1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England.
1556 – The thirteen Stratford Martyrs are burned at the stake near London for their Protestant beliefs.
1743 – In the Battle of Dettingen, George II becomes the last reigning British monarch to participate in a battle.
1760 – Anglo-Cherokee War: Cherokee warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Echoee near present-day Otto, North Carolina.
1806 – British forces take Buenos Aires during the first of the British invasions of the River Plate.
1844 – Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are killed by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail.
1864 – American Civil War: Confederate forces defeat Union forces during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain during the Atlanta Campaign.
1869 – The Republic of Ezo on the island of Hokkaido ends after being defeated by Japanese Imperial troops.
1895 – The inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
1898 – The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia.
1905 – During the Russo-Japanese War, sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian battleship Potemkin.
1908 – A group of Vietnamese tirailleurs conducts a failed attempt to poison the entire French army’s garrison in the Hanoi Citadel with the aim to make way for Hoàng Hoa Thám’s rebel army to capture Hanoi.
1923 – Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH.4B biplane.
1927 – Prime Minister of Japan Tanaka Giichi convenes an eleven-day conference to discuss Japan’s strategy in China. The Tanaka Memorial, a forged plan for world domination, is later claimed to be a secret report leaked from this conference.
1941 – Romanian authorities launch one of the most violent pogroms in Jewish history in the city of Iași, resulting in the murder of at least 13,266 Jews.
1941 – World War II: German troops capture the city of Białystok during Operation Barbarossa.
1946 – In the Canadian Citizenship Act, the Parliament of Canada establishes the definition of Canadian citizenship.
1950 – The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War.
1954 – The Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, the Soviet Union’s first nuclear power station, opens in Obninsk, near Moscow.
1954 – The FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match between Hungary and Brazil, highly anticipated to be exciting, instead turns violent, with three players ejected and further fighting continuing after the game.
1957 – Hurricane Audrey makes landfall near the Texas–Louisiana border, killing over 400 people, mainly in and around Cameron, Louisiana.
1973 – The President of Uruguay Juan María Bordaberry dissolves Parliament and establishes a dictatorship.
1974 – U.S. president Richard Nixon visits the Soviet Union.
1976 – Air France Flight 139 (Tel Aviv-Athens-Paris) is hijacked en route to Paris by the PLO and redirected to Entebbe, Uganda.
1977 – France grants independence to Djibouti.
1980 – The ‘Ustica massacre’: Itavia Flight 870 crashes in the sea while en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, killing all 81 on board.
1981 – The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issues its “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China”, laying the blame for the Cultural Revolution on Mao Zedong.
1982 – Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the final research and development flight mission, STS-4.
1988 – The Gare de Lyon rail accident in Paris, France, kills 56 people.
1991 – Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft starting the Ten-Day War.
1994 – Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult release sarin gas in Matsumoto, Japan. Seven people are killed, 660 injured.
2007 – Tony Blair resigns as British Prime Minister, a position he had held since 1997. His Chancellor, Gordon Brown succeeds him.
2007 – The Brazilian Military Police invades the favelas of Complexo do Alemão in an episode which is remembered as the Complexo do Alemão massacre.
2008 – In a highly scrutinized election President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe is re-elected in a landslide after his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai had withdrawn a week earlier, citing violence against his party’s supporters.
2013 – NASA launches the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun.
2014 – At least fourteen people are killed when a Gas Authority of India Limited pipeline explodes in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India.
2015 – Formosa Fun Coast fire: A dust fire occurs at a recreational water park in Taiwan, killing 15 people and injuring 497 others, 199 critically.
2017 – A series of powerful cyberattacks using the Petya malware target websites of Ukrainian organizations and counterparts with Ukrainian connections around the globe.
Births on June 27
850 – Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya, Aghlabid emir (d. 902)
1350 – Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1425)
1430 – Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, Lancastrian leader (d. 1475)
1462 – Louis XII, king of France (d. 1515)
1464 – Ernst II of Saxony, Archbishop of Magdeburg (1476–1513) (d. 1513)
1497 – Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1546)
1550 – Charles IX, king of France (d. 1574)
1596 – Maximilian, Prince of Dietrichstein (d. 1655)
1696 – William Pepperrell, American merchant and soldier (d. 1759)
1717 – Louis-Guillaume Le Monnier, French botanist and physicist (d. 1799)
1767 – Alexis Bouvard, French astronomer and academic (d. 1843)
1805 – Napoléon Coste, French guitarist and composer (d. 1883)
1806 – Augustus De Morgan, English mathematician and logician (d. 1871)
1812 – Anna Cabot Lowell Quincy Waterston, American writer (d. 1899)
1817 – Louise von François, German author (d. 1893)
1828 – Bryan O’Loghlen, Irish-Australian politician, 13th Premier of Victoria (d. 1905)
1838 – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1894)
1838 – Paul Mauser, German weapon designer, designed the Gewehr 98 (d. 1914)
1846 – Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish politician (d. 1891)
1850 – Jørgen Pedersen Gram, Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1919)
1850 – Lafcadio Hearn, Greek-Japanese historian and author (d. 1904)
1862 – May Irwin, Canadian-American actress and singer (d. 1938)
1865 – John Monash, Australian engineer and general (d. 1931)
1869 – Kate Carew, American illustrator and journalist (d. 1961)
1869 – Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-Canadian philosopher and activist (d. 1940)
1869 – Hans Spemann, German embryologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
1870 – Frank Rattray Lillie, American zoologist and embryologist (d. 1947)
1872 – Heber Doust Curtis, American astronomer (d. 1942)
1872 – Paul Laurence Dunbar, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1906)
1880 – Helen Keller, American author, academic, and activist (d. 1968)
1882 – Eduard Spranger, German philosopher and academic (d. 1963)
1884 – Gaston Bachelard, French philosopher and poet (d. 1962)
1885 – Pierre Montet, French historian and academic (d. 1966)
1885 – Guilhermina Suggia, Portuguese cellist (d. 1950)
1886 – Charlie Macartney, Australian cricketer and soldier (d. 1958)
1888 – Lewis Bernstein Namier, Polish-English historian and academic (d. 1960)
1888 – Antoinette Perry, American actress and director (d. 1946)
1892 – Paul Colin, French illustrator (d. 1985)
1899 – Juan Trippe, American businessman, founded Pan American World Airways (d. 1981)
1900 – Dixie Brown, British boxer (d. 1957)
1901 – Merle Tuve, American geophysicist and academic (d. 1982)
1905 – Armand Mondou, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1976)
1906 – Catherine Cookson, English author and philanthropist (d. 1998)
1906 – Vernon Watkins, Welsh-American poet and painter (d. 1967)
1907 – John McIntire, American actor (d. 1991)
1908 – João Guimarães Rosa, Brazilian physician and author (d. 1967)
1911 – Marion M. Magruder, American Marine officer, commander of the VMF(N)-533 squadron. (d. 1997)
1912 – E. R. Braithwaite, Guyanese novelist, writer, teacher, and diplomat (d. 2016)
1913 – Elton Britt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
1913 – Philip Guston, American painter and academic (d. 1980)
1913 – Willie Mosconi, American pool player (d. 1993)
1914 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist, co-founded the Inland Waterways Association (d. 1981)
1914 – Helena Benitez, Filipina academic and administrator (d. 2016)
1914 – Margaret Ekpo, Nigerian women’s rights activist, social mobilizer and politician (d. 2006)
1914 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (d. 1988)
1915 – Grace Lee Boggs, American philosopher, author, and activist (d. 2015)
1915 – Aideu Handique, Indian actress (d. 2002)
1915 – John Alexander Moore, American zoologist and academic (d. 2002)
1916 – Robert Normann, Norwegian guitarist (d. 1998)
1918 – Adolph Kiefer, American swimmer (d. 2017)
1919 – M. Carl Holman, American author, educator, poet, and playwright (d. 1988)
1919 – Amala Shankar, Indian danseuse
1920 – Fernando Riera, Chilean football player and manager (d. 2010)
1921 – Muriel Pavlow, English actress (d. 2019)
1922 – George Walker, American composer (d. 2018)
1923 – Jacques Berthier, French organist and composer (d. 1994)
1923 – Elmo Hope, American pianist and composer (d. 1967)
1924 – Bob Appleyard, English cricketer and businessman (d. 2015)
1925 – Leonard Lerman, American geneticist and biologist (d. 2012)
1925 – Doc Pomus, American singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
1925 – Wayne Terwilliger, American second baseman, coach, and manager
1927 – Bob Keeshan, American actor and producer (d. 2004)
1928 – James Lincoln Collier, American journalist and author
1928 – Rudy Perpich, American dentist and politician, 34th Governor of Minnesota (d. 1995)
1929 – Dick the Bruiser, American football player and wrestler (d. 1991)
1929 – Peter Maas, American journalist and author (d. 2001)
1930 – Ross Perot, American businessman and politician (d. 2019)
1931 – Charles Bronfman, Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist
1931 – Martinus J. G. Veltman, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1932 – Eddie Kasko, American baseball player and manager (d. 2020)
1932 – Anna Moffo, American operatic soprano (d. 2006)
1932 – Hugh Wood, English composer
1936 – Lucille Clifton, American author and poet (d. 2010)
1936 – Shirley Anne Field, English actress
1937 – Joseph P. Allen, American physicist and astronaut
1937 – Otto Herrigel, Namibian lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1937 – Kirkpatrick Sale, American author and scholar
1938 – Bruce Babbitt, American lawyer and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Interior
1938 – David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, Scottish lieutenant and judge
1938 – Konrad Kujau, German illustrator (d. 2000)
1939 – R. D. Burman, Indian singer-songwriter (d. 1994)
1939 – Neil Hawke, Australian cricketer and footballer (d. 2000)
1940 – Ian Lang, Baron Lang of Monkton, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
1941 – Bill Baxley, American lawyer and politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama
1941 – James P. Hogan, English-Irish author (d. 2010)
1941 – Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1942 – Bruce Johnston, American singer-songwriter and producer
1942 – Frank Mills, Canadian pianist and composer
1942 – Danny Schechter, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1943 – Ravi Batra, Indian-American economist and academic
1944 – Angela King, English environmentalist and author, co-founded Common Ground
1944 – Patrick Sercu, Belgian cyclist (d. 2019)
1945 – Joey Covington, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 2013)
1945 – Norma Kamali, American fashion designer
1945 – Ragnar Søderlind, Norwegian composer
1948 – Camile Baudoin, American guitarist
1949 – Vera Wang, American fashion designer
1951 – Ulf Andersson, Swedish chess player
1951 – Julia Duffy, American actress
1951 – Gilson Lavis, English drummer and portrait artist
1951 – Mary McAleese, Irish academic and politician, 8th President of Ireland
1952 – Madan Bhandari, Nepalese politician (d. 1993)
1953 – Igor Gräzin, Estonian academic and politician
1953 – Alice McDermott, American novelist
1954 – Richard Ibbotson, English admiral
1955 – Isabelle Adjani, French actress
1956 – Heiner Dopp, German field hockey player and politician
1957 – Gabriella Dorio, Italian runner
1958 – Lisa Germano, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1958 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
1959 – Dan Jurgens, American author and illustrator
1959 – Lorrie Morgan, American singer
1960 – Craig Hodges, American basketball player and coach
1960 – Robert King, English harpsichordist and conductor
1960 – Jeremy Swift, English actor
1962 – Michael Ball, English actor and singer
1962 – Sunanda Pushkar, India-born Canadian businesswoman (d. 2014)
1963 – Wendy Alexander, Scottish politician, Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning
1963 – Johnny Benson Jr., American race car driver
1964 – Stephan Brenninkmeijer, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter
1964 – Chuck Person, American basketball player and coach
1965 – Simon Sebag Montefiore, English journalist, historian, and author
1965 – S. Manikavasagam, Malaysian politician and social activist
1965 – Óscar Vega, Spanish boxer
1966 – J.J. Abrams, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Jörg Bergen, German footballer and manager
1966 – Jeff Conine, American baseball player and sportscaster
1966 – Aigars Kalvītis, Latvian politician, businessman, and former Prime Minister of Latvia
1967 – Sylvie Fréchette, Canadian swimmer and coach
1967 – George Hamilton, Northern Irish police officer
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)
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)
