, American model, actress, and producer
    • 1966 – Roshan Mahanama, Sri Lankan cricketer and referee
    • 1967 – Phil Keoghan, New Zealand television host and producer
    • 1967 – Kenny Lofton, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Arun Luthra, Indo-Anglo-American saxophonist, konnakol artist, composer, and arranger
    • 1972 – Christian McBride, American bassist and record producer
    • 1972 – Archie Panjabi, Indo-British actress
    • 1972 – Frode Estil, Norwegian skier
    • 1972 – Antti Niemi, Finnish international footballer, goalkeeper and coach
    • 1972 – Dave Roberts, American baseball player and coach
    • 1974 – Hiroiki Ariyoshi, Japanese comedian and singer
    • 1974 – Chad Campbell, American golfer
    • 1975 – Mac Suzuki, Japanese baseball player
    • 1976 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
    • 1976 – Matt Harpring, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1977 – Theodoros Baev, Bulgarian-Greek volleyball player
    • 1977 – Domenico Fioravanti, Italian swimmer
    • 1977 – Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
    • 1977 – Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
    • 1977 – Petr Tenkrát, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Jean-François Gillet, Belgian footballer
    • 1981 – Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer
    • 1981 – Daniele Bonera, Italian footballer
    • 1981 – Jake Peavy, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Marlies Schild, Austrian skier
    • 1984 – Andrew Bailey, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Milorad Čavić, Serbian swimmer
    • 1984 – Nate Robinson, American basketball player
    • 1985 – Jordy Nelson, American football player
    • 1986 – Robert Gesink, Dutch cyclist
    • 1989 – Marco Reus, German footballer
    • 1990 – Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Michaël Bournival, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Laura Ikauniece, Latvian heptathlete
    • 1996 – Normani Korde, American singer
    • 1998 – Santino Ferrucci, American race car driver

    Deaths on May 31

    • 455 – Petronius Maximus, Roman emperor (b. 396)
    • 930 – Liu Hua, princess of Southern Han (b. 896)
    • 960 – Fujiwara no Morosuke, Japanese statesman (b. 909)
    • 1076 – Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, English politician (b. 1050)
    • 1089 – Sigwin von Are, archbishop of Cologne
    • 1162 – Géza II, king of Hungary (b. 1130)
    • 1321 – Birger, king of Sweden (b. 1280)
    • 1326 – Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (b. 1271)
    • 1329 – Albertino Mussato, Italian statesman and writer (b. 1261)
    • 1349 – Thomas Wake, English politician (b. 1297)
    • 1370 – Vitalis of Assisi, Italian hermit and monk (b. 1295)
    • 1408 – Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1358)
    • 1410 – Martin of Aragon, Spanish king (b. 1356)
    • 1504 – Engelbert II of Nassau (b. 1451)
    • 1558 – Philip Hoby, English general and diplomat (b. 1505)
    • 1567 – Guido de Bres, Belgian pastor and theologian (b. 1522)
    • 1594 – Tintoretto, Italian painter and educator (b. 1518)
    • 1601 – Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (b. 1547)
    • 1640 – Zeynab Begum, Safavid princess (date of birth unknown)
    • 1665 – Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (b. 1597)
    • 1680 – Joachim Neander, German theologian and educator (b. 1650)
    • 1740 – Frederick William I of Prussia (b. 1688)
    • 1747 – Andrey Osterman, German-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1686)
    • 1809 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1732)
    • 1809 – Jean Lannes, French general (b. 1769)
    • 1831 – Samuel Bentham, English architect and engineer (b. 1757)
    • 1832 – Évariste Galois, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1811)
    • 1837 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor, comedian and dancer, (b. 1779)
    • 1846 – Philip Marheineke, German pastor and philosopher (b. 1780)
    • 1847 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister and economist (b. 1780)
    • 1848 – Eugénie de Guérin, French author (b. 1805)
    • 1899 – Stefanos Koumanoudis, Greek archaeologist, teacher and writer (b. 1818)
    • 1908 – Louis-Honoré Fréchette, Canadian author, poet, and politician (b. 1839)
    • 1909 – Thomas Price, Welsh-Australian politician, 24th Premier of South Australia (b. 1852)
    • 1910 – Elizabeth Blackwell, English-American physician and educator (b. 1821)
    • 1931 – Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, Canadian cardinal (b. 1866)
    • 1931 – Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (b. 1864)
    • 1945 – Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer (b. 1904)
    • 1954 – Antonis Benakis, Greek art collector and philanthropist, founded the Benaki Museum (b. 1873)
    • 1957 – Stefanos Sarafis, Greek general and politician (b. 1890)
    • 1957 – Leopold Staff, Polish poet and academic (b. 1878)
    • 1960 – Willem Elsschot, Flemish author and poet (b. 1882)
    • 1960 – Walther Funk, German economist, journalist, and politician, German Minister of Economics (b. 1890)
    • 1962 – Henry F. Ashurst, American lawyer and politician (b. 1874)
    • 1967 – Billy Strayhorn, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
    • 1970 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1929)
    • 1976 – Jacques Monod, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
    • 1977 – William Castle, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1914)
    • 1978 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1925)
    • 1981 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist and journalist (b. 1914)
    • 1982 – Carlo Mauri, Italian mountaineer and explorer (b. 1930)
    • 1983 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer and lieutenant (b. 1895)
    • 1985 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer and author (b. 1921)
    • 1986 – Jane Frank, American painter and sculptor (b. 1918)
    • 1986 – James Rainwater, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
    • 1987 – John Abraham, Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1937)
    • 1989 – Owen Lattimore, American author and academic (b. 1900)
    • 1989 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian journalist and historian (b. 1901)
    • 1993 – Honey Tree Evil Eye, or, Spud Mackenzie, a Bull Terrier, dies of kidney failure.
    • 1994 – Uzay Heparı, Turkish actor, producer, and composer (b. 1969)
    • 1994 – Herva Nelli, Italian-American soprano (b. 1909)
    • 1995 – Stanley Elkin, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1930)
    • 1996 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist and author (b. 1920)
    • 1998 – Charles Van Acker, Belgian-American race car driver (b. 1912)
    • 2000 – Petar Mladenov, Bulgarian diplomat, 1st President of Bulgaria (b. 1936)
    • 2000 – Tito Puente, American jazz musician (b. 1923)
    • 2000 – A. Jeyaratnam Wilson, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2001 – Arlene Francis, American actress, talk show host, game show panelist, and television personality (b. 1907)
    • 2002 – Subhash Gupte, Indian cricketer (b. 1929)
    • 2004 – Aiyathurai Nadesan, Sri Lankan journalist (b. 1954)
    • 2004 – Robert Quine, American guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 2004 – Étienne Roda-Gil, French screenwriter and composer (b. 1941)
    • 2006 – Miguel Ortiz Berrocal, Spanish sculptor (b. 1933)
    • 2006 – Raymond Davis, Jr., American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
    • 2009 – Danny La Rue, Irish-British drag queen performer and singer (b. 1927)
    • 2009 – George Tiller, American physician (b. 1941)
    • 2010 – Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor and painter (b. 1911)
    • 2010 – Brian Duffy, English photographer and producer (b. 1933)
    • 2010 – William A. Fraker, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1923)
    • 2010 – Rubén Juárez, Argentinian singer-songwriter and bandoneón player (b. 1947)
    • 2010 – Merata Mita, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
    • 2011 – Pauline Betz, American tennis player (b. 1919)
    • 2011 – Jonas Bevacqua, American fashion designer, co-founded the Lifted Research Group (b. 1977)
    • 2011 – Derek Hodge, Virgin Islander lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1941)
    • 2011 – Hans Keilson, German-Dutch psychoanalyst and author (b. 1909)
    • 2011 – John Martin, English admiral and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey (b. 1918)
    • 2011 – Andy Robustelli, American football player and manager (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Christopher Challis, English cinematographer (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Randall B. Kester, American lawyer and judge (b. 1916)
    • 2012 – Paul Pietsch, German racing driver and publisher (b. 1911)
    • 2012 – Orlando Woolridge, American basketball player and coach (b. 1959)
    • 2013 – Gerald E. Brown, American physicist and academic (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Frederic Lindsay, Scottish author and educator (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Miguel Méndez, American author and poet (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Tim Samaras, American engineer and storm chaser (b. 1957)
    • 2013 – Jairo Mora Sandoval, Costa Rican environmentalist (b. 1987)
    • 2013 – Jean Stapleton, American actress (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Marilyn Beck, American journalist (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1952)
    • 2014 – Hoss Ellington, American race car driver (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Martha Hyer, American actress (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Lewis Katz, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1942)
    • 2014 – Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, English author (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Gladys Taylor, Canadian author and publisher (b. 1917)
    • 2016 – Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (1976–2016) (b. 1947)
    • 2016 – Jan Crouch, American televangelist, co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (b. 1938)
    • 2016 – Carla Lane, English television writer (b. 1928)
    • 2016 – Rupert Neudeck, German journalist and humanitarian (b. 1939)

    Holidays and observances on May 31

    • Anniversary of Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (Brunei)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Camilla Battista da Varano
      • Hermias
      • Petronella
      • Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)
      • May 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • The beginning of Gawai Dayak (Dayaks in Sarawak, Malaysia and West Kalimantan, Indonesia)
    • World No Tobacco Day (International)

  • May 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens.At least 600 Jews are killed.
    • 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
    • 1153 – Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.
    • 1199 – John is crowned King of England.
    • 1257 – Richard of Cornwall, and his wife, Sanchia of Provence, are crowned King and Queen of the Germans at Aachen Cathedral.
    • 1644 – Manchu regent Dorgon defeats rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing.
    • 1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.
    • 1798 – The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland; Irish rebel leaders defeat and kill a detachment of militia.
    • 1799 – War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeat the French at Winterthur, Switzerland.
    • 1813 – War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.
    • 1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi begins his attack on Palermo, Sicily, as part of the Italian unification.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: First Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson.
    • 1874 – The first group of Dorsland trekkers under the leadership of Gert Alberts leaves Pretoria.
    • 1883 – Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia.
    • 1896 – The F4-strength St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing over $10–million in damage.
    • 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.
    • 1917 – Pope Benedict XV promulgates the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive codification of Catholic canon law in the legal history of the Catholic Church.
    • 1919 – The NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight.
    • 1927 – The Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A.
    • 1930 – The 1,046 feet (319 m) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public.
    • 1933 – New Deal: The U.S. Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.
    • 1933 – The Walt Disney Company releases the cartoon Three Little Pigs, with its hit song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”
    • 1935 – New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495).
    • 1937 – In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California.
    • 1940 – World War II: In the Le Paradis massacre, 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops; two survive.
    • 1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an “unlimited national emergency”.
    • 1941 – World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing almost 2,100 men.
    • 1942 – World War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later.
    • 1958 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
    • 1960 – In Turkey, a military coup removes President Celâl Bayar and the rest of the democratic government from office.
    • 1962 – The Centralia mine fire is ignited in the town’s landfill above a coal mine.
    • 1965 – Vietnam War: American warships begin the first bombardment of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam.
    • 1967 – Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census.
    • 1967 – The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline.
    • 1971 – The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal.
    • 1971 – Pakistani forces massacre over 200 civilians, mostly Bengali Hindus, in the Bagbati massacre.
    • 1975 – Dibbles Bridge coach crash near Grassington, in North Yorkshire, England, kills 33 – the highest ever death toll in a road accident in the United Kingdom.
    • 1980 – The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more.
    • 1984 – The Danube-Black Sea canal is opened, in a ceremony attended by the Ceaușescus. It had been under construction since the 1950s.
    • 1996 – First Chechen War: the Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire.
    • 1997 – The 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak occurs, spawning multiple tornadoes in Central Texas, including the F5 that killed 27 in Jarrell.
    • 1998 – Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.
    • 2001 – Members of the Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf seize twenty hostages from an affluent island resort on Palawan in the Philippines; the hostage crisis would not be resolved until June 2002.
    • 2006 – The 6.4 Mw  Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of VIII (Damaging), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured.
    • 2016 – Barack Obama is the first president of United States to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and meet Hibakusha.
    • 2017 – Andrew Scheer takes over after Rona Ambrose as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
    • 2018 – Maryland Flood Event: A flood occurs throughout the Patapsco Valley causing one death and destroying the entire first floors of buildings on Main Street in Ellicott City and causing cars to overturn.

    Births on May 27

    • 742 – Emperor Dezong of Tang (d. 805)
    • 1332 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian historian and theologian (d. 1406)
    • 1378 – Zhu Quan, Chinese military commander, historian and playwright (d. 1448)
    • 1519 – Girolamo Mei, Italian historian and theorist (d. 1594)
    • 1537 – Louis IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Marburg (d. 1604)
    • 1576 – Caspar Schoppe, German author and scholar (d. 1649)
    • 1584 – Michael Altenburg, German theologian and composer (d. 1640)
    • 1601 – Antoine Daniel, French-Canadian missionary and saint (d. 1648)
    • 1626 – William II, Prince of Orange (d. 1650)
    • 1627 – Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (d. 1693)
    • 1651 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (d. 1729)
    • 1652 – Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine of Germany (d. 1722)
    • 1738 – Nathaniel Gorham, American merchant and politician, 14th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1796)
    • 1756 – Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (d. 1825)
    • 1774 – Francis Beaufort, Irish hydrographer and officer in the Royal Navy (d. 1857)
    • 1794 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1877)
    • 1814 – John Rudolph Niernsee, Viennese-born American architect (d.1885)
    • 1815 – Henry Parkes, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1896)
    • 1818 – Amelia Bloomer, American journalist and activist (d. 1894)
    • 1819 – Julia Ward Howe, American poet and songwriter (d. 1910)
    • 1827 – Samuel F. Miller, American lawyer and politician (d. 1892)
    • 1832 – Zenas Ferry Moody, American surveyor and politician, 7th Governor of Oregon (d. 1917)
    • 1836 – Jay Gould, American businessman and financier (d. 1892)
    • 1837 – Wild Bill Hickok, American police officer (d. 1876)
    • 1852 – Billy Barnes, English cricketer (d. 1899)
    • 1857 – Theodor Curtius, German chemist (d. 1928)
    • 1860 – Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portuguese politician, 7th President of Portugal (d. 1941)
    • 1863 – Arthur Mold, English cricketer (d. 1921)
    • 1867 – Arnold Bennett, English author and playwright (d. 1931)
    • 1868 – Aleksa Šantić, Bosnian poet and author (d. 1924)
    • 1871 – Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
    • 1875 – Frederick Cuming, English cricketer (d. 1942)
    • 1876 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 1945)
    • 1876 – William Stanier, English engineer (d. 1965)
    • 1878 – Anna Cervin, Swedish artist (d. 1972)
    • 1879 – Karl Bühler, German-American linguist and psychologist (d. 1963)
    • 1879 – Hans Lammers, German judge and politician (d. 1962)
    • 1883 – Jessie Arms Botke, American painter (d. 1971)
    • 1884 – Max Brod, Czech journalist, author, and composer (d. 1968)
    • 1887 – Frank Woolley, English cricketer (d. 1978)
    • 1888 – Louis Durey, French composer (d. 1979)
    • 1891 – Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, pianist, and composer (d. 1965)
    • 1891 – Jaan Kärner, Estonian poet and author (d. 1958)
    • 1894 – Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French physician and author (d. 1961)
    • 1894 – Dashiell Hammett, American detective novelist and screenwriter (d. 1961)
    • 1895 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian educator and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (d. 1995)
    • 1897 – John Cockcroft, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
    • 1897 – Dink Templeton, American rugby player and coach (d. 1962)
    • 1898 – David Crosthwait, American engineer, inventor and writer (d. 1976)
    • 1899 – Johannes Türn, Estonian chess and draughts player (d. 1993)
    • 1900 – Lotte Toberentz, German overseer of the Nazi Uckermark concentration camp (d. 1964)
    • 1900 – Uładzimir Žyłka, Belarusian poet and translator (d. 1933)
    • 1904 – Chūhei Nambu, Japanese jumper and journalist (d. 1997)
    • 1906 – Buddhadasa, Thai monk and philosopher (d. 1993)
    • 1906 – Harry Hibbs, English footballer (d. 1984)
    • 1906 – Antonio Rosario Mennonna, Italian bishop (d. 2009)
    • 1907 – Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (d. 1988)
    • 1907 – Rachel Carson, American biologist, environmentalist, and author (d. 1964)
    • 1909 – Dolores Hope, American singer and philanthropist (d. 2011)
    • 1911 – Hubert Humphrey, American journalist and politician, 38th Vice President of the United States (d. 1978)
    • 1911 – Teddy Kollek, Hungarian-Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (d. 2007)
    • 1911 – Vincent Price, American actor (d. 1993)
    • 1912 – John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1982)
    • 1912 – Sam Snead, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2002)
    • 1912 – Terry Moore, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1995)
    • 1915 – Ester Soré, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1996)
    • 1915 – Herman Wouk, American novelist (d. 2019)
    • 1917 – Harry Webster, English engineer (d. 2007)
    • 1918 – Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japanese commander and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2019)
    • 1921 – Bob Godfrey, Australian-English animator, director, and voice actor (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – Christopher Lee, English actor (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – John D. Vanderhoof, American banker and politician, 37th Governor of Colorado (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Henry Kissinger, German-American political scientist and politician, 56th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1923 – Sumner Redstone, American businessman and philanthropist
    • 1924 – Jaime Lusinchi, Venezuelan physician and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – John Sumner, English-Australian director, founded the Melbourne Theatre Company (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Tony Hillerman, American journalist and author (d. 2008)
    • 1927 – Jüri Randviir, Estonian chess player and journalist (d. 1996)
    • 1928 – Thea Musgrave, Scottish-American composer and educator
    • 1930 – John Barth, American novelist and short story writer
    • 1930 – William S. Sessions, American civil servant and judge, 8th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
    • 1930 – Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer and educator (d. 2010)
    • 1931 – André Barbeau, French-Canadian neurologist (d. 1986)
    • 1931 – John Chapple, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Gibraltar
    • 1931 – Bernard Fresson, French actor (d. 2002)
    • 1931 – Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress and producer (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Philip Kotler, American author and professor
    • 1933 – Edward Samuel Rogers, Canadian businessman (d. 2008)
    • 1933 – Manfred Sommer, Spanish author and illustrator (d. 2007)
    • 1934 – Ray Daviault, Canadian-American baseball player
    • 1934 – Harlan Ellison, American author and screenwriter (d. 2018)
    • 1935 – Daniel Colchico, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1935 – Mal Evans, British road manager of The Beatles (d. 1976)
    • 1935 – Jerry Kindall, American baseball player and coach (d. 2017)
    • 1935 – Ramsey Lewis, American jazz pianist and composer
    • 1935 – Lee Meriwether, American model and actress, Miss America 1955
    • 1936 – Benjamin Bathurst, English admiral
    • 1936 – Louis Gossett, Jr., American actor and producer
    • 1936 – Marcel Masse, Canadian educator and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2014)
    • 1937 – Allan Carr, American playwright and producer (d. 1999)
    • 1939 – Simon Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns, English courtier and businessman
    • 1939 – Yves Duhaime, Canadian captain and politician
    • 1939 – Sokratis Kokkalis, Greek businessman
    • 1939 – Gerald Ronson, English businessman and philanthropist
    • 1939 – Lionel Sosa, Mexican-American advertising and marketing executive
    • 1939 – Don Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
    • 1940 – Mike Gibson, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Lee Baca, American police officer
    • 1942 – Piers Courage, English racing driver (d. 1970)
    • 1942 – Roger Freeman, Baron Freeman, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
    • 1942 – Robin Widdows, English racing driver
    • 1943 – Cilla Black, English singer and actress (d. 2015)
    • 1943 – Bruce Weitz, American actor
    • 1944 – Chris Dodd, American lawyer and politician
    • 1944 – Ingrid Roscoe, English historian and politician, Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire
    • 1944 – Alain Souchon, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1945 – Bruce Cockburn, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1946 – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish bassist and composer (d. 2005)
    • 1946 – John Williams, English motorcycle racer (d. 1978)
    • 1947 – Peter DeFazio, American politician
    • 1947 – Marty Kristian, German-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1947 – Branko Oblak, Slovenian footballer and coach
    • 1947 – Riivo Sinijärv, Estonian politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1948 – Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant (d. 2017)
    • 1948 – Pete Sears, English bass player
    • 1948 – Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, American occultist and author (d. 2014)
    • 1949 – Hugh Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale, English politician
    • 1949 – Christa Vahlensieck, German runner
    • 1950 – Dee Dee Bridgewater, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1950 – Makis Dendrinos, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1951 – John Conteh, English boxer
    • 1954 – Pauline Hanson, Australian businesswoman, activist, and politician
    • 1954 – Jackie Slater, American football player and coach
    • 1955 – Eric Bischoff, American wrestler, manager, and producer
    • 1955 – Richard Schiff, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1955 – Ian Tracey, English organist and conductor
    • 1956 – Cynthia McFadden, American journalist
    • 1956 – Rosemary Squire, English producer and manager, co-founded Ambassador Theatre Group
    • 1956 – Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian director and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Dag Terje Andersen, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Labour
    • 1957 – Nitin Gadkari, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Transport
    • 1957 – Eddie Harsch, Canadian-American keyboard player and bass player (d. 2016)
    • 1957 – Siouxsie Sioux, English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
    • 1958 – Nick Anstee, English accountant and politician, 682nd Lord Mayor of London
    • 1958 – Neil Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1958 – Jesse Robredo, Filipino politician, 23rd Filipino Secretary of the Interior (d. 2012)
    • 1960 – Gaston Therrien, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1961 – José Luíz Barbosa, Brazilian runner and coach
    • 1961 – Peri Gilpin, American actress
    • 1962 – Marcelino Bernal, Mexican footballer
    • 1962 – Ray Borner, Australian basketball player
    • 1962 – Steven Brill, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1962 – Anthony A. Hyman, Israeli-English biologist and academic
    • 1962 – David Mundell, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
    • 1962 – Ravi Shastri, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuban pianist and composer
    • 1963 – Maria Walliser, Swiss skier
    • 1964 – Adam Carolla, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1965 – Pat Cash, Australian-English tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1966 – Heston Blumenthal, English chef and author
    • 1967 – Paul Gascoigne, English international footballer, midfielder, coach, and manager
    • 1967 – Eddie McClintock, American actor
    • 1968 – Jeff Bagwell, American baseball player and coach
    • 1968 – Rebekah Brooks, English journalist
    • 1968 – Harun Erdenay, Turkish basketball player and coach
    • 1968 – Frank Thomas, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Todd Hundley, American baseball player
    • 1969 – Jeremy Mayfield, American race car driver
    • 1969 – Craig Federighi, American computer scientist and engineer
    • 1970 – Michele Bartoli, Italian cyclist
    • 1970 – Tim Farron, English educator and politician
    • 1970 – Joseph Fiennes, English actor
    • 1970 – Alex Archer, American-born Australian musician
    • 1971 – Mathew Batsiua, Nauruan politician
    • 1971 – Paul Bettany, English actor
    • 1971 – Wayne Carey, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1971 – Kaur Kender, Estonian author
    • 1971 – Lisa Lopes, American rapper and dancer (d. 2002)
    • 1971 – Lee Sharpe, English footballer
    • 1971 – Grant Stafford, South African tennis player
    • 1971 – Sophie Walker, British politician, leader of the Women’s Equality Party
    • 1971 – Petroc Trelawny, British radio and television broadcaster
    • 1972 – Todd Demsey, American golfer
    • 1972 – Antonio Freeman, American football player
    • 1972 – Maxim Sokolov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1973 – Jack McBrayer, American actor and comedian
    • 1973 – Tana Umaga, New Zealand rugby player and coach
    • 1973 – Yorgos Lanthimos, Greek film video, and theatre director, producer and screenwriter
    • 1974 – Skye Edwards, British singer-songwriter
    • 1974 – Denise van Outen, English actress, singer, and television host
    • 1974 – Derek Webb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1974 – Danny Wuerffel, American football player
    • 1975 – André 3000, American rapper
    • 1975 – Michael Hussey, Australian cricketer
    • 1975 – Jamie Oliver, English chef and author
    • 1975 – Feryal Özel, Turkish astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic
    • 1976 – Marcel Fässler, Swiss racing driver
    • 1977 – Abderrahmane Hammad, Algerian high jumper
    • 1977 – Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lankan cricketer
    • 1978 – Adin Brown, American soccer player
    • 1979 – Michael Buonauro, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
    • 1979 – Mile Sterjovski, Australian footballer
    • 1980 – Craig Buntin, Canadian figure skater
    • 1981 – Alina Cojocaru, Romanian ballerina
    • 1981 – Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer
    • 1984 – Blake Ahearn, American basketball player
    • 1984 – Miguel González, Mexican baseball pitcher
    • 1985 – Chiang Chien-ming, Taiwanese baseball player
    • 1985 – Roberto Soldado, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Conor Cummins, Manx motorcycle racer
    • 1986 – Bamba Fall, Senegalese basketball player
    • 1986 – Lasse Schöne, Danish footballer
    • 1987 – Gervinho, Ivorian footballer
    • 1987 – Bella Heathcote, Australian actress
    • 1987 – Eric Kolelas, French-English actor and director
    • 1987 – Bora Paçun, Turkish basketball player
    • 1987 – Matt Prior, Australian rugby league player
    • 1987 – Martina Sablikova, Czech speed skater and cyclist
    • 1988 – Vontae Davis, American football player
    • 1988 – Irina Davydova, Russian hurdler
    • 1988 – Garrett Richards, American baseball pitcher
    • 1988 – Tyler Sash, American football player (d. 2015)
    • 1989 – Igor Morozov, Estonian footballer
    • 1990 – Yenew Alamirew, Ethiopian runner
    • 1990 – Chris Colfer, American actor and singer
    • 1990 – Marcus Kruger, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1991 – Sebastien Dewaest, Belgian footballer
    • 1991 – Tim Lafai, Samoan rugby league player
    • 1991 – Ksenia Pervak, Russian tennis player
    • 1991 – Eneli Vals, Estonian footballer
    • 1992 – Aaron Brown, Canadian sprinter
    • 1992 – Laurence Vincent-Lapointe, Canadian canoer

    Deaths on May 27

    • 366 – Procopius, Roman usurper (b. 325)
    • 398 – Murong Bao, emperor of the Xianbei state Later Yan (b. 355)
    • 475 – Eutropius, bishop of Orange
    • 866 – Ordoño I of Asturias (b. 831)
    • 927 – Simeon I of Bulgaria first Bulgarian Emperor (b. 864)
    • 1039 – Dirk III, Count of Holland (b. 981)
    • 1045 – Bruno of Würzburg, imperial chancellor of Italy (b. c. 1005)
    • 1178 – Godfrey van Rhenen, bishop of Utrecht
    • 1240 – William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey (b. 1166)
    • 1444 – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1404)
    • 1508 – Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1452)
    • 1508 – Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza (b. 1452)
    • 1525 – Thomas Müntzer, German mystic and theologian (b. 1488)
    • 1541 – Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (b. 1473)
    • 1564 – John Calvin, French pastor and theologian (b. 1509)
    • 1610 – François Ravaillac, French assassin of Henry IV of France (b. 1578)
    • 1624 – Diego Ramírez de Arellano, Spanish sailor and cosmographer (b. c. 1580)
    • 1637 – John Boteler, 1st Baron Boteler of Brantfield, English politician (b. c. 1566)
    • 1661 – Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, Scottish general and politician (b. 1607)
    • 1675 – Gaspard Dughet, Italian-French painter (b. 1613)
    • 1690 – Giovanni Legrenzi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1626)
    • 1702 – Dominique Bouhours, French priest and critic (b. 1628)
    • 1707 – Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (b. 1640)
    • 1781 – Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1716)
    • 1797 – François-Noël Babeuf, French journalist (b. 1760)
    • 1831 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (b. 1799)
    • 1840 – Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1782)
    • 1867 – Thomas Bulfinch American mythologist (b. 1796)
    • 1896 – Aleksandr Stoletov, Russian physicist, engineer, and academic (b. 1839)
    • 1910 – Robert Koch, German physician and microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
    • 1918 – Ōzutsu Man’emon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 18th Yokozuna (b. 1869)
    • 1919 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (b. 1848)
    • 1933 – Achille Paroche, French target shooter (b. 1868)
    • 1939 – Joseph Roth, Austrian-French journalist and author (b. 1894)
    • 1941 – Ernst Lindemann, German captain (b. 1894)
    • 1941 – Günther Lütjens, German admiral (b. 1889)
    • 1942 – Muhammed Hamdi Yazır, Turkish theologian, logician, and translator (b. 1878)
    • 1943 – Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1878)
    • 1945 – Enno Lolling, German physician (b. 1888)
    • 1947 – Ed Konetchy, American baseball player and manager (b. 1885)
    • 1949 – Robert Ripley, American cartoonist, publisher, and businessman, founded Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (b. 1890)
    • 1953 – Jesse Burkett, American baseball player and manager (b. 1868)
    • 1960 – James Montgomery Flagg, American painter and illustrator (b. 1877)
    • 1963 – Grigoris Lambrakis, Greek physician and politician (b. 1912)
    • 1964 – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of India (b. 1889)
    • 1967 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (b. 1880)
    • 1967 – Ernst Niekisch, German academic and politician (b. 1889)
    • 1969 – Jeffrey Hunter, American actor and producer (b. 1926)
    • 1971 – Béla Juhos, Hungarian-Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1901)
    • 1971 – Armando Picchi, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1935)
    • 1980 – Gün Sazak, Turkish agronomist and politician (b. 1932)
    • 1984 – Vasilije Mokranjac, Serbian composer (b. 1923)
    • 1986 – Ismail al-Faruqi, Palestinian-American philosopher and academic (b. 1921)
    • 1986 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1901)
    • 1986 – Giorgos Tzifos, Greek actor and cinematographer (b. 1918)
    • 1987 – John Howard Northrop, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
    • 1988 – Hjördis Petterson, Swedish actress (b. 1908)
    • 1988 – Ernst Ruska, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
    • 1989 – Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet and translator (b. 1907)
    • 1990 – Robert B. Meyner, American lawyer and politician, 44th Governor of New Jersey (b. 1908)
    • 1991 – Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist and theorist (b. 1904)
    • 1992 – Uncle Charlie Osborne, American fiddler (b. 1890)
    • 1998 – Minoo Masani, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
    • 2000 – Kazimierz Leski, Polish engineer and pilot (b. 1912)
    • 2000 – Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, Scottish politician and diplomat, 25th Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1917)
    • 2000 – Maurice Richard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1921)
    • 2003 – Luciano Berio, Italian composer and educator (b. 1925)
    • 2006 – Rob Borsellino, American journalist (b. 1949)
    • 2006 – Paul Gleason, American actor (b. 1939)
    • 2006 – Craig Heyward, American football player (b. 1966)
    • 2007 – Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1967)
    • 2007 – Gretchen Wyler, American actress and dancer (b. 1932)
    • 2007 – Ed Yost, American inventor, created the hot air balloon (b. 1919)
    • 2008 – Franz Künstler, Hungarian soldier (b. 1900)
    • 2009 – Thomas M. Franck, American lawyer and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2009 – Clive Granger, Welsh-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1934)
    • 2009 – Mona Grey, British nursing administrator; Northern Ireland’s first Chief Nursing Officer
    • 2009 – Abram Hoffer, Canadian biochemist, physician, and psychiatrist (b. 1917)
    • 2009 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian-American priest and theologian (b. 1946)
    • 2009 – Carol Anne O’Marie, American nun and author (b. 1933)
    • 2009 – William Refshauge, Australian soldier and physician (b. 1913)
    • 2009 – Paul Sharratt, English-American television host (b. 1933)
    • 2010 – Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator and director (b. 1929)
    • 2011 – Jeff Conaway, American actor and singer (b. 1950)
    • 2011 – Margo Dydek, Polish-American basketball player (b. 1974)
    • 2011 – Gil Scott-Heron, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1949)
    • 2012 – Simeon Daniel, Nevisian educator and politician, 1st Premier of Nevis (b. 1934)
    • 2012 – Friedrich Hirzebruch, German mathematician and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Anahit Perikhanian, Russian-born Armenian Iranologist (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – David Rimoin, Canadian-American geneticist and academic (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (b. 1917)
    • 2013 – Bill Pertwee, English actor (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Abdoulaye Sékou Sow, Malian politician, Prime Minister of Mali (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Robert Genn, Canadian painter and author (b. 1936)
    • 2014 – Helma Sanders-Brahms, German director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Roberto Vargas, Puerto Rican-American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – Massimo Vignelli, Italian-American graphic designer (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Erik Carlsson, Swedish rally driver (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Nils Christie, Norwegian sociologist, criminologist, and author (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Andy King, English footballer and manager (b. 1956)
    • 2015 – Michael Martin, American philosopher and academic (b. 1932)
    • 2017 – Gregg Allman, American musician, singer and songwriter (b. 1947)
    • 2020 – Larry Kramer, American playwright, public health advocate and LGBT rights activist (b. 1935)

    Holidays and observances on May 27

    • Armed Forces Day (Nicaragua)
    • Children’s Day (Nigeria)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Augustine of Canterbury
      • Blessed Lojze Grozde
      • Bede (commemoration, Anglican Communion)
      • Bruno of Würzburg
      • Eutropius of Orange
      • Hildebert
      • Julius the Veteran
      • May 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Mother’s Day (Bolivia)
    • Navy Day (Japan)
    • Slavery Abolition Day (Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin)
    • Start of National Reconciliation Week (Australia)

  • May 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
    • 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
    • 1276 – Magnus Ladulås is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
    • 1487 – The ten-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland, with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII’s reign.
    • 1567 – Erik XIV of Sweden and his guards murder five incarcerated Swedish nobles.
    • 1595 – Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
    • 1607 – One hundred English settlers disembark in Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America.
    • 1621 – The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.
    • 1626 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
    • 1667 – The French Royal Army crosses the border into the Spanish Netherlands, starting the War of Devolution opposing France to the Spanish Empire and the Triple Alliance.
    • 1683 – The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world’s first university museum.
    • 1689 – The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting dissenting Protestants but excluding Roman Catholics.
    • 1738 – John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day and a church service is generally held on the preceding Sunday.
    • 1798 – The Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins.
    • 1813 – South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”).
    • 1822 – Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.
    • 1832 – The First Kingdom of Greece is declared in the London Conference.
    • 1844 – Samuel Morse sends the message “What hath God wrought” (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from a committee room in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland, to inaugurate a commercial telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C.
    • 1856 – John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
    • 1883 – The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
    • 1915 – World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, joining the conflict on the side of the Allies.
    • 1930 – Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).
    • 1935 – The first night game in Major League Baseball history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2–1 at Crosley Field.
    • 1940 – Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
    • 1940 – Acting on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, NKVD agent Iosif Grigulevich orchestrates an unsuccessful assassination attempt on exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán, Mexico.
    • 1941 – World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks then-pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.
    • 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: Egypt captures the Israeli kibbutz of Yad Mordechai, but the five-day effort gives Israeli forces time to prepare enough to stop the Egyptian advance a week later.
    • 1956 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland.
    • 1958 – United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
    • 1960 – Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest ever recorded earthquake, Cordón Caulle begins to erupt.
    • 1961 – American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for “disturbing the peace” after disembarking from their bus.
    • 1962 – Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
    • 1967 – Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.
    • 1976 – The Judgment of Paris takes place in France, launching California as a worldwide force in the production of quality wine.
    • 1981 – Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, his wife, and his presidential committee die in an aircraft accident while travelling from Quito to Zapotillo minutes after the president gave a famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha.
    • 1982 – Liberation of Khorramshahr: Iranians recapture of the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War.
    • 1988 – Section 28 of the United Kingdom’s Local Government Act 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, is enacted.
    • 1991 – Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
    • 1992 – The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.
    • 1992 – The ethnic cleansing in Kozarac, Bosnia and Herzegovina begins when Serbian militia and police forces enter the town.
    • 1993 – Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
    • 1993 – Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo and five other people are assassinated in a shootout at Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport in Mexico.
    • 1994 – Four men convicted of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in 1993 are each sentenced to 240 years in prison.
    • 1995 – While attempting to return to Leeds Bradford Airport in the United Kingdom, Knight Air Flight 816 crashes in Harewood, North Yorkshire, killing all 12 people on board.
    • 1999 – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.
    • 2000 – Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
    • 2002 – Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.
    • 2014 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurs in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, injuring 324 people.
    • 2014 – At least three people are killed in a shooting at Brussels’ Jewish Museum of Belgium.
    • 2019 – Twenty-two students die in a fire in Surat (India).
    • 2019 – Under pressure over her handling of Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Leader of the Conservative Party, effective as of June 7.

    Births on May 24

    • 15 BC – Germanicus, Roman general (d. 19)
    • 1335 – Margaret of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary (d. 1349)
    • 1494 – Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
    • 1522 – John Jewel, English bishop (d. 1571)
    • 1544 – William Gilbert, English physician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1603)
    • 1576 – Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley, English courtier (d. 1635)
    • 1616 – John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, Scottish politician, Secretary of State, Scotland (d. 1682)
    • 1628 – Marek Sobieski, Polish noble (d. 1652)
    • 1669 – Emerentia von Düben, Swedish royal favorite (d. 1743)
    • 1671 – Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
    • 1686 – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Polish-German physicist and engineer, developed the Fahrenheit scale (d. 1736)
    • 1689 – Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1769)
    • 1743 – Jean-Paul Marat, Swiss-French physician, journalist, and politician (d. 1793)
    • 1789 – Cathinka Buchwieser, German operatic singer and actress (d.1828)
    • 1794 – William Whewell, English priest and philosopher (d. 1866)
    • 1803 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish biologist and paleontologist (d. 1866)
    • 1810 – Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
    • 1816 – Emanuel Leutze, German-American painter (d. 1868)
    • 1819 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
    • 1830 – Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter and academic (d. 1897)
    • 1855 – Arthur Wing Pinero, English actor, director, and playwright (d. 1934)
    • 1861 – Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, Maltese lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1940)
    • 1863 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)
    • 1868 – Charlie Taylor, American engineer and mechanic (d. 1956)
    • 1870 – Benjamin N. Cardozo, American lawyer and judge (d. 1938)
    • 1870 – Jan Smuts, South African lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
    • 1874 – Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1878)
    • 1875 – Robert Garrett, American discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1961)
    • 1878 – Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American psychologist and engineer (d. 1972)
    • 1879 – H. B. Reese, American candy maker, created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (d. 1956)
    • 1886 – Paul Paray, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1979)
    • 1887 – Mick Mannock, Irish soldier and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
    • 1891 – William F. Albright, American archaeologist, philologist, and scholar (d. 1971)
    • 1895 – Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., American publisher, founded Advance Publications (d. 1979)
    • 1899 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d. 1938)
    • 1899 – Henri Michaux, Belgian-French poet and painter (d. 1984)
    • 1900 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1901 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer and manager (d. 1968)
    • 1902 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (d. 1954)
    • 1902 – Sylvia Daoust, Canadian sculptor (d. 2004)
    • 1905 – George Nakashima, American woodworker and architect(d. 1990)
    • 1905 – Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
    • 1909 – Wilbur Mills, American banker and politician (d. 1992)
    • 1910 – Jimmy Demaret, American golfer (d. 1983)
    • 1913 – Joe Abreu, American baseball player and soldier (d. 1993)
    • 1914 – Lilli Palmer, German-American actress (d. 1986)
    • 1916 – Roden Cutler, Australian lieutenant and politician, 32nd Governor of New South Wales (d. 2002)
    • 1917 – Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway, English lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Coleman Young, American politician, 66th Mayor of Detroit (d. 1997)
    • 1923 – Siobhán McKenna, Irish actress (d. 1986)
    • 1924 – Philip Pearlstein, American soldier and painter
    • 1925 – Carmine Infantino, American illustrator and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and director (d. 1994)
    • 1926 – Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor and screenwriter
    • 1928 – William Trevor, Irish novelist, playwright and short story writer (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Arnold Wesker, English playwright and producer (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Jane Byrne, American lawyer and politician, 50th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Réal Giguère, Canadian television host and actor
    • 1933 – Aharon Lichtenstein, French-Israeli rabbi and author (d. 2015)
    • 1935 – Joan Micklin Silver, American director and screenwriter
    • 1936 – Harold Budd, American composer and poet
    • 1937 – Maryvonne Dupureur, French runner and educator (d. 2008)
    • 1937 – Archie Shepp, American saxophonist and composer
    • 1938 – Prince Buster, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
    • 1938 – Tommy Chong, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1940 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
    • 1941 – Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist, writer, and producer; Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1941 – Patricia Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, English academic and politician
    • 1942 – Ali Bacher, South African cricketer and manager
    • 1942 – Hannu Mikkola, Finnish race car driver
    • 1942 – Ichirō Ozawa, Japanese lawyer and politician, Japanese Minister of Home Affairs
    • 1943 – Gary Burghoff, American actor
    • 1944 – Patti LaBelle, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1944 – Dominique Lavanant, French actress
    • 1945 – Terry Callier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012)
    • 1945 – Steven Norris, English engineer and politician
    • 1945 – Richard Ottaway, English lieutenant and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
    • 1945 – Priscilla Presley, American actress and businesswoman
    • 1946 – Tansu Çiller, Turkish economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey
    • 1946 – Jesualdo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer and manager
    • 1946 – Irena Szewińska, Russian-Polish sprinter
    • 1947 – Albert Bouchard, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
    • 1947 – Mike De Leon, Filipino director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer
    • 1947 – Mike Reid, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and American football player
    • 1947 – Waddy Wachtel, American guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer
    • 1947 – Martin Winterkorn, German businessman
    • 1948 – Richard Dembo, French director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1949 – Jim Broadbent, English actor
    • 1949 – Roger Deakins , English cinematographer
    • 1953 – Alfred Molina, English actor
    • 1955 – Rosanne Cash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1955 – Philippe Lafontaine, Belgian singer and songwriter
    • 1955 – Rajesh Roshan, Indian composer
    • 1956 – R. B. Bernstein, American constitutional historian
    • 1956 – Larry Blackmon, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1956 – Dominic Grieve, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales
    • 1956 – Michael Jackson, Irish archbishop
    • 1958 – Chip Ganassi, American race car driver, team owner and businessman
    • 1959 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish-American ice hockey player (d. 1985)
    • 1959 – Barry O’Farrell, Australian politician, 43rd Premier of New South Wales
    • 1960 – Guy Fletcher, English keyboard player, guitarist, and producer
    • 1960 – Bill Harrigan, Australian rugby league referee and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
    • 1961 – Lorella Cedroni, Italian philosopher and theorist (d. 2013)
    • 1961 – Alain Lemieux, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican-American boxer (d. 2012)
    • 1962 – Gene Anthony Ray, American actor, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2003)
    • 1963 – Ivan Capelli, Italian race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Michael Chabon, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter
    • 1963 – Joe Dumars, American basketball player
    • 1963 – Rich Rodriguez, American football player and coach
    • 1963 – Valerie Taylor, American computer scientist and educator
    • 1964 – Liz McColgan, Scottish educator and runner
    • 1964 – Adrian Moorhouse, English swimmer
    • 1964 – Isidro Pérez, Mexican boxer (d. 2013)
    • 1964 – Pat Verbeek, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1965 – John C. Reilly, American actor
    • 1965 – Shinichirō Watanabe, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Éric Cantona, French footballer, manager, and actor
    • 1966 – Ricky Craven, American race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Tamer Karadağlı, Turkish actor
    • 1967 – Andrey Borodin, Russian-English economist and businessman
    • 1967 – Eric Close, American actor
    • 1967 – Heavy D, Jamaican-American rapper, producer, and actor (d. 2011)
    • 1967 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
    • 1969 – Martin McCague, Northern Irish-English cricketer
    • 1969 – Jacob Rees-Mogg, English politician
    • 1969 – Rich Robinson, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1971 – Kris Draper, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1972 – Greg Berlanti, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Rodrigo, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1973 – Bartolo Colón, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1973 – Shirish Kunder, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Vladimír Šmicer, Czech footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Sébastien Foucan, French runner and actor
    • 1974 – Masahide Kobayashi, Japanese baseball player and coach
    • 1974 – Magnus Manske, German biochemist and computer programmer, developed MediaWiki
    • 1975 – Will Sasso, Canadian actor and comedian
    • 1975 – Marc Gagnon, Canadian speed skater
    • 1975 – Giannis Goumas, Greek footballer and coach
    • 1975 – Maria Lawson, English singer-songwriter
    • 1976 – Alessandro Cortini, Italian-American singer and keyboard player
    • 1976 – Catherine Cox, New Zealand-Australian netball player
    • 1976 – Silje Vige, Norwegian singer
    • 1977 – Jeet Gannguli, Indian score composer, music director and singer
    • 1978 – Elijah Burke, American wrestler
    • 1978 – Johan Holmqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Brad Penny, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Rose, French singer, songwriter and composer
    • 1979 – Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
    • 1979 – Kareem McKenzie, American football player
    • 1980 – Jason Babin, American football player
    • 1980 – Anthony Minichiello, Australian rugby league player
    • 1981 – Andy Lee, Australian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
    • 1982 – Issah Gabriel Ahmed, Ghanaian footballer
    • 1982 – Rian Wallace, American football player
    • 1983 – Custódio Castro, Portuguese footballer
    • 1983 – Pedram Javaheri, Iranian-American meteorologist and journalist
    • 1983 – Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean model and actress (d. 2009)
    • 1984 – Sarah Hagan, American actress
    • 1984 – Dmitri Kruglov, Estonian footballer
    • 1985 – Tim Bridgman, English race car driver
    • 1986 – Mark Ballas, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, dancer, and actor
    • 1986 – Giannis Kontoes, Greek footballer
    • 1987 – Guillaume Latendresse, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Artem Anisimov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Monica Lin Brown, American sergeant
    • 1988 – Billy Gilman, American musician
    • 1988 – Lucian Wintrich, American political artist and White House correspondent
    • 1989 – G-Eazy, American rapper
    • 1989 – Andrew Jordan, English race car driver
    • 1990 – Mattias Ekholm, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1991 – Aled Davies, Welsh discus thrower
    • 1991 – Cody Eakin, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Marcus Bettinelli, English footballer, goalkeeper
    • 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
    • 1994 – Emily Nicholl, Scottish netball player
    • 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
    • 1994 – Emily Temple Wood, American 2016 Wikipedian of the Year award
    • 1999 – Tarjei Sandvik Moe, Norwegian actor

    Deaths on May 24

    • 688 – Ségéne, bishop of Armagh (b. c. 610)
    • 1089 – Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1136 – Hugues de Payens, first Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1070)
    • 1153 – David I of Scotland (b. 1083)
    • 1201 – Theobald III, Count of Champagne (b. 1179)
    • 1351 – Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman, Moroccan sultan (b. 1297)
    • 1408 – Taejo of Joseon (b. 1335)
    • 1425 – Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
    • 1456 – Ambroise de Loré, French commander (b. 1396)
    • 1543 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (b. 1473)
    • 1612 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1563)
    • 1627 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet and cleric (b. 1561)
    • 1632 – Robert Hues, English mathematician and geographer (b. 1553)
    • 1665 – Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Spanish Franciscan abbess and mystic (b. 1602)
    • 1734 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
    • 1792 – George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, English admiral and politician, 16th Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1718)
    • 1806 – John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, Scottish field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Argyllshire (b. 1723)
    • 1843 – Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician and academic (b. 1765)
    • 1848 – Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German author and composer (b. 1797)
    • 1861 – Elmer E. Ellsworth, American colonel (b. 1837)
    • 1872 – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter and illustrator (b. 1794)
    • 1879 – William Lloyd Garrison, American journalist and activist (b. 1805)
    • 1881 – Samuel Palmer, English painter and illustrator (b. 1805)
    • 1901 – Louis-Zéphirin Moreau, Canadian bishop (b. 1824)
    • 1908 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer and architect (b. 1821)
    • 1915 – John Condon, Irish-English soldier (b. 1896)
    • 1919 – Amado Nervo, Mexican poet, journalist, and educator (b. 1870)
    • 1929 – Nikolai von Meck, Russian engineer (b. 1863)
    • 1941 – Lancelot Holland, English admiral (b. 1887)
    • 1945 – Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal and pilot (b. 1892)
    • 1948 – Jacques Feyder, Belgian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
    • 1949 – Alexey Shchusev, Russian architect, designed Lenin’s Mausoleum and Moscow Kazanskaya railway station (b. 1873)
    • 1950 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English field marshal and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (b. 1883)
    • 1951 – Thomas N. Heffron, American actor, director, screenwriter (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Martha Annie Whiteley, English chemist and mathematician (b. 1866)
    • 1958 – Frank Rowe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
    • 1959 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
    • 1963 – Elmore James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918)
    • 1965 – Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (b. 1908)
    • 1974 – Duke Ellington, American pianist and composer (b. 1899)
    • 1976 – Denise Pelletier, Canadian actress (b. 1923)
    • 1979 – Ernest Bullock, English organist, composer, and educator (b. 1890)
    • 1981 – Herbert Müller, Swiss race car driver (b. 1940)
    • 1984 – Vince McMahon Sr., American wrestling promoter and businessman, founded WWE (b. 1914)
    • 1988 – Freddie Frith, English motorcycle road racer (b. 1909)
    • 1990 – Arthur Villeneuve, Canadian painter (b. 1910)
    • 1991 – Gene Clark, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
    • 1992 – Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese race car driver (b. 1956)
    • 1995 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
    • 1996 – Enrique Álvarez Félix, Mexican actor (b. 1934)
    • 1996 – Joseph Mitchell, American journalist and author (b. 1908)
    • 1997 – Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
    • 2000 – Kurt Schork, American journalist and scholar (b. 1947)
    • 2000 – Majrooh Sultanpuri, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1919)
    • 2002 – Wallace Markfield, American author (b. 1926)
    • 2003 – Rachel Kempson, English actress (b. 1910)
    • 2004 – Henry Ries, German-American photographer (b. 1917)
    • 2004 – Milton Shulman, Canadian author and critic (b. 1913)
    • 2004 – Edward Wagenknecht, American critic and educator (b. 1900)
    • 2005 – Carl Amery, German activist and author (b. 1922)
    • 2005 – Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist and poet (b. 1913)
    • 2005 – Guy Tardif, Canadian academic and politician (b. 1935)
    • 2006 – Henry Bumstead, American art director and production designer (b. 1915)
    • 2006 – Claude Piéplu, French actor (b. 1923)
    • 2006 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician and educator (b. 1930)
    • 2008 – Dick Martin, American actor, comedian, and director (b. 1922)
    • 2008 – Jimmy McGriff, American organist and bandleader (b. 1936)
    • 2009 – Jay Bennett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1963)
    • 2010 – Ray Alan, English ventriloquist, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
    • 2010 – Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1972)
    • 2010 – Raymond V. Haysbert, American businessman and activist (b. 1920)
    • 2010 – Petr Muk, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1965)
    • 2010 – Anneliese Rothenberger, German soprano and actress (b. 1926)
    • 2011 – Huguette Clark, American heiress, painter, and philanthropist (b. 1906)
    • 2011 – Hakim Ali Zardari, Indian-Pakistani businessman and politician (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Klaas Carel Faber, Dutch-German SS officer (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Kathi Kamen Goldmark, American journalist and author (b. 1948)
    • 2012 – Jacqueline Harpman, Belgian psychoanalyst and author (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Juan Francisco Lombardo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Lee Rich, American production manager and producer (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Ron Davies, Welsh footballer (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Gotthard Graubner, German painter (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Haynes Johnson, American journalist and author (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – David Allen, English cricketer (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Stormé DeLarverie, known as the “Rosa Parks of the lesbian community” (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, Iranian businessman (b. 1969)
    • 2014 – Knowlton Nash, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – John Vasconcellos, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Dean Carroll, English rugby player (b. 1962)
    • 2015 – Kenneth Jacobs, Australian lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
    • 2015 – Tanith Lee, English author (b. 1947)
    • 2018 – Gudrun Burwitz, daughter of Margarete Himmler and Heinrich Himmler (b. 1929)
    • 2018 – John Bain (TotalBiscuit), English gaming commentator and critic (b. 1984)

    Holidays and observances on May 24

    • Aldersgate Day/Wesley Day (Methodism)
    • Battle of Pichincha Day (Ecuador)
    • Bermuda Day (Bermuda), celebrated on the nearest weekday if May 24 falls on the weekend.
    • Christian feast day:
      • Anna Pak Agi (one of The Korean Martyrs)
      • Donatian and Rogatian
      • Jackson Kemper (Episcopal Church)
      • Joanna
      • Mary, Help of Christians
      • Sarah (celebrated by the Romani people of Camargue)
      • Vincent of Lérins
      • May 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commonwealth Day (Belize)
    • Earliest day on which El Colacho tradition can fall, while June 27 is the latest; celebrated on Sunday after Corpus Christi. (Castrillo de Murcia, near Burgos)
    • Independence Day (Eritrea), celebrates the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993.
    • Lubiri Memorial Day (Buganda)
    • Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (Eastern Orthodox Church, Julian Calendar) and its related observance:
      • Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day (Bulgaria)
      • Saints Cyril and Methodius, Slavonic Enlighteners’ Day (North Macedonia)
    • Victoria Day; celebrated on Monday on or before May 24. (Canada), and its related observance:
      • National Patriots’ Day or Journée nationale des patriotes (Quebec)

  • May 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1430 – Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to raise the Siege of Compiègne.
    • 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.
    • 1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.
    • 1568 – Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, defeat Jean de Ligne, Duke of Arenberg, and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years’ War.
    • 1609 – Official ratification of the Second Virginia Charter takes place.
    • 1618 – The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years’ War.
    • 1701 – After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London.
    • 1706 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy at the Battle of Ramillies.
    • 1788 – South Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution as the eighth American state.
    • 1793 – Battle of Famars during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
    • 1829 – Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian in Vienna, Austrian Empire.
    • 1844 – Declaration of the Báb the evening before the 23rd: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement that would later be brutally crushed by the Persian government. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Bahá’í Faith; Bahá’ís celebrate the day as a holy day.
    • 1846 – Mexican–American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.
    • 1863 – The General German Workers’ Association, a precursor of the modern Social Democratic Party of Germany, is founded in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony.
    • 1873 – The Canadian Parliament establishes the North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
    • 1900 – American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863.
    • 1907 – The unicameral Parliament of Finland gathers for its first plenary session.
    • 1911 – The New York Public Library is dedicated.
    • 1915 – World War I: Italy joins the Allies, fulfilling its part of the Treaty of London.
    • 1932 – In Brazil, four students are shot and killed during a manifestation against the Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas, which resulted in the outbreak of the Constitutionalist Revolution several weeks later.
    • 1934 – Infamous American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
    • 1934 – The Auto-Lite strike culminates in the “Battle of Toledo”, a five-day melée between 1,300 troops of the Ohio National Guard and 6,000 picketers.
    • 1939 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Squalus sinks off the coast of New Hampshire during a test dive, causing the death of 24 sailors and two civilian technicians. The remaining 32 sailors and one civilian naval architect are rescued the following day.
    • 1945 – World War II: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody.
    • 1945 – World War II: Germany’s Flensburg Government under Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are arrested by British forces.
    • 1948 – Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel.
    • 1949 – Cold War: The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish a new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany.
    • 1951 – Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement with China.
    • 1960 – A tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile the previous day kills 61 people in Hilo, Hawaii.
    • 1992 – Italy’s most prominent anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife and three body guards are killed by the Corleonesi clan with a half-ton bomb near Capaci, Sicily. His friend and colleague Paolo Borsellino will be assassinated less than two months later, making 1992 a turning point in the history of Italian Mafia prosecutions.
    • 1995 – The first version of the Java programming language is released.
    • 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with roughly 75% voting yes.
    • 2002 – The “55 parties” clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.
    • 2006 – Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts.
    • 2008 – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.
    • 2013 – A freeway bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Skagit River collapses in Mount Vernon, Washington.
    • 2014 – Seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed and another 14 injured in a killing spree near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara.
    • 2015 – At least 46 people are killed as a result of floods caused by a tornado in Texas and Oklahoma.
    • 2016 – Two suicide bombings, conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, killed at least 45 potential army recruits in Aden, Yemen.
    • 2016 – Eight bombings were carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Jableh and Tartus, coastline cities in Syria. One hundred eighty-four people were killed and at least 200 people injured.
    • 2017 – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao, following the Maute’s attack in Marawi.

    Births on May 23

    • 635 – K’inich Kan Bahlam II, Mayan king (d. 702)
    • 675 – Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar II, King of Mutharaiyar dynasty, Tamil Nadu, India
    • 1052 – Philip I of France (d. 1108)
    • 1100 – Emperor Qinzong of Song (d. 1161)
    • 1127 – Uijong of Goryeo, Korean monarch of the Goryeo dynasty (d. 1173)
    • 1330 – Gongmin of Goryeo, Korean ruler (d. 1374)
    • 1586 – Paul Siefert, German composer and organist (d. 1666)
    • 1606 – Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish mathematician and philosopher (d. 1682)
    • 1614 – Bertholet Flemalle, Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1675)
    • 1617 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (d. 1692)
    • 1629 – William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, noble of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1663)
    • 1707 – Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist (d. 1778)
    • 1718 – William Hunter, Scottish-English anatomist and physician (d. 1783)
    • 1729 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet and educator (d. 1799)
    • 1730 – Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, Prussian prince and general (d. 1813)
    • 1734 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologer (d. 1815)
    • 1741 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian organist and composer (d. 1801)
    • 1789 – Franz Schlik, Austrian earl and general (d. 1862)
    • 1790 – Jules Dumont d’Urville, French admiral and explorer (d. 1842)
    • 1790 – James Pradier, French neoclassical sculptor (d. 1852)
    • 1794 – Ignaz Moscheles, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1870)
    • 1795 – Charles Barry, English architect, designed the Upper Brook Street Chapel and Halifax Town Hall (d. 1860)
    • 1800 – Rómulo Díaz de la Vega, Mexican general and president (1855) (d. 1877)
    • 1810 – Margaret Fuller, American journalist and critic (d. 1850)
    • 1817 – Manuel Robles Pezuela, Unconstitutional Mexican interim president (d. 1862)
    • 1820 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (d. 1887)
    • 1820 – Lorenzo Sawyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 1891)
    • 1824 – Ambrose Burnside, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1881)
    • 1834 – Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis, Latvian architect (d. 1891)
    • 1834 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (d. 1890)
    • 1837 – Anatole Mallet, Swiss mechanical engineer and inventor (d. 1919)
    • 1837 – Józef Wieniawski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1912)
    • 1838 – Amaldus Nielsen, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
    • 1840 – George Throssell, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Western Australia (d. 1910)
    • 1844 – `Abdu’l-Bahá, Iranian religious leader (d. 1921)
    • 1848 – Otto Lilienthal, German pilot and engineer (d. 1896)
    • 1855 – Isabella Ford, English author and activist (d. 1924)
    • 1861 – József Rippl-Rónai, Hungarian painter (d. 1927)
    • 1863 – Władysław Horodecki, Polish architect (d. 1930)
    • 1864 – William O’Connor, American fencer (d. 1939)
    • 1865 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian jurist and politician, 11th President of Brazil (d. 1942)
    • 1875 – Alfred P. Sloan, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1966)
    • 1882 – William Halpenny, Canadian pole vaulter (d. 1960)
    • 1883 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1939)
    • 1884 – Corrado Gini, Italian sociologist and demographer (d. 1965)
    • 1887 – Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (d. 1963)
    • 1887 – Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian sailor and captain (d. 1951)
    • 1888 – Adriaan Roland Holst, Dutch writer (d. 1976)
    • 1888 – Zack Wheat, American baseball player and police officer (d. 1972)
    • 1889 – Ernst Niekisch, German educator and politician (d. 1967)
    • 1890 – Herbert Marshall, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
    • 1891 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)
    • 1892 – Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, British peer and grandfather of Diana Spencer (d. 1975)
    • 1896 – Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (d. 1966)
    • 1897 – Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motorcycle racer (d. 1937)
    • 1898 – Scott O’Dell, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1989)
    • 1898 – Josef Terboven, German soldier and politician (d. 1945)
    • 1899 – Jeralean Talley, American super-centenarian (d. 2015)
    • 1900 – Hans Frank, German lawyer and politician (d. 1946)
    • 1900 – Franz Leopold Neumann, German lawyer and theorist (d. 1954)
    • 1908 – John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
    • 1908 – Hélène Boucher, French pilot (d. 1934)
    • 1910 – Margaret Wise Brown, American author and educator (d. 1952)
    • 1910 – Hugh Casson, English architect and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1910 – Scatman Crothers, American actor and comedian (d. 1986)
    • 1910 – Franz Kline, American painter and academic (d. 1962)
    • 1910 – Artie Shaw, American clarinet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2004)
    • 1911 – Lou Brouillard, Canadian boxer (d. 1984)
    • 1911 – Paul Augustin Mayer, German cardinal (d. 2010)
    • 1911 – Betty Nuthall, English tennis player (d. 1983)
    • 1912 – Jean Françaix, French pianist and composer (d. 1997)
    • 1912 – John Payne, American actor (d. 1989)
    • 1914 – Harold Hitchcock, English visionary landscape artist (d. 2009)
    • 1914 – Celestine Sibley, American journalist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1914 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist, journalist, and prominent Catholic layperson (d. 1981)
    • 1915 – S. Donald Stookey, American physicist and chemist, invented CorningWare (d. 2014)
    • 1917 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (d. 2008)
    • 1918 – Denis Compton, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1997)
    • 1919 – Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright (d. 1988)
    • 1919 – Ruth Fernández, Puerto Rican contralto and a member of the Puerto Rican Senate (d. 2012)
    • 1919 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2011)
    • 1920 – Helen O’Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
    • 1923 – Alicia de Larrocha, Catalan-Spanish pianist (d. 2009)
    • 1923 – Irving Millman, American virologist and microbiologist (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Joshua Lederberg, American biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
    • 1926 – Basil Salvadore D’Souza, Indian bishop (d. 1996)
    • 1926 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African activist and politician (d. 1995)
    • 1928 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
    • 1928 – Nigel Davenport, English actor (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Nina Otkalenko, Russian runner (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish-Austrian actress (d. 1982)
    • 1930 – Friedrich Achleitner, German poet and critic (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Barbara Barrie, American actress
    • 1932 – Kevork Ajemian, Syrian-French journalist and author (d. 1998)
    • 1933 – Joan Collins, English actress
    • 1933 – Ove Fundin, Swedish motorcycle racer
    • 1934 – Robert Moog, electronic engineer and inventor of the Moog synthesizer (d. 2005)
    • 1935 – Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish author (d. 2009)
    • 1936 – Ingeborg Hallstein, German soprano and actress
    • 1936 – Charles Kimbrough, American actor
    • 1939 – Michel Colombier, French-American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
    • 1939 – Reinhard Hauff, German director and screenwriter
    • 1940 – Bjorn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (d. 2002)
    • 1940 – Gérard Larrousse, French race car driver
    • 1940 – Cora Sadosky, Argentinian mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
    • 1941 – Zalman King, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Rod Thorn, American basketball player, coach, and executive
    • 1942 – Gabriel Liiceanu, Romanian philosopher, author, and academic
    • 1942 – Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao, Indian director, screenwriter, and choreographer
    • 1943 – Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (d. 2016)
    • 1944 – John Newcombe, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1945 – Padmarajan, Indian director, screenwriter, and author (d. 1991)
    • 1946 – David Graham, Australian golfer
    • 1947 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and translator (d. 1995)
    • 1948 – Myriam Boyer, French actress, director, and producer
    • 1949 – Daniel DiNardo, American cardinal
    • 1949 – Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 61st and 64th President of Peru (d. 2019)
    • 1950 – Martin McGuinness, Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 2017)
    • 1951 – Anatoly Karpov, Russian chess player
    • 1951 – Antonis Samaras, Greek economist and politician, 185th Prime Minister of Greece
    • 1952 – Martin Parr, English photographer and journalist
    • 1954 – Gerry Armstrong, Northern Irish international footballer, striker
    • 1954 – Marvelous Marvin Hagler, American boxer and actor
    • 1955 – Luka Bloom, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1956 – Andrea Pazienza, Italian illustrator and painter (d. 1988)
    • 1956 – Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician and diplomat, Foreign Minister of Austria
    • 1956 – Buck Showalter, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1958 – Mitch Albom, American journalist, author, and screenwriter
    • 1958 – Drew Carey, American actor, game show host, and entrepreneur
    • 1958 – Lea DeLaria, American actress and singer
    • 1959 – Marcella Mesker, Dutch tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Linden Ashby, American actor
    • 1961 – Daniele Massaro, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1961 – Norrie May-Welby, Scottish Australian gender activist
    • 1962 – Karen Duffy, American actress
    • 1963 – Viviane Baladi, Swiss mathematician
    • 1964 – Ruth Metzler, Swiss lawyer and politician
    • 1965 – Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo, Spanish footballer
    • 1965 – Tom Tykwer, German director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
    • 1965 – Melissa McBride, American actress
    • 1965 – Paul Sironen, Australian rugby league player
    • 1966 – Graeme Hick, Zimbabwean-English cricketer and coach
    • 1966 – Gary Roberts, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1967 – Luís Roberto Alves, Mexican footballer
    • 1967 – Anna Ibrisagic, Swedish politician
    • 1968 – Guinevere Turner, American actress and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Bryan Herta, American race car driver and businessman, co-founded Bryan Herta Autosport
    • 1971 – George Osborne, English journalist and politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer
    • 1972 – Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1972 – Martin Saggers, English cricketer and umpire
    • 1973 – Maxwell, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1974 – Jewel, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actress, and poet
    • 1974 – Manuela Schwesig, German politician, German Federal Minister of Family Affairs
    • 1976 – Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1977 – Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
    • 1978 – Scott Raynor, American drummer
    • 1979 – Rasual Butler, American basketball player (d. 2018)
    • 1979 – Brian Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1980 – Theofanis Gekas, Greek footballer
    • 1980 – Ben Ross, Australian rugby league player
    • 1983 – Silvio Proto, Belgian-Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Hugo Almeida, Portuguese footballer
    • 1985 – Sebastián Fernández, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1985 – Teymuraz Gabashvili, Russian tennis player
    • 1985 – Wim Stroetinga, Dutch cyclist
    • 1985 – Ross Wallace, Scottish footballer
    • 1986 – Ryan Coogler, American film director and screenwriter
    • 1986 – Alexei Sitnikov, Russian-Azerbaijani figure skater
    • 1986 – Alice Tait, Australian swimmer
    • 1986 – Ruben Zadkovich, Australian footballer
    • 1987 – Gracie Otto, Australian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1987 – Bray Wyatt, American wrestler
    • 1988 – Rosanna Crawford, Canadian biathlete
    • 1988 – Angelo Ogbonna, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Morgan Pressel, American golfer
    • 1989 – Ezequiel Schelotto, Italian footballer
    • 1990 – Dan Evans, British tennis player
    • 1990 – Kristina Kucova, Slovakian tennis player
    • 1990 – Oliver Venno, Estonian volleyball player
    • 1991 – Aaron Donald, American football player
    • 1991 – Lena Meyer-Landrut, German singer-songwriter
    • 1991 – César Pinares, Chilean footballer
    • 1996 – Katharina Althaus, German ski jumper
    • 1996 – Emmanuel Boateng, Ghanaian footballer
    • 1996 – Razvan Marin, Romanian footballer
    • 1997 – Pedro Chirivella, Spanish footballer
    • 1997 – Coy Craft, American footballer
    • 1997 – Joe Gomez, English footballer
    • 1997 – Gustaf Nilsson, Swedish footballer
    • 1997 – Sam Timmins, New Zealand basketball player
    • 1998 – Sérgio Sette Câmara, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1998 – Ross Cunningham, Scottish footballer
    • 1998 – Salwa Eid Naser, Bahraini track and field sprinter
    • 1998 – Luca De La Torre, American footballer
    • 1998 – Steve Lacy, American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer
    • 2000 – Felipe Drugovich, Brazilian race car driver
    • 2000 – Jaxson Hayes, American basketball player

    Deaths on May 23

    • 230 – Urban I, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 922 – Li Sizhao, Chinese general and governor
    • 962 – Guibert of Gembloux, Frankish abbot (b. 892)
    • 1125 – Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1081)
    • 1304 – Jehan de Lescurel, French poet and composer
    • 1338 – Alice de Warenne, Countess of Arundel, English noble (b. 1287)
    • 1370 – Toghon Temür, Mongol emperor (b. 1320)
    • 1423 – Antipope Benedict XIII (b. 1328)
    • 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola, Italian friar and preacher (b. 1452)
    • 1523 – Ashikaga Yoshitane, Japanese shōgun (b. 1466)
    • 1524 – Ismail I, First Emperor of Safavid Empire (b. 1487)
    • 1591 – John Blitheman, English organist and composer (b. 1525)
    • 1662 – John Gauden, English bishop (b. 1605)
    • 1670 – Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1610)
    • 1691 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (b. 1622)
    • 1701 – William Kidd, Scottish pirate (b. 1645)
    • 1749 – Abraham ben Abraham, Polish martyr (b. 1700)
    • 1752 – William Bradford, English-American printer (b. 1663)
    • 1754 – John Wood, the Elder, English architect, designed The Circus and Queen Square (b. 1704)
    • 1783 – James Otis, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1725)
    • 1813 – Géraud Duroc, French general and diplomat (b. 1772)
    • 1815 – Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, American clergyman and botanist (b. 1753)
    • 1841 – Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1765)
    • 1855 – Charles Robert Malden, English lieutenant and explorer (b. 1797)
    • 1857 – Augustin-Louis Cauchy, French mathematician and academic (b. 1789)
    • 1868 – Kit Carson, American general (b. 1809)
    • 1886 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian and academic (b. 1795)
    • 1893 – Anton von Schmerling, Austrian politician (b. 1805)
    • 1895 – Franz Ernst Neumann, German mineralogist, physicist, and mathematician (b. 1798)
    • 1906 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian director, playwright, and poet (b. 1828)
    • 1908 – François Coppée, French poet and author (b. 1842)
    • 1920 – Svetozar Boroević, Croatian-Austrian field marshal (b. 1856)
    • 1921 – August Nilsson, Swedish shot putter and tug of war competitor (b. 1872)
    • 1934 – Clyde Barrow, American criminal (b. 1909)
    • 1934 – Mihkel Martna, Estonian journalist and politician (b. 1860)
    • 1934 – Bonnie Parker, American criminal (b. 1910)
    • 1937 – John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company and Rockefeller University (b. 1839)
    • 1938 – Frederick Ruple, Swiss-American painter (b. 1871)
    • 1942 – Panagiotis Toundas, Greek composer and conductor (b. 1886)
    • 1945 – Heinrich Himmler, German commander and politician, Reich Minister of the Interior (b. 1900)
    • 1947 – Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss author and poet (b. 1878)
    • 1949 – Jan Frans De Boever, Belgian painter and illustrator (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Gustav Suits, Latvian-Estonian poet and politician (b. 1883)
    • 1960 – Georges Claude, French engineer and inventor, created Neon lighting (b. 1870)
    • 1962 – Louis Coatalen, French engineer (b. 1879)
    • 1963 – August Jakobson, Estonian author and politician (b. 1904)
    • 1965 – David Smith, American sculptor (b. 1906)
    • 1975 – Moms Mabley, American comedian and actor (b. 1894)
    • 1979 – S. Selvanayagam, Sri Lankan geographer and academic (b. 1932)
    • 1981 – Gene Green, American baseball player (b. 1933)
    • 1981 – Rayner Heppenstall, English author and poet (b. 1911)
    • 1981 – George Jessel, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1898)
    • 1981 – David Lewis, Belarusian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
    • 1986 – Sterling Hayden, American actor (b. 1916)
    • 1989 – Georgy Tovstonogov, Russian director and producer (b. 1915)
    • 1989 – Karl Koch, German computer hacker (b. 1965)
    • 1991 – Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist and composer (b. 1895)
    • 1991 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1907)
    • 1991 – Fletcher Markle, Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1921)
    • 1992 – Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer (b. 1948)
    • 1992 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian lawyer and judge (b. 1939)
    • 1994 – Olav Hauge, Norwegian poet (b. 1908)
    • 1996 – Kronid Lyubarsky, Russian journalist and activist (b. 1934)
    • 1998 – Telford Taylor, American general and lawyer (b. 1908)
    • 1999 – Owen Hart, Canadian-American wrestler (b. 1965)
    • 2002 – Sam Snead, American golfer and journalist (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1921)
    • 2006 – Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and manager (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Iñaki Ochoa de Olza, Spanish mountaineer (b. 1967)
    • 2008 – Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1935)
    • 2009 – Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean soldier and politician, 9th President of South Korea (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – José Lima, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1972)
    • 2010 – Simon Monjack, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1970)
    • 2011 – Xavier Tondo, Spanish cyclist (b. 1978)
    • 2012 – Paul Fussell, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Epy Guerrero, Dominican baseball player, coach, and scout (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Hayri Kozakçıoğlu, Turkish police officer and politician, 15th Governor of Istanbul Province (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Georges Moustaki, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
    • 2013 – Flynn Robinson, American basketball player (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Mikhail Egorovich Alekseev, Russian linguist and academic (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – Madhav Mantri, Indian cricketer (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Anne Meara, American actress, comedian and playwright (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Aleksey Mozgovoy, Ukrainian sergeant (b. 1975)
    • 2015 – Alicia Nash, Salvadoran-American physicist and engineer (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – John Forbes Nash, Jr., American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1928)
    • 2017 – Roger Moore, English actor (b. 1927)
    • 2020 – Hana Kimura, Japanese professional wrestler (b. 1997)

    Holidays and observances on May 23

    • Christian feast day:
      • Aaron the Illustrious (Syriac Orthodox Church)
      • Desiderius of Vienne
      • Giovanni Battista de’ Rossi
      • Julia of Corsica
      • Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Quintian, Lucius and Julian
      • William of Perth
      • May 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Constitution Day (Germany)
    • Earliest day on which Declaration of the Báb can fall, while May 24 is the latest; observed on ‘Aẓamat 8 (Bahá’í Faith)
    • Earliest day on which National Heroes’ Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on last Monday of May. (Turks and Caicos Islands)
    • Labour Day (Jamaica)
    • Students’ Day (Mexico)
    • World Turtle Day

  • May 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
    • 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
    • 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
    • 1176 – The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo.
    • 1200 – King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.
    • 1246 – Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV.
    • 1254 – Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty.
    • 1370 – Brussels massacre: Hundreds of Jews are murdered and the rest of the Jewish community is banished from Brussels, Belgium, for allegedly desecrating consecrated Host.
    • 1377 – Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
    • 1455 – Start of the Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.
    • 1520 – The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish.
    • 1629 – Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck ending Danish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War.
    • 1762 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
    • 1762 – Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome.
    • 1766 – A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region.
    • 1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri.
    • 1807 – A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.
    • 1809 – On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is repelled by an enemy army for the first time.
    • 1816 – A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, and the riots spread to Ely the next day.
    • 1819 – SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
    • 1826 – HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
    • 1840 – The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
    • 1848 – Slavery is abolished in Martinique.
    • 1849 – Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent.
    • 1856 – Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Union forces begin the Siege of Port Hudson which lasts 48 days, the longest siege in U.S. military history.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army’s Red River Campaign ends in failure.
    • 1872 – Reconstruction Era: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law, restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.
    • 1900 – The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative.
    • 1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their “Flying-Machine”.
    • 1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, the only volcano besides Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous U.S. during the 20th century.
    • 1915 – Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246.
    • 1926 – Chiang Kai-shek replaces the communists in Kuomintang China.
    • 1927 – Near Xining, China, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake causes 200,000 deaths in one of the world’s most destructive earthquakes.
    • 1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
    • 1941 – During the Anglo-Iraqi War, British troops take Fallujah.
    • 1942 – Mexico enters the Second World War on the side of the Allies.
    • 1943 – Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern.
    • 1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece.
    • 1957 – South Africa’s government approves of racial separation in universities.
    • 1958 – The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths is estimated at 300, mostly Tamils.
    • 1960 – The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
    • 1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board.
    • 1963 – Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is shot in an assassination attempt, and dies five days later.
    • 1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson launches the Great Society.
    • 1967 – Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
    • 1967 – L’Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history.
    • 1968 – The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
    • 1969 – Apollo 10’s lunar module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the moon’s surface.
    • 1972 – Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a republic and changing its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
    • 1972 – Over 400 women in Derry, Northern Ireland attack the offices of Sinn Féin following the shooting by the Irish Republican Army of a young British soldier on leave.
    • 1987 – Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India.
    • 1987 – First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
    • 1990 – North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.
    • 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.
    • 1994 – A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country’s ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
    • 1996 – The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting.
    • 1998 – A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.
    • 2000 – In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.
    • 2002 – Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
    • 2010 – Air India Express Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737.
    • 2010 – Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the Uefa Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).
    • 2011 – An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
    • 2012 – Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
    • 2014 – General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d’état, following six months of political turmoil.
    • 2014 – An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China’s far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
    • 2015 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum.
    • 2017 – Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
    • 2017 – United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.

    Births on May 22

    • 626 – Itzam K’an Ahk I, Mayan king (d. 686)
    • 1009 – Su Xun, Chinese writer (d. 1066)
    • 1408 – Annamacharya, Hindu saint (d. 1503)
    • 1539 – Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (d. 1621)
    • 1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French soldier and governor (d. 1698)
    • 1644 – Gabriël Grupello, Flemish Baroque sculptor (d. 1730)
    • 1650 – Richard Brakenburgh, Dutch Golden Age painter (d. 1702)
    • 1694 – Daniel Gran, Austrian painter (d. 1757)
    • 1715 – François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and diplomat (d. 1794)
    • 1733 – Hubert Robert, French painter (d. 1808)
    • 1752 – Louis Legendre, French butcher and politician (d. 1797)
    • 1762 – Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, English politician (d. 1834)
    • 1770 – Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (d. 1840)
    • 1772 – Ram Mohan Roy, Indian philosopher and reformer (d. 1833)
    • 1782 – Hirose Tansō, Japanese neo-Confucian scholar, teacher, writer (d. 1856)
    • 1783 – William Sturgeon, English physicist and inventor, invented the electromagnet and electric motor (d. 1850)
    • 1808 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (d. 1855)
    • 1811 – Giulia Grisi, Italian soprano (d. 1869)
    • 1811 – Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle, English politician (d. 1864)
    • 1813 – Richard Wagner, German composer (d. 1883)
    • 1814 – Amalia Lindegren, Swedish painter (d. 1891)
    • 1820 – Worthington Whittredge, American painter (d. 1910)
    • 1828 – Albrecht von Graefe, German ophthalmologist and academic (d. 1870)
    • 1831 – Henry Vandyke Carter, English anatomist and surgeon (d. 1897)
    • 1833 – Félix Bracquemond, French painter and etcher (d. 1914)
    • 1833 – Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1895)
    • 1841 – Catulle Mendès, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1909)
    • 1844 – Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (d. 1926)
    • 1846 – Rita Cetina Gutiérrez, Mexican poet, educator, and activist (d. 1908)
    • 1848 – Fritz von Uhde, German painter and educator (d. 1911)
    • 1849 – Aston Webb, English architect and academic (d. 1930)
    • 1858 – Belmiro de Almeida, Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor (d. 1935)
    • 1859 – Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (d. 1930)
    • 1859 – Tsubouchi Shōyō, Japanese author, playwright, and educator (d. 1935)
    • 1864 – Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (d. 1931)
    • 1868 – Augusto Pestana, Brazilian engineer and politician (d. 1934)
    • 1874 – Daniel François Malan, South African clergyman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1959)
    • 1876 – Julius Klinger, Austrian painter and illustrator (d. 1942)
    • 1879 – Warwick Armstrong, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 1947)
    • 1879 – Jean Cras, French admiral and composer (d. 1932)
    • 1879 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian statesman and independence leader (d. 1926)
    • 1880 – Francis de Miomandre, French author and translator (d. 1959)
    • 1885 – Giacomo Matteotti, Italian lawyer and politician (d. 1924)
    • 1885 – Soemu Toyoda, Japanese admiral (d. 1957)
    • 1887 – A. W. Sandberg, Danish film director and screenwriter (d. 1938)
    • 1891 – Johannes R. Becher, German politician, novelist, and poet (d. 1958)
    • 1894 – Friedrich Pollock, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1970)
    • 1897 – Robert Neumann, German and English-speaking author (d. 1975)
    • 1900 – Juan Arvizu, Mexican lyric opera tenor and bolero vocalist (d.1985)
    • 1901 – Maurice J. Tobin, American politician, 6th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1953)
    • 1902 – Jack Lambert, English footballer and manager (d. 1940)
    • 1902 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (d. 1956)
    • 1904 – Uno Lamm, Swedish electrical engineer and inventor (d. 1989)
    • 1905 – Bodo von Borries, German physicist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope (d. 1956)
    • 1905 – Tom Driberg, British politician (d. 1976)
    • 1907 – Hergé, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1983)
    • 1907 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1989)
    • 1908 – Horton Smith, American golfer and captain (d. 1963)
    • 1909 – Margaret Mee, English illustrator and educator (d. 1988)
    • 1912 – Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
    • 1913 – Rafael Gil, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
    • 1913 – Dominique Rolin, Belgian author (d. 2012)
    • 1914 – Max Kohnstamm, Dutch historian and diplomat (d. 2010)
    • 1914 – Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, bandleader, poet (d. 1993)
    • 1917 – George Aratani, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
    • 1917 – Jean-Louis Curtis, French author (d. 1995)
    • 1919 – Paul Vanden Boeynants, Belgian businessman and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2001)
    • 1920 – Thomas Gold, Austrian-American astrophysicist and academic (d. 2004)
    • 1921 – George S. Hammond, American scientist (d. 2005)
    • 1922 – Quinn Martin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1987)
    • 1924 – Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2018)
    • 1925 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (d. 1991)
    • 1927 – Michael Constantine, American actor
    • 1927 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Serge Doubrovsky, French theorist and author (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – John Mackenzie, Scottish director and producer (d. 2011)
    • 1928 – T. Boone Pickens, American businessman (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Hiroshi Sano, Japanese novelist (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Ahmed Fouad Negm, Egyptian poet (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Kenny Ball, English jazz trumpet player, vocalist, and bandleader (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Marisol Escobar, French-American sculptor (d. 2016)
    • 1930 – Harvey Milk, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1978)
    • 1932 – Robert Spitzer, American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1933 – Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician and academic (d. 1996)
    • 1934 – Peter Nero, American pianist and conductor
    • 1936 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (d. 2014)
    • 1937 – Facundo Cabral, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
    • 1938 – Richard Benjamin, American actor and director
    • 1938 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (d. 1999)
    • 1939 – Paul Winfield, American actor (d. 2004)
    • 1940 – Kieth Merrill, American filmmaker
    • 1940 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (d. 2011)
    • 1940 – Bernard Shaw, American journalist
    • 1940 – Mick Tingelhoff, American Pro Football Hall of Famer
    • 1941 – Menzies Campbell, Scottish sprinter and politician
    • 1942 – Roger Brown, American basketball player (d. 1997)
    • 1942 – Ted Kaczynski, American academic and mathematician turned anarchist and serial murderer (Unabomber)
    • 1942 – Barbara Parkins, Canadian actress
    • 1942 – Richard Oakes, Native American civil rights activist (d. 1972)
    • 1943 – Betty Williams, Northern Irish peace activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2020)
    • 1943 – Tommy John, American baseball player
    • 1944 – John Flanagan, Australian fantasy author
    • 1945 – Bob Katter, Australian politician
    • 1946 – George Best, Northern Irish footballer and manager (d. 2005)
    • 1946 – Michael Green, English physicist and academic
    • 1946 – Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager (d. 2015)
    • 1946 – Andrei Marga, Romanian philosopher, political scientist, politician
    • 1946 – Lyudmila Zhuravleva, Russian-Ukrainian astronomer
    • 1948 – Tomás Sánchez, Cuban painter and engraver
    • 1948 – Nedumudi Venu, Indian actor and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Cheryl Campbell, English actress
    • 1949 – Valentin Inzko, Austrian diplomat
    • 1950 – Bernie Taupin, English singer-songwriter and poet
    • 1953 – François Bon, French writer
    • 1953 – Cha Bum-kun, South Korean footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Paul Mariner, English footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1954 – Barbara May Cameron, Native American human rights activist (d. 2002)
    • 1954 – Shuji Nakamura, Japanese-American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1956 – Lucie Brock-Broido, American poet (d. 2018)
    • 1957 – Lisa Murkowski, American lawyer and politician
    • 1959 – David Blatt, Israeli-American basketball player and coach
    • 1959 – Morrissey, English singer-songwriter and performer
    • 1959 – Kwak Jae-yong, South Korean director and screenwriter
    • 1959 – Mehbooba Mufti, Indian politician
    • 1960 – Hideaki Anno, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
    • 1962 – Brian Pillman, American football player and wrestler (d. 1997)
    • 1963 – Claude Closky, French contemporary artist
    • 1965 – Jay Carney, American journalist, 29th White House Press Secretary
    • 1966 – Johnny Gill, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1966 – Wang Xiaoshuai, Chinese director and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Graham Linehan, Irish comedian, actor, and author
    • 1969 – Cathy McMorris Rodgers, American lawyer and politician
    • 1970 – Naomi Campbell, English model
    • 1970 – Brody Stevens, American comedian and actor (d. 2019)
    • 1972 – Max Brooks, American author and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Danish actor
    • 1974 – Garba Lawal, Nigerian footballer
    • 1974 – Henrietta Ónodi, Hungarian Olympic gymnast
    • 1974 – Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian politician
    • 1975 – Salva Ballesta, Spanish footballer and manager
    • 1976 – Christian Vande Velde, American cyclist
    • 1978 – Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress
    • 1978 – Katie Price, English television personality and glamour model
    • 1979 – Maggie Q, American actress
    • 1979 – Nazanin Boniadi, Iranian-American actress
    • 1980 – Sharice Davids, American politician
    • 1980 – Lucy Gordon, British actress and model (d. 2009)
    • 1981 – Daniel Bryan, American wrestler
    • 1981 – Bassel Khartabil, Syrian computer programmer and engineer (d. 2015)
    • 1981 – Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player
    • 1982 – Erin McNaught, Australian model and actress
    • 1982 – Apolo Ohno, American speed skater
    • 1982 – Hong Yong-jo, North Korean footballer
    • 1983 – Natasha Kai, American soccer player and Olympic medalist
    • 1984 – Karoline Herfurth, German actress
    • 1984 – Didier Ya Konan, Ivorian footballer
    • 1984 – Dustin Moskovitz, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook
    • 1985 – Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer
    • 1985 – Tao Okamoto, Japanese model and actress
    • 1986 – Julian Edelman, American football player
    • 1986 – Matt Jarvis, English footballer
    • 1986 – Tatiana Volosozhar, Russian figure skater
    • 1987 – Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player
    • 1987 – Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer
    • 1988 – Heida Reed, Icelandic-British actress
    • 1989 – Corey Dickerson, American baseball player
    • 1990 – Wyatt Roy, Australian politician
    • 1991 – Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer
    • 1991 – Suho, South Korean singer and actor
    • 1992 – Anna Baryshnikov, American actress
    • 1994 – Florian Luger, Austrian male model
    • 1998 – Samile Bermannelli, Brazilian fashion model
    • 1999 – Camren Bicondova, American actress
    • 1999 – Femke Huijzer, Dutch model

    Deaths on May 22

    • 192 – Dong Zhuo, Chinese warlord and politician (b. 138)
    • 337 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (b. 272)
    • 748 – Empress Genshō of Japan (b. 683)
    • 1067 – Constantine X, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1006)
    • 1068 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (b. 1025)
    • 1310 – Saint Humility, founder of the Vallumbrosan religious order of nuns (b. c.1226)
    • 1409 – Blanche of England, sister of King Henry V (b. 1392)
    • 1455 – Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1406)
    • 1455 – Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford, Lancastrian commander (b. 1414)
    • 1455 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English commander (b. 1393)
    • 1457 – Rita of Cascia, Italian nun and saint (b. 1381)
    • 1490 – Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, English administrator, nobleman and magnate (b. 1416)
    • 1538 – John Forest, English friar and martyr (b. 1471)
    • 1540 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (b. 1483)
    • 1545 – Sher Shah Suri, Indian ruler (b. 1486)
    • 1553 – Giovanni Bernardi, Italian sculptor and engraver (b. 1495)
    • 1602 – Renata of Lorraine (b. 1544)
    • 1609 – Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff, Dutch captain (b. 1573)
    • 1666 – Gaspar Schott, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1608)
    • 1667 – Pope Alexander VII (b. 1599)
    • 1745 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French general (b. 1671)
    • 1760 – Baal Shem Tov, Polish rabbi and author (b. 1700)
    • 1772 – Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian and academic (b. 1687)
    • 1795 – Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg, Prussian politician, Foreign Minister of Prussia (b. 1725)
    • 1802 – Martha Washington, First, First Lady of the United States (b. 1731)
    • 1851 – Mordecai Manuel Noah, American journalist and diplomat (b. 1755)
    • 1859 – Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (b. 1810)
    • 1861 – Thornsbury Bailey Brown, American soldier (b. 1829)
    • 1868 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1801)
    • 1885 – Victor Hugo, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1802)
    • 1901 – Gaetano Bresci, Italian-American anarchist, assassin of Umberto I of Italy (b. 1869)
    • 1910 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (b. 1864)
    • 1932 – Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish activist, landlord, and playwright, co-founded the Abbey Theatre (b. 1852)
    • 1933 – Tsengeltiin Jigjidjav, Mongolian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Mongolia (b. 1894)
    • 1938 – William Glackens, American painter and illustrator (b. 1870)
    • 1939 – Ernst Toller, German playwright and author (b. 1893)
    • 1939 – Jiří Mahen, Czech author and playwright (b. 1882)
    • 1954 – Chief Bender, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1884)
    • 1965 – Christopher Stone, English radio host (b. 1882)
    • 1966 – Tom Goddard, English cricketer (b. 1900)
    • 1967 – Langston Hughes, American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright (b. 1902)
    • 1967 – Charlotte Serber, American Librarian of the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos site (b. 1911)
    • 1972 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish poet and author (b. 1904)
    • 1972 – Margaret Rutherford, English actress (b. 1892)
    • 1974 – Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, German-American mathematician and aerospace engineer (b. 1903)
    • 1975 – Lefty Grove, American baseball player (b. 1900)
    • 1982 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (b. 1899)
    • 1983 – Albert Claude, Belgian biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
    • 1985 – Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American animator, director, and producer (b. 1909)
    • 1988 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1914)
    • 1989 – Steven De Groote, South African pianist and educator (b. 1953)
    • 1990 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer (b. 1922)
    • 1991 – Shripad Amrit Dange, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1899)
    • 1991 – Stan Mortensen, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
    • 1992 – Zellig Harris, American linguist and academic (b. 1909)
    • 1993 – Mieczysław Horszowski, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1892)
    • 1997 – Alziro Bergonzo, Italian architect and painter (b. 1906)
    • 1997 – Alfred Hershey, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
    • 1998 – John Derek, American actor, director, and photographer (b. 1926)
    • 1998 – José Enrique Moyal, Israeli physicist and engineer (b. 1910)
    • 2000 – Davie Fulton, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Richard Biggs, American actor (b. 1960)
    • 2004 – Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (b. 1945)
    • 2005 – Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician (b. 1914)
    • 2005 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (b. 1914)
    • 2006 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (b. 1945)
    • 2007 – Pemba Doma Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer (b. 1970)
    • 2008 – Robert Asprin, American soldier and author (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – Martin Gardner, American mathematician, cryptographer, and author (b. 1914)
    • 2011 – Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (b. 1938)
    • 2012 – Muzafar Bhutto, Pakistani politician (b. 1970)
    • 2012 – Wesley A. Brown, American lieutenant and engineer (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Marques Haynes, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Vladimir Katriuk, Ukrainian-Canadian SS officer (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Velimir “Bata” Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (b. 1981)
    • 2019 – Judith Kerr, German-born British writer and illustrator (b. 1923)
    • 2020 – Denise Cronenberg, Canadian costume designer (b. 1938)

    Holidays and observances on May 22

    • Abolition Day (Martinique)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Castus and Emilius
      • Fulk
      • Humilita
      • Michael Hồ Đình Hy (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)
      • Quiteria
      • Rita of Cascia
      • Romanus of Subiaco
      • May 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Harvey Milk Day (California)
    • International Day for Biological Diversity (International)
    • United States National Maritime Day
    • National Sovereignty Day (Haiti)
    • Republic Day (Sri Lanka)
    • Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari (Ukraine)
    • Unity Day (Yemen), celebrates the unification of North and South Yemen into the Republic of Yemen in 1990.
    • World Goth Day

  • May 20 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church.
    • 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed Augusta is able to choose her successor for the Byzantine throne, after Zeno (late emperor) dies of dysentery.
    • 685 – The Battle of Dun Nechtain is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated.
    • 794 – While visiting the royal Mercian court at Sutton Walls with a view to marrying princess Ælfthryth, King Æthelberht II of East Anglia is taken captive and beheaded.
    • 1217 – The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
    • 1293 – King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Estudio de Escuelas de Generales in Alcalá de Henares.
    • 1449 – The Battle of Alfarrobeira is fought, establishing the House of Braganza as a principal royal family of Portugal.
    • 1497 – John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship Matthew looking for a route to the west (other documents give a May 2 date).
    • 1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route to India when he arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India.
    • 1521 – Ignatius of Loyola is seriously wounded in the Battle of Pampeluna.
    • 1570 – Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas.
    • 1609 – Shakespeare’s sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.
    • 1631 – The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years’ War.
    • 1645 – Yangzhou massacre: The ten day massacre of 800,000 residents of the city of Yangzhou, part of the Transition from Ming to Qing.
    • 1741 – The Battle of Cartagena de Indias ends in a Spanish victory and the British begin withdrawal towards Jamaica with substantial losses.
    • 1775 – The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is allegedly signed in Charlotte, North Carolina.
    • 1802 – By the Law of 20 May 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition in the French Revolution.
    • 1813 – Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
    • 1840 – York Minster is badly damaged by fire.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state. Meanwhile, the State of North Carolina secedes from the Union.
    • 1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law, opening 84 million acres of public land to settlers.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church: In the Virginia Bermuda Hundred campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
    • 1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
    • 1875 – Signing of the Metre Convention by 17 nations leading to the establishment of the International System of Units.
    • 1882 – The Triple Alliance between the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy is formed.
    • 1883 – Krakatoa begins to erupt; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people.
    • 1891 – History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison’s prototype kinetoscope.
    • 1902 – Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country’s first President.
    • 1927 – Treaty of Jeddah: The United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
    • 1932 – Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.
    • 1940 – The Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
    • 1941 – World War II: Battle of Crete: German paratroops invade Crete.
    • 1948 – Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek wins the 1948 Republic of China presidential election and is sworn in as the first President of the Republic of China at Nanjing.
    • 1949 – In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.
    • 1956 – In Operation Redwing, the first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
    • 1964 – Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias.
    • 1967 – The Popular Movement of the Revolution political party is established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
    • 1969 – The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.
    • 1971 – In the Chuknagar massacre, Pakistani forces massacre thousands, mostly Bengali Hindus.
    • 1980 – In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, by 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.
    • 1983 – First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier.
    • 1983 – Church Street bombing: A car bomb planted by Umkhonto we Sizwe explodes on Church Street in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, killing 19 people and injuring 217 others.
    • 1985 – Radio Martí, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
    • 1989 – The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
    • 1990 – The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
    • 1996 – Civil rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.
    • 2002 – The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and three years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).
    • 2012 – At least 27 people are killed and 50 others injured when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes northern Italy.
    • 2013 – An EF5 tornado strikes the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing 24 people and injuring 377 others.
    • 2019 – The International System of Units (SI): The base units are redefined, making the international prototype of the kilogram obsolete.

    Births on May 20

    • 1315 – Bonne of Luxembourg, first wife of John II of France (d. 1349)
    • 1470 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal, poet, and scholar (d. 1547)
    • 1505 – Levinus Lemnius, Dutch writer (d. 1568)
    • 1531 – Thado Minsaw of Ava, Viceroy of Ava (d. 1584)
    • 1537 – Hieronymus Fabricius, Italian anatomist (d. 1619)
    • 1575 – Robert Heath, English judge and politician (d. 1649)
    • 1664 – Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor and architect (d. 1714)
    • 1726 – Francis Cotes, English painter and academic (d. 1770)
    • 1743 – Toussaint Louverture, Haitian revolutionary, general, and president (d. 1803)
    • 1759 – William Thornton, Virgin Islander-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (d. 1828)
    • 1769 – Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)
    • 1772 – Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet, English inventor and politician, developed Congreve rockets (d. 1828)
    • 1776 – Simon Fraser, American-Canadian fur trader and explorer (d. 1862)
    • 1795 – Pedro María de Anaya, Mexican soldier. President (1847-1848) (d. 1854)
    • 1799 – Honoré de Balzac, French novelist and playwright (d. 1850)
    • 1806 – John Stuart Mill, English economist, civil servant, and philosopher (d. 1873)
    • 1811 – Alfred Domett, English-New Zealand poet and politician, 4th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1887)
    • 1818 – William Fargo, American businessman and politician, co-founded Wells Fargo and American Express (d. 1881)
    • 1822 – Frédéric Passy, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1912)
    • 1824 – Cadmus M. Wilcox, Confederate States Army general (d. 1890)
    • 1825 – Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman to be ordained as a mainstream Protestant minister in the U.S. (d. 1921)
    • 1830 – Hector Malot, French author (d. 1907)
    • 1838 – Jules Méline, French lawyer and politician, 65th Prime Minister of France (d. 1925)
    • 1851 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor, invented the Gramophone record (d. 1929)
    • 1854 – George Prendergast, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Victoria (d. 1937)
    • 1856 – Henri-Edmond Cross, French Neo-Impressionist painter (d. 1910)
    • 1860 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, zymologist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
    • 1875 – Hendrik Offerhaus, Dutch rower (d. 1953)
    • 1877 – Pat Leahy, Irish-American jumper (d. 1927)
    • 1879 – Hans Meerwein, German chemist (d. 1965)
    • 1882 – Sigrid Undset, Danish-Norwegian novelist, essayist, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
    • 1883 – Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
    • 1886 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded the Galatasaray Sports Club (d. 1951)
    • 1894 – Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian guru and scholar (d. 1994)
    • 1895 – R. J. Mitchell, English engineer, designed the Supermarine Spitfire and Supermarine S.6B (d. 1937)
    • 1897 – Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish economist and author (d. 1983)
    • 1897 – Malcolm Nokes, English hammer and discus thrower (d. 1986)
    • 1898 – Eduard Ole, Estonian painter (d. 1995)
    • 1899 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Russian painter and sculptor (d. 1969)
    • 1899 – John Marshall Harlan II, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1971)
    • 1900 – Sumitranandan Pant, Indian poet and author (d. 1977)
    • 1901 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess player, mathematician, and author (d. 1981)
    • 1901 – Doris Fleeson, American journalist (d. 1970)
    • 1904 – Margery Allingham, English author of detective fiction (d. 1966)
    • 1906 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (d. 1989)
    • 1907 – Carl Mydans, American photographer and journalist (d. 2004)
    • 1908 – Henry Bolte, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Victoria (d. 1990)
    • 1908 – Louis Daquin, French actor and director (d. 1980)
    • 1908 – Francis Raymond Fosberg, American botanist and author (d. 1993)
    • 1908 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
    • 1911 – Gardner Fox, American author (d. 1986)
    • 1911 – Annie M. G. Schmidt, Dutch author and playwright (d. 1995)
    • 1913 – Teodoro Fernández, Peruvian footballer (d. 1996)
    • 1913 – William Redington Hewlett, American engineer, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (d. 2001)
    • 1915 – Peter Copley, English actor (d. 2008)
    • 1915 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and politician, 5th Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1981)
    • 1915 – Joff Ellen, Australian comedian and actor (d. 1999)
    • 1916 – Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1916 – Alexey Maresyev, Russian soldier and pilot (d. 2001)
    • 1916 – Ondina Valla, Italian sprinter and hurdler (d. 2006)
    • 1917 – Tony Cliff, Israeli-English author and activist (d. 2000)
    • 1917 – Guy Favreau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 28th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 1967)
    • 1918 – Alexandra Boyko, Russian tank commander (d. 1996)
    • 1918 – Edward B. Lewis, American biologist, geneticist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
    • 1919 – George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
    • 1920 – John Cruickshank, Scottish lieutenant and banker, Victoria Cross recipient
    • 1921 – Wolfgang Borchert, German author and playwright (d. 1947)
    • 1921 – Hal Newhouser, American baseball player and scout (d. 1998)
    • 1921 – Hao Wang, Chinese-American logician, philosopher, and mathematician (d. 1995)
    • 1922 – Ted Hinton, Northern Irish international footballer (d. 1988)
    • 1923 – Edith Fellows, American actress (d. 2011)
    • 1923 – Sam Selvon, Trinidad-born writer (d. 1994)
    • 1924 – David Chavchavadze, English-American CIA officer and author (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (d. 1976)
    • 1925 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer, designed the Tupolev Tu-144 (d. 2001)
    • 1926 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
    • 1927 – Bud Grant, American football player and coach
    • 1927 – David Hedison, American actor (d. 2019)
    • 1927 – Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal (d. 2016)
    • 1929 – Gilles Loiselle, Canadian politician and diplomat, 33rd Canadian Minister of Finance
    • 1930 – Sam Etcheverry, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
    • 1931 – Ken Boyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1982)
    • 1931 – Louis Smith, American trumpeter (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Constance Towers, American actress and singer
    • 1935 – José Mujica, Uruguayan guerrilla leader and politician, 40th President of Uruguay
    • 1936 – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
    • 1937 – Dave Hill, American golfer (d. 2011)
    • 1937 – Derek Lampe, English footballer
    • 1939 – Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Shorty Long, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1969)
    • 1940 – Stan Mikita, Slovak-Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 2018)
    • 1940 – Sadaharu Oh, Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager
    • 1941 – Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore
    • 1941 – John Strasberg, American actor and teacher
    • 1942 – Raymond Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States
    • 1942 – Lynn Davies, Welsh sprinter and long jumper
    • 1942 – Carlos Hathcock, American sergeant and sniper (d. 1999)
    • 1942 – Frew McMillan, South African tennis player
    • 1943 – Albano Carrisi, Italian singer, actor, and winemaker
    • 1943 – Deryck Murray, Trinidadian cricketer
    • 1944 – Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Boudewijn de Groot, Indonesian-Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1944 – Keith Fletcher, English cricketer and manager
    • 1944 – Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman, co-founded Red Bull GmbH
    • 1945 – Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian intelligence officer
    • 1946 – Cher, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1946 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player, coach, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
    • 1947 – Steve Currie, English bass player (d. 1981)
    • 1947 – Greg Dyke, English journalist and academic
    • 1949 – Robert Morin, Canadian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Michèle Roberts, English author and poet
    • 1949 – Dave Thomas, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1950 – Andy Johns, English-American engineer and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1950 – Reinaldo Merlo, Argentinian footballer and coach
    • 1951 – Thomas Akers, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
    • 1951 – Christie Blatchford, Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster (d. 2020)
    • 1951 – Mike Crapo, American lawyer and politician
    • 1952 – Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer and manager
    • 1952 – Michael Wills, English politician, British Minister of Justice
    • 1953 – Robert Doyle, Australian educator and politician, 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne
    • 1954 – David Paterson, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of New York
    • 1954 – Colin Sutherland, Lord Carloway, Scottish lawyer and judge
    • 1955 – Steve George, American keyboard player and songwriter
    • 1955 – Zbigniew Preisner, Polish composer and producer
    • 1956 – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian-German author and critic
    • 1956 – Gerry Peyton, English born Irish international footballer and coach
    • 1956 – Douglas Preston, American journalist and author
    • 1957 – Yoshihiko Noda, Japanese lawyer and politician, 62nd Prime Minister of Japan
    • 1958 – Ron Reagan, American journalist and radio host
    • 1958 – Jane Wiedlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
    • 1959 – Susan Cowsill, American singer-songwriter
    • 1960 – Tony Goldwyn, American actor and director
    • 1961 – Clive Allen, English international footballer and manager
    • 1961 – Nick Heyward, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1963 – David Wells, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1964 – Kōichirō Genba, Japanese politician, 80th Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs
    • 1964 – Edin Osmanović, Slovenian footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1964 – Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, English journalist and author
    • 1965 – Ted Allen, American television host and author
    • 1965 – Stu Grimson, Canadian ice hockey player, sportscaster, and lawyer
    • 1966 – Dan Abrams, American journalist and author
    • 1967 – Graham Brady, English politician
    • 1967 – Gabriele Muccino, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Timothy Olyphant, American actor and producer
    • 1969 – Road Dogg, American wrestler, producer, and soldier
    • 1970 – Terrell Brandon, American basketball player
    • 1970 – Louis Theroux, Singaporean-English journalist and producer
    • 1971 – Šárka Kašpárková, Czech triple jumper and coach
    • 1971 – Tony Stewart, American race car driver
    • 1972 – Michael Diamond, Australian shooter
    • 1972 – Christophe Dominici, French rugby player
    • 1972 – Busta Rhymes, American rapper, producer, and actor
    • 1973 – Nathan Long, Australian rugby league player
    • 1974 – Allison Amend, American novelist and short story writer
    • 1974 – Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Indian film director, writer and actor
    • 1975 – Juan Minujín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1976 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player
    • 1976 – Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
    • 1977 – Matt Czuchry, American actor
    • 1977 – Leo Franco, Argentinian footballer
    • 1977 – Angela Goethals, American actress
    • 1977 – Stirling Mortlock, Australian rugby player
    • 1977 – Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Hristos Banikas, Greek chess player
    • 1978 – Pavla Hamáčková-Rybová, Czech pole vaulter
    • 1978 – Nils Schumann, German runner
    • 1979 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician, 28th Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
    • 1979 – Jayson Werth, American baseball player
    • 1980 – Austin Kearns, American baseball player
    • 1980 – Kassim Osgood, American football player
    • 1981 – Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
    • 1981 – Rachel Platten, American singer and songwriter
    • 1981 – Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Mark Winterbottom, Australian race car driver
    • 1982 – Petr Čech, Czech footballer
    • 1982 – Imran Farhat, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1982 – Jessica Raine, English actress
    • 1982 – Daniel Ribeiro, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1983 – Óscar Cardozo, Paraguayan footballer
    • 1983 – Matt Langridge, English rower
    • 1984 – Mauro Rafael da Silva, Brazilian footballer
    • 1984 – Patrick Ewing, Jr., American basketball player
    • 1984 – Keith Grennan, American football player
    • 1985 – Chris Froome, Kenyan-English cyclist
    • 1985 – Brendon Goddard, Australian footballer
    • 1986 – Dexter Blackstock, English footballer
    • 1986 – Stéphane Mbia, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1986 – Jiřina Svobodová, Czech pole vaulter
    • 1987 – Mike Havenaar, Japanese footballer
    • 1987 – Julian Wright, American basketball player
    • 1988 – Joel Moon, Australian rugby league player
    • 1989 – Siosia Vave, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
    • 1991 – Bastian Baker, Swiss singer, songwriter, and performer
    • 1991 – Emre Colak, Turkish footballer
    • 1992 – Cate Campbell, Malawian-Australian swimmer
    • 1992 – Jack Gleeson, Irish actor
    • 1992 – Enes Kanter, Turkish basketball player
    • 1993 – Caroline Zhang, American figure skater
    • 1996 – Brian Kelly, Australian rugby league player
    • 1998 – Jamie Chadwick, English race car driver
    • 1998 – Nam Nguyen, Canadian figure skater

    Deaths on May 20

    • 685 – Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
    • 794 – Æthelberht II, king of East Anglia
    • 965 – Gero the Great, Saxon ruler (b.c. 900)
    • 1062 – Bao Zheng, Chinese magistrate and mayor of Kaifeng (b. 999)
    • 1277 – Pope John XXI (b. 1215)
    • 1285 – John II of Jerusalem (b. 1259)
    • 1291 – Sufi Saint Sayyid Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari
    • 1366 – Maria of Calabria, Empress of Constantinople (b. 1329)
    • 1444 – Bernardino of Siena, Italian-Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1380)
    • 1449 – Álvaro Vaz de Almada, 1st Count of Avranches
    • 1449 – Infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra (b. 1392)
    • 1501 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican tertiary Religious Sister (b. 1467)
    • 1503 – Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, Italian banker and politician (b. 1463)
    • 1506 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer, discovered the Americas (b. 1451)
    • 1550 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1510)
    • 1579 – Isabella Markham, English courtier (b. 1527)
    • 1622 – Osman II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1604)
    • 1645 – Shi Kefa, Chinese general and calligrapher (b. 1601)
    • 1648 – Władysław IV Vasa, Polish son of Sigismund III Vasa (b. 1595)
    • 1677 – George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, Spanish-English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1612)
    • 1713 – Thomas Sprat, English bishop (b. 1635)
    • 1717 – John Trevor, Welsh lawyer and politician, 102nd Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1637)
    • 1722 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (b. 1669)
    • 1732 – Thomas Boston, Scottish author and educator (b. 1676)
    • 1782 – William Emerson, English mathematician and academic (b. 1701)
    • 1793 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss botanist and biologist (b. 1720)
    • 1812 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (b. 1732)
    • 1834 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, French general (b. 1757)
    • 1841 – Joseph Blanco White, Spanish poet and theologian (b. 1775)
    • 1864 – John Clare, English poet (b. 1793)
    • 1873 – George-Étienne Cartier, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th Premier of East Canada (b. 1814)
    • 1880 – Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse and philanthropist (b. 1814)
    • 1896 – Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
    • 1909 – Ernest Hogan, American actor and composer (b. 1859)
    • 1917 – Valentine Fleming, Scottish soldier and politician (b. 1887)
    • 1917 – Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (b. 1850)
    • 1924 – Bogd Khan, Mongolian ruler (c. 1869)
    • 1925 – Joseph Howard, Maltese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1862)
    • 1931 – Ernest Noel, Scottish businessman and politician (b. 1831)
    • 1940 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
    • 1942 – Hector Guimard, French Architect (b. 1867)
    • 1946 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish pilot and engineer (b. 1871)
    • 1947 – Philipp Lenard, Slovak-German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
    • 1947 – Georgios Siantos, Greek sergeant and politician (b. 1890)
    • 1949 – Damaskinos of Athens, Greek archbishop and politician, 137th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1891)
    • 1956 – Max Beerbohm, English essayist, parodist, and caricaturist (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian swimmer and trainer (b. 1881)
    • 1961 – Josef Priller, German colonel and pilot (b. 1915)
    • 1964 – Rudy Lewis, American singer (b. 1936)
    • 1971 – Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (b. 1904)
    • 1973 – Renzo Pasolini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1938)
    • 1973 – Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (b. 1945)
    • 1975 – Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor and lithographer (b. 1903)
    • 1976 – Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1911)
    • 1976 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (b. 1924)
    • 1976 – Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Uruguayan politician (b. 1934)
    • 1989 – John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1989 – Gilda Radner, American actress and comedian (b. 1946)
    • 1995 – Les Cowie, Australian rugby league player (b. 1925)
    • 1996 – Jon Pertwee, English actor, portrayed the Third Doctor (b. 1919)
    • 1998 – Robert Normann, Norwegian guitarist (b. 1916)
    • 2000 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flute player (b. 1922)
    • 2000 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player and actor (b. 1970)
    • 2000 – Yevgeny Khrunov, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1933)
    • 2001 – Renato Carosone, Italian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1920)
    • 2002 – Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist, biologist, and academic (b. 1941)
    • 2005 – Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (b. 1913)
    • 2005 – William Seawell, American general (b. 1918)
    • 2007 – Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (b. 1914)
    • 2008 – Hamilton Jordan, American politician, 8th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1944)
    • 2009 – Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect and urban planner, designed Roy Thomson Hall (b. 1924)
    • 2009 – Lucy Gordon, American actress and model (b. 1980)
    • 2009 – Pierre Gamarra, French author, poet, and critic (b. 1919)
    • 2011 – Randy Savage, American wrestler and actor (b. 1952)
    • 2012 – Leela Dube, Indian anthropologist and scholar (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1949)
    • 2012 – David Littman, English-Swiss historian, author, and academic (b. 1933)
    • 2012 – Ken Lyons, American bass guitarist (b. 1953)
    • 2012 – Eugene Polley, American engineer, invented the remote control (b. 1915)
    • 2012 – Andrew B. Steinberg, American lawyer (b. 1958)
    • 2013 – Flavio Costantini, Italian painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Billie Dawe, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (b. 1947)
    • 2013 – Miloslav Kříž, Czech basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Ray Manzarek, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1939)
    • 2013 – Denys Roberts, English judge and politician (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Zach Sobiech, American singer-songwriter (b. 1995)
    • 2014 – Sandra Bem, American psychologist and academic (b. 1944)
    • 2014 – Ross Brown, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1934)
    • 2014 – Robyn Denny, English-French painter (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Arthur Gelb, American journalist, author, and critic (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Prince Rupert Loewenstein, Spanish-English businessman (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Barbara Murray, English actress (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Bob Belden, American saxophonist, composer, and producer (b. 1956)
    • 2015 – Femi Robinson, Nigerian actor and playwright (b. 1940)

    Holidays and observances on May 20

    • Christian feast day:
      • Abercius and Helena
      • Alcuin of York
      • Aurea of Ostia
      • Austregisilus
      • Baudilus
      • Bernardino of Siena
      • Ivo of Chartres
      • Lucifer of Cagliari
      • Sanctan
      • May 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of Remembrance (Cambodia)
    • Emancipation Day (Florida)
    • European Maritime Day (European Council)
    • Independence Restoration Day, celebrates the independence of East Timor from Indonesia in 2002.
    • Josephine Baker Day (NAACP)
    • National Awakening Day (Indonesia), and its related observances:
      • Indonesian Doctor Day (Indonesia)
    • National Day (Cameroon)
    • World Bee Day
    • World Metrology Day

  • May 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 639 – Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace.
    • 715 – Pope Gregory II is elected.
    • 1051 – Henry I of France marries the Russian princess, Anne of Kiev.
    • 1445 – John II of Castile defeats the Infantes of Aragon at the First Battle of Olmedo.
    • 1499 – Catherine of Aragon is married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Catherine is 13 and Arthur is 12.
    • 1535 – French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona’s two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).
    • 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest.
    • 1542 – The Prome Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in present-day Myanmar.
    • 1568 – Queen Elizabeth I of England orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots.
    • 1643 – Thirty Years’ War: French forces under the duc d’Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
    • 1649 – An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
    • 1655 – The Invasion of Jamaica begins during the Anglo-Spanish War.
    • 1743 – Jean-Pierre Christin developed the centigrade temperature scale.
    • 1749 – King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.
    • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison surrenders in the Battle of The Cedars.
    • 1780 – New England’s Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada.
    • 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Legion of Honour.
    • 1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.
    • 1845 – Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England.
    • 1848 – Mexican–American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million.
    • 1911 – Parks Canada, the world’s first national park service, is established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.
    • 1917 – The Norwegian football club Rosenborg BK is founded.
    • 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence.
    • 1921 – The United States Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration.
    • 1922 – The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union is established.
    • 1934 – Zveno and the Bulgarian Army engineer a coup d’état and install Kimon Georgiev as the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
    • 1942 – World War II: In the aftermath of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Task Force 16 heads to Pearl Harbor.
    • 1950 – A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.
    • 1950 – Egypt announces that the Suez Canal is closed to Israeli ships and commerce.
    • 1959 – The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail.
    • 1961 – Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
    • 1961 – At Silchar Railway Station, Assam, 11 Bengalis die when police open fire on protesters demanding state recognition of Bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement.
    • 1962 – A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe’s rendition of “Happy Birthday”.
    • 1963 – The New York Post Sunday Magazine publishes Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.
    • 1971 – Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
    • 1986 – The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
    • 1991 – Croatians vote for independence in a referendum.
    • 1997 – The Sierra Gorda biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts.
    • 2007 – President of Romania Traian Băsescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension.
    • 2010 – The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders.
    • 2012 – Three gas cylinder bombs explode in front of a vocational school in the Italian city of Brindisi, killing one person and injuring five others.
    • 2012 – A car bomb explodes near a military complex in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, killing nine people.
    • 2015 – The Refugio oil spill deposited 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto an area in California considered one of the most biologically diverse coastlines of the west coast.
    • 2016 – EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Paris to Cairo, killing all on board.
    • 2018 – The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion.

    Births on May 19

    • 1400 – John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton, English soldier and politician (d. 1462)
    • 1462 – Baccio D’Agnolo, Italian woodcarver, sculptor and architect (d. 1543)
    • 1476 (or 1474) – Helena of Moscow, Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania and Queen consort of Poland (d. 1513)
    • 1593 – Claude Vignon, French painter (d. 1670)
    • 1616 – Johann Jakob Froberger, German organist and composer (d. 1667)
    • 1639 – Charles Weston, 3rd Earl of Portland, English soldier and noble (d. 1665)
    • 1700 – José de Escandón, 1st Count of Sierra Gorda, Spanish sergeant and politician (d. 1770)
    • 1724 – Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, English admiral and politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (d. 1779)
    • 1744 – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, German-born Queen to George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1818)
    • 1762 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher and academic (d. 1814)
    • 1773 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (d. 1854)
    • 1795 – Johns Hopkins, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1873)
    • 1827 – Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French academic and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1896)
    • 1832 – James Watney, Jr., English politician, brewer and cricketer (d. 1886)
    • 1857 – John Jacob Abel, American biochemist and pharmacologist (d. 1938)
    • 1861 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano and actress (d. 1931)
    • 1871 – Walter Russell, American painter, sculptor, and author (d. 1963)
    • 1874 – Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1955)
    • 1878 – Alfred Laliberté, Canadian sculptor and painter (d. 1953)
    • 1879 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-English politician (d. 1964)
    • 1880 – Albert Richardson, English architect and educator, designed the Manchester Opera House (d. 1964)
    • 1881 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (official birthday), Turkish field marshal and statesman, 1st President of Turkey (d. 1938)
    • 1884 – David Munson, American runner (d. 1953)
    • 1886 – Francis Biddle, American lawyer and judge, 58th United States Attorney General (d. 1968)
    • 1887 – Ion Jalea, Romanian soldier and sculptor (d. 1983)
    • 1889 – Tản Đà, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1939)
    • 1889 – Henry B. Richardson, American archer (d. 1963)
    • 1890 – Eveline Adelheid von Maydell, German-American illustrator (d. 1962)
    • 1890 – Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese politician, 1st President of Vietnam (d. 1969)
    • 1891 – Oswald Boelcke, German captain and pilot (d. 1916)
    • 1893 – H. Bonciu, Romanian author, poet, and journalist (d. 1950)
    • 1897 – Frank Luke, American lieutenant and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1918)
    • 1898 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher and painter (d. 1974)
    • 1899 – Lothar Rădăceanu, Romanian journalist, linguist, and politician (d. 1955)
    • 1902 – Lubka Kolessa, Ukrainian-Canadian pianist and educator (d. 1997)
    • 1903 – Ruth Ella Moore, American scientist (d. 1994)
    • 1906 – Bruce Bennett, American shot putter and actor (d. 2007)
    • 1908 – Manik Bandopadhyay, Indian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1956)
    • 1908 – Merriam Modell, American author (d. 1994)
    • 1908 – Percy Williams, Canadian sprinter (d. 1982)
    • 1909 – Nicholas Winton, English banker and humanitarian (d. 2015)
    • 1910 – Alan Melville, South African cricketer (d. 1983)
    • 1913 – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th President of India (d. 1996)
    • 1914 – Max Perutz, Austrian-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
    • 1914 – Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – John Vachon, American photographer and journalist (d. 1975)
    • 1915 – Renée Asherson, English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist, historian, and academic (d. 2000)
    • 1919 – Georgie Auld, Canadian-American saxophonist, clarinet player, and bandleader (d. 1990)
    • 1919 – Mitja Ribičič, Italian-Slovenian soldier and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Tina Strobos, Dutch psychiatrist known for rescuing Jews during World War II (d. 2012)
    • 1921 – Leslie Broderick, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Harry W. Brown, American colonel and pilot (d. 1991)
    • 1921 – Daniel Gélin, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Yuri Kochiyama, American activist (d. 2014)
    • 1921 – Karel van het Reve, Dutch historian and author (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Arthur Gorrie, Australian hobby shop proprietor (d. 1992)
    • 1924 – Sandy Wilson, English composer and songwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (d. 1998)
    • 1925 – Malcolm X, American minister and activist (d. 1965)
    • 1926 – Edward Parkes, English engineer and academic (d. 2019)
    • 1926 – Peter Zadek, German director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1927 – Serge Lang, French-American mathematician, author and academic (d. 2005)
    • 1928 – Colin Chapman, English engineer and businessman, founded Lotus Cars (d. 1982)
    • 1928 – Thomas Kennedy, English air marshal (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Gil McDougald, American baseball player and coach (d. 2010)
    • 1928 – Dolph Schayes, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Richard Larter, Australian painter (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – John Stroger, American politician (d. 2008)
    • 1930 – Eugene Genovese, American historian and author (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright and director (d. 1965)
    • 1931 – Bob Anderson, English race car driver (d. 1967)
    • 1931 – Trevor Peacock, English actor, screenwriter and songwriter
    • 1932 – Alma Cogan, English singer (d. 1966)
    • 1932 – Paul Erdman, American economist and author (d. 2007)
    • 1932 – Bill Fitch, American basketball player and coach
    • 1932 – Elena Poniatowska, Mexican intellectual and journalist
    • 1933 – Edward de Bono, Maltese physician, author, and academic
    • 1934 – Ruskin Bond, Indian author and poet
    • 1934 – Jim Lehrer, American journalist and author (d. 2020)
    • 1935 – David Hartman, American journalist and television personality
    • 1937 – Pat Roach, English wrestler (d. 2004)
    • 1938 – Moisés da Costa Amaral, East Timorese politician (d. 1989)
    • 1938 – Herbie Flowers, English musician
    • 1938 – Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, Ukrainian long jumper and coach
    • 1939 – Livio Berruti, Italian sprinter
    • 1939 – James Fox, English actor
    • 1939 – Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong-American actress and makeup artist
    • 1939 – Jānis Lūsis, Latvian javelin thrower and coach (d. 2020)
    • 1939 – Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1986)
    • 1940 – Jan Janssen, Dutch cyclist
    • 1940 – Mickey Newbury, American country/pop singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
    • 1941 – Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Igor Judge, Baron Judge, Maltese-English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
    • 1942 – Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, founded Digital Research Inc. (d. 1994)
    • 1942 – Robert Kilroy-Silk, English television host and politician
    • 1943 – Eddie May, English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – Shirrel Rhoades, American author, publisher, and academic
    • 1944 – Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (d. 2019)
    • 1945 – Pete Townshend, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1946 – Claude Lelièvre, Belgian activist
    • 1946 – Michele Placido, Italian actor and director
    • 1946 – André the Giant, French-American wrestler and actor (d. 1993)
    • 1947 – Paul Brady, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1947 – Christopher Chope, English lawyer and politician
    • 1947 – David Helfgott, Australian pianist
    • 1948 – Grace Jones, Jamaican-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1949 – Dusty Hill, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1949 – Philip Hunt, Baron Hunt of Kings Heath, English politician
    • 1949 – Archie Manning, American football player
    • 1950 – Tadeusz Ślusarski, Polish pole vaulter (d. 1998)
    • 1951 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1951 – Dick Slater, American wrestler
    • 1952 – Charlie Spedding, English runner
    • 1952 – Bert van Marwijk, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1953 – Patrick Hodge, Lord Hodge, Scottish lawyer and judge
    • 1953 – Shavarsh Karapetyan, Armenian finswimmer
    • 1953 – Florin Marin, Romanian footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Victoria Wood, English actress, singer, director, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1954 – Rick Cerone, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1954 – Hōchū Ōtsuka, Japanese voice actor
    • 1954 – Phil Rudd, Australian-New Zealand drummer
    • 1955 – James Gosling, Canadian-American computer scientist, created Java
    • 1956 – Oliver Letwin, English philosopher and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
    • 1956 – Martyn Ware, English keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
    • 1957 – Bill Laimbeer, American basketball player and coach
    • 1957 – James Reyne, Nigerian-Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1961 – Vadim Cojocaru, Moldovan politician
    • 1961 – Gregory Poirier, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – Wayne Van Dorp, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1963 – Filippo Galli, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1964 – Peter Jackson, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster (d. 1997)
    • 1964 – John Lee, South Korean-American football player
    • 1964 – Miloslav Mečíř, Slovak tennis player
    • 1965 – Maile Flanagan, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Marc Bureau, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1966 – Jodi Picoult, American author and educator
    • 1966 – Polly Walker, English actress
    • 1967 – Alexia, Italian singer
    • 1967 – Geraldine Somerville, Irish-born English actress
    • 1968 – Kyle Eastwood, American actor and bass player
    • 1970 – Stuart Cable, Welsh drummer (d. 2010)
    • 1970 – K. J. Choi, South Korean golfer
    • 1970 – Regina Narva, Estonian chess player
    • 1970 – Nia Zulkarnaen, Indonesian actress, singer and producer
    • 1971 – Ross Katz, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Andres Salumets, Estonian biologist, biochemist, and educator
    • 1972 – Jenny Berggren, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1972 – Claudia Karvan, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Dario Franchitti, Scottish race car driver
    • 1974 – Andrew Johns, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1974 – Emma Shapplin, French soprano
    • 1974 – Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Indian actor
    • 1975 – Pretinha, Brazilian footballer
    • 1975 – London Fletcher, American football player
    • 1975 – Josh Paul, American baseball player and manager
    • 1975 – Jonas Renkse, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1976 – Ed Cota, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Kevin Garnett, American basketball player
    • 1977 – Manuel Almunia, Spanish footballer
    • 1977 – Wouter Hamel, Dutch singer and guitarist
    • 1977 – Brandon Inge, American baseball player
    • 1977 – Natalia Oreiro, Uruguayan singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1978 – Marcus Bent, English footballer
    • 1978 – Dave Bus, Dutch footballer
    • 1979 – Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer
    • 1979 – Diego Forlan, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1980 – Tony Hackworth, English footballer
    • 1981 – Luciano Figueroa, Argentinian footballer
    • 1981 – Yo Gotti, American rapper
    • 1981 – Michael Leighton, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Sina Schielke, German sprinter
    • 1981 – Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
    • 1982 – Kevin Amankwaah, English footballer
    • 1982 – Pål Steffen Andresen, Norwegian footballer
    • 1982 – Klaas Vantornout, Belgian cyclist
    • 1983 – Michael Che, American comedian
    • 1983 – Jessica Fox, English actress
    • 1984 – Marcedes Lewis, American football player
    • 1985 – Aleister Black, Dutch professional wrestler
    • 1986 – Mario Chalmers, American basketball player
    • 1987 – Michael Angelakos, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1987 – David Edgar, Canadian soccer player
    • 1987 – Mariano Torres, Argentinian footballer
    • 1987 – Jayne Wisener, Northern Irish actress
    • 1991 – Jordan Pruitt, American singer-songwriter
    • 1992 – Marshmello, American electronic music producer and DJ
    • 1992 – Michele Camporese, Italian footballer
    • 1992 – Ola John, Dutch footballer
    • 1992 – Felise Kaufusi, New Zealand-Tongan rugby league player
    • 1992 – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Sam Smith, English singer-songwriter
    • 1994 – Carlos Guzmán, Mexican footballer
    • 1995 – Taane Milne, New Zealand rugby league player

    Deaths on May 19

    • 804 – Alcuin, English monk and scholar (b. 735)
    • 956 – Robert, archbishop of Trier
    • 988 – Dunstan, English archbishop and saint (b. 909)
    • 1102 – Stephen, Count of Blois (b. 1045)
    • 1125 – Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Duke of Kiev
    • 1164 – Saint Bashnouna, Egyptian saint and martyr
    • 1218 – Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
    • 1296 – Pope Celestine V (b. 1215)
    • 1303 – Saint Ivo of Kermartin, French canon lawyer (b. 1253)
    • 1319 – Louis, Count of Évreux (b. 1276)
    • 1389 – Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Muscovy (b. 1350)
    • 1396 – John I of Aragon (b. 1350)
    • 1526 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)
    • 1531 – Jan Łaski, Polish archbishop and diplomat (b. 1456)
    • 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England (1533–1536); second wife of Henry VIII of England (b. c. 1501)
    • 1601 – Costanzo Porta, Italian composer (b. 1528)
    • 1609 – García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete (b. 1535)
    • 1610 – Thomas Sanchez, Spanish priest and theologian (b. 1550)
    • 1623 – Mariam-uz-Zamani, Empress of the Mughal Empire (b. 1542)
    • 1637 – Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (b. 1588)
    • 1715 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)
    • 1786 – John Stanley, English organist and composer (b. 1712)
    • 1795 – Josiah Bartlett, American physician and politician, 4th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1729)
    • 1795 – James Boswell, Scottish biographer (b. 1740)
    • 1798 – William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1722)
    • 1821 – Camille Jordan, French lawyer and politician (b. 1771)
    • 1825 – Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, French philosopher and theorist (b. 1760)
    • 1831 – Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, Estonian-German physician, botanist, and entomologist (b. 1793)
    • 1864 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1804)
    • 1865 – Sengge Rinchen, Mongolian general (b. 1811)
    • 1872 – John Baker, English-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of South Australia (b. 1813)
    • 1876 – Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch historian and politician (b. 1801)
    • 1885 – Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)
    • 1895 – José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1853)
    • 1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809)
    • 1901 – Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, South African general and politician, 1st President of the South African Republic (b. 1819)
    • 1903 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricketer (b. 1856)
    • 1904 – Auguste Molinier, French librarian and historian (b. 1851)
    • 1904 – Jamsetji Tata, Indian businessman, founded Tata Group (b. 1839)
    • 1906 – Gabriel Dumont, Canadian Métis leader (b. 1837)
    • 1907 – Benjamin Baker, English engineer, designed the Forth Bridge (b. 1840)
    • 1912 – Bolesław Prus, Polish journalist and author (b. 1847)
    • 1915 – John Simpson Kirkpatrick, English-Australian soldier (b. 1892)
    • 1918 – Gervais Raoul Lufbery, French-American soldier and pilot (b. 1885)
    • 1935 – T. E. Lawrence, British colonel and archaeologist (b. 1888)
    • 1936 – Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, British Islamic scholar (b. 1875)
    • 1939 – Ahmet Ağaoğlu, Azerbaijani-Turkish journalist and publicist (b. 1869)
    • 1943 – Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter and illustrator (b. 1865)
    • 1945 – Philipp Bouhler, German soldier and politician (b. 1889)
    • 1946 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (b. 1869)
    • 1950 – Daniel Ciugureanu, Romanian physician and politician, Prime Minister of Moldova (b. 1884)
    • 1954 – Charles Ives, American composer and educator (b. 1874)
    • 1958 – Jadunath Sarkar, Indian historian (b. 1870)
    • 1958 – Archie Scott Brown, Scottish race car driver (b. 1927)
    • 1958 – Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)
    • 1963 – Walter Russell, American painter, sculptor, and author (b. 1871)
    • 1969 – Coleman Hawkins, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1901)
    • 1971 – Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)
    • 1978 – Albert Kivikas, Estonian-Swedish journalist and author (b. 1898)
    • 1980 – Joseph Schull, Canadian playwright and historian (b. 1906)
    • 1983 – Jean Rey, Belgian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the European Commission (b. 1902)
    • 1984 – John Betjeman, English poet and academic (b. 1906)
    • 1986 – Jimmy Lyons, American saxophonist (b. 1931)
    • 1987 – James Tiptree, Jr., American psychologist and author (b. 1915)
    • 1989 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (b. 1910)
    • 1994 – Jacques Ellul, French sociologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1912)
    • 1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American journalist, 37th First Lady of the United States (b. 1929)
    • 1994 – Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (b. 1945)
    • 1996 – John Beradino, American baseball player and actor (b. 1917)
    • 1998 – Sōsuke Uno, Japanese soldier and politician, 75th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1922)
    • 2001 – Alexey Maresyev, Russian soldier and pilot (b. 1916)
    • 2001 – Susannah McCorkle, American singer (b. 1946)
    • 2002 – John Gorton, Australian lieutenant and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
    • 2002 – Walter Lord, American historian and author (b. 1917)
    • 2004 – Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 2007 – Bernard Blaut, Polish footballer and coach (b. 1940)
    • 2007 – Dean Eyre, New Zealand politician (b. 1914)
    • 2008 – Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright and screenwriter (b. 1928)
    • 2009 – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
    • 2009 – Nicholas Maw, English composer and academic (b. 1935)
    • 2009 – Clint Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1913)
    • 2011 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish lawyer and politician, 8th Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1926)
    • 2011 – Jeffrey Catherine Jones, American artist (b.1944)
    • 2012 – Bob Boozer, American basketball player (b. 1937)
    • 2012 – Tamara Brooks, American conductor and educator (b. 1941)
    • 2012 – Ian Burgess, English race car driver (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Gerhard Hetz, German-Mexican swimmer (b. 1942)
    • 2012 – Phil Lamason, New Zealand soldier and pilot (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – G. Sarsfield Ford, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Robin Harrison, English-Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Neil Reynolds, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Simon Andrews, English motorcycle racer (b. 1982)
    • 2014 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Terry W. Gee, American businessman and politician (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Sam Greenlee, American author and poet (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Vincent Harding, American historian and scholar (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Gabriel Kolko, American historian and author (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, Polish boxer (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Bruce Lundvall, American businessman (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Ted McWhinney, Australian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Happy Rockefeller, American philanthropist, socialite; 31st Second Lady of the United States (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Robert S. Wistrich, English historian, author, and academic (b. 1945)
    • 2016 – Alan Young, English-born Canadian-American actor (b. 1919)
    • 2016 – Morley Safer, Canadian-born American journalist (b. 1931)
    • 2017 – Nawshirwan Mustafa, General coordinator of the Movement for Change (Gorran) (b. 1944)
    • 2018 – Zhengzhang Shangfang, Chinese linguist (b. 1933)

    Holidays and observances on May 19

    • Christian feast day:
      • Calocerus (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Crispin of Viterbo
      • Dunstan (Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church; commemoration, Anglicanism)
      • Ivo of Kermartin
      • Joaquina Vedruna de Mas
      • Maria Bernarda Bütler
      • Peter Celestine
      • Pudentiana (Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church)
      • May 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day (Turkey, Northern Cyprus)
    • Greek Genocide Remembrance Day (Greece)
    • Hồ Chí Minh’s Birthday (Vietnam)
    • Malcolm X Day (United States of America)
    • National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
    • Hepatitis Testing Day (United States)
    • Mother’s Day (Kyrgyzstan)

  • May 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
    • 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 47. His first coronation was 28 years earlier, in 844, during the reign of his father Lothair I.
    • 1096 – First Crusade: Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany.
    • 1152 – The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. He would become king two years later, after the death of his cousin once removed King Stephen of England.
    • 1268 – The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Siege of Antioch.
    • 1291 – Fall of Acre, the end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land.
    • 1302 – Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
    • 1388 – During the Battle of Buyur Lake, General Lan Yu leads a Chinese army forward to crush the Mongol hordes of Tögüs Temür, the Khan of Northern Yuan.
    • 1499 – Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cádiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela.
    • 1565 – The Great Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt and fail to conquer Malta.
    • 1593 – Playwright Thomas Kyd’s accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
    • 1631 – In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
    • 1652 – Slavery in Rhode Island is abolished, although the law is not rigorously enforced.
    • 1756 – The Seven Years’ War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.
    • 1783 – First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown (later called Saint John, New Brunswick), Canada, after leaving the United States.
    • 1794 – Battle of Tourcoing during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
    • 1803 – Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
    • 1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.
    • 1811 – Battle of Las Piedras: The first great military triumph of the revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay led by José Artigas.
    • 1812 – John Bellingham is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.
    • 1843 – The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.
    • 1848 – Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
    • 1860 – Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins.
    • 1896 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the “separate but equal” doctrine is constitutional.
    • 1896 – Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.
    • 1900 – The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
    • 1912 – The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai.
    • 1917 – World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
    • 1926 – Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears in Venice, California.
    • 1927 – The Bath School disaster: Forty-five people, including many children, are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Michigan.
    • 1927 – After being founded for 20 years, the Government of the Republic of China approves Tongji University to be among the first national universities of the Republic of China.
    • 1933 – New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
    • 1944 – World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino: Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate Monte Cassino.
    • 1944 – Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government.
    • 1948 – The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
    • 1953 – Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
    • 1955 – Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ends.
    • 1965 – Israeli spy Eli Cohen is hanged in Damascus, Syria.
    • 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
    • 1973 – Aeroflot Flight 109 is hijacked mid-flight and the aircraft is subsequently destroyed when the hijacker’s bomb explodes, killing all 82 people on board.
    • 1974 – Nuclear weapons testing: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
    • 1977 – Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel.
    • 1980 – Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
    • 1980 – Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
    • 1990 – In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).
    • 1991 – Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland but is not recognized by the international community.
    • 1993 – Riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum. Police open fire against civilians for the first time since World War II and injure 11 demonstrators.
    • 1994 – Israeli troops finish withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, ceding the area to the Palestinian National Authority to govern.
    • 2005 – A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.
    • 2006 – The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country.
    • 2009 – The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.
    • 2015 – At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar.
    • 2018 – A school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas kills 10 people.

    Births on May 18

    • 1048 – Omar Khayyám, Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet (d. 1131)
    • 1186 – Konstantin of Rostov (d. 1218)
    • 1450 – Piero Soderini, Italian politician and diplomat (d. 1513)
    • 1537 – Guido Luca Ferrero, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1585)
    • 1631 – Stanislaus Papczyński, Polish priest (d. 1701)
    • 1662 – George Smalridge, English bishop (d. 1719)
    • 1692 – Joseph Butler, English bishop, theologian, and apologist (d. 1752)
    • 1711 – Roger Joseph Boscovich, Ragusan physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1787)
    • 1777 – John George Children, English chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist (d. 1852)
    • 1778 – Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, Irish soldier and diplomat, British Ambassador to Austria (d. 1854)
    • 1785 – John Wilson, Scottish author and critic (d. 1854)
    • 1797 – Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (d. 1854)
    • 1822 – Mathew Brady, American photographer and journalist (d. 1896)
    • 1835 – Charles N. Sims, American Methodist preacher and 3rd chancellor of Syracuse University (d. 1908)
    • 1850 – Oliver Heaviside, English engineer, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1925)
    • 1851 – James Budd, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of California (d. 1908)
    • 1852 – Gertrude Käsebier, American photographer (d. 1934)
    • 1854 – Bernard Zweers, Dutch composer and educator (d. 1924)
    • 1855 – Francis Bellamy, American minister and author (d. 1931)
    • 1862 – Josephus Daniels, American publisher and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1948)
    • 1867 – Minakata Kumagusu, Japanese author, biologist, naturalist and ethnologist (d. 1941)
    • 1868 – Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
    • 1869 – Lucy Beaumont, English-American actress (d. 1937)
    • 1871 – Denis Horgan, Irish shot putter and weight thrower (d. 1922)
    • 1872 – Bertrand Russell, British mathematician, historian, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
    • 1876 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1931)
    • 1878 – Johannes Terwogt, Dutch rower (d. 1977)
    • 1882 – Babe Adams, American baseball player, manager, and journalist (d. 1968)
    • 1883 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, Brazilian marshal and politician, 16th President of Brazil (d. 1974)
    • 1883 – Walter Gropius, German-American architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building (d. 1969)
    • 1886 – Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1946)
    • 1889 – Thomas Midgley, Jr., American chemist and engineer (d. 1944)
    • 1891 – Rudolf Carnap, German-American philosopher and academic (d. 1970)
    • 1892 – Ezio Pinza, Italian-American actor and singer (d. 1957)
    • 1895 – Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan rebel leader (d. 1934)
    • 1896 – Eric Backman, Swedish runner (d. 1965)
    • 1897 – Frank Capra, Italian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1991)
    • 1898 – Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel, Turkish poet, author, and playwright (d. 1973)
    • 1901 – Henri Sauguet, French composer (d. 1989)
    • 1901 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
    • 1902 – Meredith Willson, American playwright and composer (d. 1984)
    • 1904 – Shunryū Suzuki, Japanese-American monk and educator (d. 1971)
    • 1904 – Jacob K. Javits, American colonel and politician, 58th New York Attorney General (d. 1986)
    • 1905 – Ruth Alexander, pioneering American pilot (d. 1930)
    • 1905 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1943)
    • 1907 – Irene Hunt, American author and educator (d. 2001)
    • 1909 – Fred Perry, English-Australian tennis player and academic (d. 1995)
    • 1910 – Ester Boserup, Danish economist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1911 – Big Joe Turner, American blues/R&B singer (d. 1985)
    • 1912 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
    • 1912 – Perry Como, American singer and television host (d. 2001)
    • 1912 – Walter Sisulu, South African politician (d. 2003)
    • 1913 – Jane Birdwood, Baroness Birdwood, Canadian-English publisher and politician (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer, founded Balmain (d. 1982)
    • 1914 – Boris Christoff, Bulgarian-Italian opera singer (d. 1993)
    • 1917 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (d. 1973)
    • 1919 – Margot Fonteyn, British ballerina (d. 1991)
    • 1920 – Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
    • 1921 – Michael A. Epstein, English pathologist and academic
    • 1922 – Bill Macy, American actor (d. 2019)
    • 1922 – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (d. 1983)
    • 1923 – Jean-Louis Roux, Canadian actor and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Hugh Shearer, Jamaican journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2004)
    • 1924 – Priscilla Pointer, American actress
    • 1924 – Jack Whitaker, American sportscaster (d. 2019)
    • 1925 – Lillian Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 1998)
    • 1927 – Richard Body, English politician (d. 2018)
    • 1927 – Ray Nagel, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Pernell Roberts, American actor (d. 2010)
    • 1929 – Jack Sanford, American baseball player and coach (d. 2000)
    • 1929 – Norman St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Warren Rudman, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Fred Saberhagen, American soldier and author (d. 2007)
    • 1931 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (d. 2000)
    • 1931 – Robert Morse, American actor
    • 1931 – Kalju Pitksaar, Estonian chess player (d. 1995)
    • 1931 – Clément Vincent, Canadian farmer and politician (d. 2018)
    • 1933 – Bernadette Chirac, French politician, First Lady of France
    • 1933 – H. D. Deve Gowda, Indian farmer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of India
    • 1933 – Don Whillans, English rock climber and mountaineer (d. 1985)
    • 1934 – Dwayne Hickman, American actor and director
    • 1936 – Leon Ashley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Türker İnanoğlu, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1936 – Michael Sandle, English sculptor and academic
    • 1937 – Brooks Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1937 – Jacques Santer, Luxembourger jurist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Luxembourg
    • 1938 – Janet Fish, American painter and academic
    • 1939 – Patrick Cormack, Baron Cormack, English historian, journalist, and politician
    • 1939 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian lawyer and judge (d. 1992)
    • 1939 – Gordon O’Connor, Canadian general and politician, 38th Canadian Minister of Defence
    • 1940 – Erico Aumentado, Filipino journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Gino Brito, Canadian wrestler and promoter
    • 1941 – Malcolm Longair, Scottish astronomer, physicist, and academic
    • 1941 – Miriam Margolyes, English-Australian actress and singer
    • 1942 – Nobby Stiles, English footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1944 – Albert Hammond, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1944 – W. G. Sebald, German novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2001)
    • 1946 – Frank Hsieh, Taiwanese lawyer and politician, 40th Premier of the Republic of China
    • 1946 – Reggie Jackson, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1946 – Gerd Langguth, German political scientist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – John Bruton, Irish politician, 10th Taoiseach of Ireland
    • 1947 – Gail Strickland, American actress
    • 1948 – Joe Bonsall, American country/gospel singer
    • 1948 – Yi Mun-yol, South Korean author and academic
    • 1948 – Richard Swedberg, Swedish sociologist and academic
    • 1948 – Tom Udall, American lawyer and politician, 28th New Mexico Attorney General, United States Senator from New Mexico
    • 1949 – Rick Wakeman, English progressive rock keyboardist and songwriter (Yes)
    • 1949 – Walter Hawkins, American gospel music singer and pastor (d. 2010)
    • 1950 – Rod Milburn, American hurdler and coach (d. 1997)
    • 1950 – Mark Mothersbaugh, American singer-songwriter and painter
    • 1951 – Richard Clapton, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1951 – Jim Sundberg, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1951 – Angela Voigt, German long jumper (d. 2013)
    • 1952 – Diane Duane, American author and screenwriter
    • 1952 – David Leakey, English general and politician
    • 1952 – George Strait, American singer, guitarist and producer
    • 1952 – Jeana Yeager, American pilot
    • 1953 – Alan Kupperberg, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
    • 1954 – Wreckless Eric, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1954 – Eric Gerets, Belgian footballer and manager
    • 1955 – Chow Yun-fat, Hong Kong actor and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Catherine Corsini, French director and screenwriter
    • 1956 – John Godber, English playwright and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Michael Cretu, Romanian-German keyboard player and producer
    • 1957 – Henrietta Moore, English anthropologist and academic
    • 1958 – Rubén Omar Romano, Argentinian-Mexican footballer and coach
    • 1958 – Toyah Willcox, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1959 – Graham Dilley, English cricketer and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1959 – Jay Wells, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Brent Ashton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Jari Kurri, Finnish ice hockey player, coach, and manager
    • 1960 – Yannick Noah, French tennis player
    • 1961 – Russell Senior, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1963 – Marty McSorley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1963 – Sam Vincent, American basketball player and coach
    • 1964 – Ignasi Guardans, Spanish academic and politician
    • 1966 – Renata Nielsen, Polish-Danish long jumper and coach
    • 1966 – Michael Tait, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1967 – Nina Björk, Swedish journalist and author
    • 1967 – Heinz-Harald Frentzen, German race car driver
    • 1967 – Nancy Juvonen, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded Flower Films
    • 1967 – Mimi Macpherson, Australian environmentalist, entrepreneur and celebrity
    • 1968 – Philippe Benetton, French rugby player
    • 1968 – Ralf Kelleners, German race car driver
    • 1969 – Troy Cassar-Daley, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1969 – Martika, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1969 – Antônio Carlos Zago, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Tina Fey, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Tim Horan, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
    • 1970 – Billy Howerdel, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1970 – Javier Cárdenas, Spanish singer, television and radio presenter
    • 1970 – Vicky Sunohara, Canadian former ice hockey player
    • 1971 – Brad Friedel, American international soccer player, goalkeeper, manager and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Mark Menzies, Scottish politician
    • 1971 – Nobuteru Taniguchi, Japanese race car driver
    • 1972 – Turner Stevenson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1973 – Donyell Marshall, American basketball player and coach
    • 1973 – Aleksandr Olerski, Estonian footballer (d. 2011)
    • 1974 – Nelson Figueroa, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1975 – Jem, Welsh singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1975 – John Higgins, Scottish snooker player
    • 1975 – Jack Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1976 – Ron Mercer, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Marko Tomasović, Croatian pianist and composer
    • 1976 – Oleg Tverdovsky, Ukrainian-Russian ice hockey player
    • 1977 – Lee Hendrie, English footballer
    • 1977 – Danny Mills, English footballer and sportscaster
    • 1977 – Li Tie, Chinese footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Ricardo Carvalho, Portuguese footballer
    • 1978 – Marcus Giles, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Charles Kamathi, Kenyan runner
    • 1979 – Jens Bergensten, Swedish video game designer, co-designed Minecraft
    • 1979 – Mariusz Lewandowski, Polish footballer
    • 1979 – Michal Martikán, Slovak slalom canoeist
    • 1979 – Milivoje Novaković, Slovenian footballer
    • 1979 – Julián Speroni, Argentinian footballer
    • 1980 – Reggie Evans, American basketball player
    • 1980 – Michaël Llodra, French tennis player
    • 1980 – Diego Pérez, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1981 – Mahamadou Diarra, Malian international footballer
    • 1981 – Ashley Harrison, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Jason Brown, English footballer
    • 1982 – Marie-Ève Pelletier, Canadian tennis player
    • 1983 – Gary O’Neil, English footballer
    • 1983 – Luis Terrero, Dominican baseball player
    • 1983 – Vince Young, American football player
    • 1984 – Ivet Lalova, Bulgarian sprinter
    • 1984 – Simon Pagenaud, French race car driver
    • 1984 – Darius Šilinskis, Lithuanian basketball player
    • 1984 – Joakim Soria, Mexican baseball player
    • 1984 – Niki Terpstra, Dutch cyclist
    • 1985 – Oliver Sin, Hungarian painter
    • 1985 – Henrique Sereno, Portuguese footballer
    • 1986 – Ahmed Hamada, Egyptian race car driver
    • 1986 – Kevin Anderson, South African tennis player
    • 1988 – Taeyang, South Korean singer
    • 1990 – Dimitri Daeseleire, Belgian footballer
    • 1990 – Yuya Osako, Japanese footballer
    • 1990 – Josh Starling, Australian rugby league player
    • 1992 – Adwoa Aboah, British fashion model
    • 1993 – Stuart Percy, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1993 – Jessica Watson, Australian sailor
    • 1998 – Polina Edmunds, American figure skater
    • 1999 – Laura Omloop, Belgian singer-songwriter
    • 2000 – Ryan Sessegnon, English footballer
    • 2000 – Steven Sessegnon, English footballer
    • 2002 – Alina Zagitova, Russian figure skater

    Deaths on May 18

    • 526 – Pope John I (b. 470)
    • 893 – Stephen I of Constantinople (b. 867)
    • 932 – Ma Shaohong, general of Later Tang
    • 947 – Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty
    • 978 – Frederick I, duke of Upper Lorraine
    • 1065 – Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine (b. c. 1003)
    • 1096 – Minna of Worms, Jewish martyr killed during the Worms massacre (1096)
    • 1160 – Eric Jedvardsson (King Eric IX) of Sweden (since 1156); (b. circa 1120)
    • 1297 – Nicholas Longespee, Bishop of Salisbury
    • 1401 – Vladislaus II of Opole (b. 1332)
    • 1410 – Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (b. 1352)
    • 1550 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (b. 1498)
    • 1551 – Domenico di Pace Beccafumi, Italian painter (b. 1486)
    • 1675 – Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer, historian, and theologian (b. 1623)
    • 1675 – Jacques Marquette, French-American missionary and explorer (b. 1637)
    • 1692 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (b. 1617)
    • 1721 – Maria Barbara Carillo, victim of the Spanish Inquisition (b.1625)
    • 1733 – Georg Böhm, German organist and composer (b. 1761)
    • 1780 – Charles Hardy, English-American admiral and politician, 29th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1714)
    • 1781 – Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian-Indian rebel leader (b. 1742)
    • 1792 – Levy Solomons, Canadian merchant and fur trader (b. 1730)
    • 1795 – Robert Rogers, English colonel (b. 1731)
    • 1799 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and publisher (b. 1732)
    • 1800 – Alexander Suvorov, Russian general (b. 1729)
    • 1807 – John Douglas, Scottish bishop and scholar (b. 1721)
    • 1808 – Elijah Craig, American minister, inventor, and educator, invented Bourbon whiskey (b. 1738)
    • 1844 – Richard McCarty, American lawyer and politician (b. 1780)
    • 1853 – Lionel Kieseritzky, Estonian-French chess player (b. 1806)
    • 1867 – Clarkson Stanfield, English painter (b. 1793)
    • 1889 – Isabella Glyn, Scottish-English actress (b. 1823)
    • 1900 – Félix Ravaisson-Mollien, French archaeologist and philosopher (b. 1813)
    • 1908 – Louis-Napoléon Casault, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1823)
    • 1909 – Isaac Albéniz, Spanish pianist and composer (b. 1860)
    • 1909 – George Meredith, English novelist and poet (b. 1828)
    • 1910 – Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish author and publisher (b. 1841)
    • 1910 – Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer (b. 1821)
    • 1911 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1860)
    • 1922 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician and parasitologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
    • 1941 – Werner Sombart, German economist and sociologist (b. 1863)
    • 1943 – Ōnishiki Daigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 28th Yokozuna (b. 1883)
    • 1947 – Hal Chase, American baseball player and manager (b. 1883)
    • 1955 – Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (b. 1875)
    • 1956 – Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895)
    • 1958 – Jacob Fichman, Israeli poet and critic (b. 1881)
    • 1963 – Ernie Davis, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1939)
    • 1968 – Frank Walsh, Australian politician, 34th Premier of South Australia (b. 1897)
    • 1971 – Aleksandr Gennadievich Kurosh, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1908)
    • 1973 – Jeannette Rankin, American social worker and politician (b. 1880)
    • 1974 – Harry Ricardo, English engine designer and researcher (b. 1885)
    • 1975 – Leroy Anderson, American composer and conductor (b. 1908)
    • 1980 – Victims of Mount St. Helens eruption:
      • Reid Blackburn, American photographer and journalist (b. 1952)
      • David A. Johnston, American volcanologist and geologist (b. 1949)
    • 1980 – Ian Curtis, English singer-songwriter (b. 1956)
    • 1981 – Arthur O’Connell, American actor (b. 1908)
    • 1981 – William Saroyan, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (b. 1908)
    • 1987 – Mahdi Amel, Lebanese journalist, poet, and academic (b. 1936)
    • 1989 – Dorothy Ruth, American horse breeder and author (b. 1921)
    • 1990 – Jill Ireland, English actress (b. 1936)
    • 1995 – Elisha Cook, Jr., American actor (b. 1903)
    • 1995 – Alexander Godunov, Russian-American ballet dancer and actor (b. 1949)
    • 1995 – Brinsley Le Poer Trench, 8th Earl of Clancarty, Irish ufologist and historian (b. 1911)
    • 1995 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (b. 1933)
    • 1998 – Obaidullah Aleem, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1939)
    • 1999 – Augustus Pablo, Jamaican singer, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1954)
    • 1999 – Betty Robinson, American runner (b. 1911)
    • 2000 – Stephen M. Wolownik, Russian-American composer and musicologist (b. 1946)
    • 2001 – Irene Hunt, American author and illustrator (b. 1907)
    • 2004 – Elvin Jones, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1927)
    • 2006 – Jaan Eilart, Estonian geographer, ecologist, and historian (b. 1933)
    • 2007 – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1932)
    • 2008 – Joseph Pevney, American actor and director (b. 1911)
    • 2008 – Roberto García-Calvo Montiel, Spanish judge (b. 1942)
    • 2009 – Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan rebel leader, founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (b. 1954)
    • 2012 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German opera singer and conductor (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Peter Jones, English-Australian drummer and songwriter (b. 1967)
    • 2012 – Alan Oakley, English bicycle designer, designed the Raleigh Chopper (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Aleksei Balabanov, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1959)
    • 2013 – Jo Benkow, Norwegian soldier and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Steve Forrest, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – David McMillan, American football player (b. 1981)
    • 2013 – Lothar Schmid, German chess player (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Hans-Peter Dürr, German physicist and academic (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – Kaiketsu Masateru, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Chukwuedu Nwokolo, Nigerian physician and academic (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Wubbo Ockels, Dutch physicist and astronaut (b. 1946)
    • 2015 – Halldór Ásgrímsson, Icelandic accountant and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Raymond Gosling, English physicist and academic (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – T. J. Moran, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Jean-François Théodore, French businessman (b. 1946)
    • 2017 – Roger Ailes, American businessman (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Jacque Fresco, American engineer and academic (b. 1916)
    • 2017 – Chris Cornell, American singer (b. 1964)
    • 2020 – Ken Osmond, American actor and the police officer (b. 1943)

    Holidays and observances on May 18

    • Christian feast day:
      • Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury
      • Eric IX of Sweden
      • Felix of Cantalice
      • Pope John I
      • Venantius of Camerino
      • May 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Victoria Day (Canada) (Earliest possible date of the last Monday preceding May 25)
    • Baltic Fleet Day (Russia)
    • Battle of Las Piedras Day (Uruguay)
    • Day of Remembrance of Crimean Tatar genocide (Ukraine)
    • Flag and Universities Day (Haiti)
    • Independence Day (Somaliland) (unrecognized)
    • International Museum Day
    • Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day (Sri Lankan Tamils)
    • Revival, Unity, and Poetry of Magtymguly Day (Turkmenistan)
    • Teacher’s Day (Syria)
    • Victory Day (Sri Lanka)
    • World AIDS Vaccine Day