May 23
is the 143rd day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar (144th in
leap years). There are 222 days remaining.
*
1430 -
Joan of Arc is captured by the
Burgundians while leading an army to relieve
Compiègne. (See
Siege of Compiègne.)
*
1498 -
Girolamo Savonarola is executed on the orders of
Pope Alexander VI*
1533 - The marriage of King
Henry VIII to
Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.
*
1541 -
Jacques Cartier leaves
St-Malo,
France on his third voyage.
*
1555 -
Paul IV becomes
Pope.
*
1568 -
Netherlands declared
independence from
Spain.
* 1568 -
Dutch rebels led by
Louis of Nassau, brother of
William I of Orange, defeat
Jean de Ligne, Duke of Aremberg and his loyalist troops in the
Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the
Eighty Years' War.
*
1609 - Official ratification of the Second Charter of
Virginia 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 -
Battle of Ramillies - the
John Churchill, 1st
Duke of Marlborough defeats a French army under
Marshal Villeroi.
*
1788 -
South Carolina becomes the 8th
U.S. state to ratify the
United States Constitution.
*
1805 -
Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned
King of Italy with the
Iron Crown of Lombardy in the
Cathedral of Milan.
*
1813 - South American
independence leader
Simón Bolívar enters
Mérida, leading the invasion of
Venezuela, and is proclaimed
El Libertador ("The Liberator").
*
1844 - Persian Prophet the
Báb announces his revelation, founding
Bábísm. He announced to the world of the coming of "
He whom God shall make manifest." He is considered the forerunner of
Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the
Bahá'í Faith.
*
1863 - The
Siege of Port Hudson starts.
*
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 becomes the first
African American to be awarded the
Medal of Honor, for his heroism in the
Assault on the Battery Wagner.
*
1911 - Dedication ceremony for the
New York Public Library.
*
1915 -
World War I:
Italy joins the
Allies after they declare war on
Austria-Hungary.
*
1923 - Launch of Belgium's
SABENA airline.
*
1929 - The first talking cartoon of
Mickey Mouse,
The Karnival Kid, was released.
*
1934 -
American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed by police and killed in
Black Lake,
Louisiana.
*
1939 - The U.S. Navy
submarine USS Squalus sinks off the coast of
New Hampshire during a test dive, causing the death of 26 sailors. The remaining 32 crewmen and one passenger are rescued the following day.
*
1945 -
World War II:
Heinrich Himmler, the head of the
SS, commits suicide while in
Allied custody.
* 1945 - World War II: The
Flensburg government under
Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz was dissolved when its members were captured and arrested by British forces at
Flensburg in Northern Germany.
*
1949 - The
Federal Republic of Germany is established, and the
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany proclaimed.
*
1958 -
Explorer I ceases transmission.
*
1960 -
Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that
Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann has been captured.
*
1967 -
Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran and blockades the port of Eilat at the northern end of the
Gulf of Aqaba to
Israeli shipping, laying the foundations for the
Six Day War.
*
1969 -
Rock band
The Who release
Tommy, the first
rock opera.
*
1970 - An outbreak of fire occurs in the
Britannia Bridge over the
Menai Straits in north
Wales contributing to its partial destruction and amounting to approximately £1,000,000 worth of fire damage.
*
1977 - Two
terrorist actions unfold in
The Netherlands: Several dozen
hostages are taken onboard a
train, and about 100 others (mostly children) are held at a Dutch
school. The train siege lasts until
June 11.
*
1985 -
U.S. engineer Thomas Patrick Cavanagh is sentenced to life in prison for attempting to sell
stealth bomber secrets to the
Soviet Union.
*
1995 -
Oklahoma City bombing: In
Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, what remains of the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building is imploded.
*
1997 -
Mohammad Khatami is elected as
President of Iran.
*
1998 - The
Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum, with a high margin of three-fourth 'yes' votes to
Northern Ireland.
*
1999 -
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar
Owen Hart falls to his death during the
Pay Per View Over the Edge at the
Kemper Arena in
Kansas City, Missouri after a botched entrance stunt.
*
2002 - The "55 parties" clause of the
Kyoto protocol is reached after its ratification by
Iceland.
*
2003 - The
euro exceeds its initial trading value as it hits 1.18 for the first time since its introduction in 1999.
* 2003 - 25-year-old
Nepalese
Sherpa,
Pemba Dorjie Sherpa, makes the fastest-ever ascent of
Mount Everest, in 12 hours 45 minutes. This is broken by his rival
Sherpa Lakpa Gelu only three days later.
*
2004 - Part of Paris
Charles De Gaulle International Airport Terminal 2E collapses, killing four people and injuring three others.
*
1052 - King
Philip I of France (d.
1108)
*
1100 -
Emperor Qinzong of China (d.
1161)
*
1606 -
Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish writer (d.
1682)
*
1617 -
Elias Ashmole, English antiquarian (d.
1692)
*
1707 -
Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist (d.
1778)
*
1718 -
William Hunter, Scottish anatomist (d.
1783)
*
1729 -
Giuseppe Parini, Italian writer (d.
1799)
*
1734 -
Franz Anton Mesmer, Austrian physician/hypnotist (d.
1815)
*
1790 -
Jules Dumont d'Urville, French explorer (d.
1842)
*
1795 -
Charles Barry , English architect (d.
1860)
*
1810 -
Margaret Fuller, American journalist and feminist (d.
1850)
*
1820 -
James Buchanan Eads, American engineer and inventor (d.
1887)
*
1824 -
Ambrose Burnside, American Civil War general (d.
1881)
*
1834 -
Carl Heinrich Bloch, Danish painter (d.
1890)
*
1844 -
`Abdu'l-Bahá, Persian leader of the Bahá'í Faith (d.
1921)
*
1848 -
Otto Lilienthal, German aviation pioneer (d.
1896)
*
1865 -
Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian president (d.
1942)
*
1875 -
Alfred P. Sloan, American long-time president and chairman of General Motors (d.
1966)
*
1879 -
Dezső Lauber, Hungarian sportsman (d.
1966)
*
1883 -
Douglas Fairbanks, American actor (d.
1939)
*
1884 -
Corrado Gini, Italian sociologist (d.
1965)
*
1887 -
Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician (d.
1963)
*
1888 -
Zack Wheat, baseball player (d.
1972)
*
1890 -
Herbert Marshall, English actor (d.
1966)
*
1891 -
Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1974)
*
1893 -
Ulysses S. Grant IV, American geologist and paleontologist (d.
1977)
*
1898 -
Scott O'Dell, American author (d.
1989)
*
1900 -
Hans Frank, German Nazi war criminal (d.
1946)
*
1908 -
John Bardeen, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1991)
*
1910 -
Margaret Wise Brown, American author (d.
1952)
* 1910 - Sir
Hugh Casson, British architect and painter (d.
1999)
* 1910 -
Scatman Crothers, American actor and musician (d.
1986)
* 1910 -
Artie Shaw, American clarinetist and bandleader (d.
2004)
*
1912 -
Jean Françaix, French composer (d.
1997)
* 1912 -
John Payne, American actor (d.
1989)
*
1917 -
Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist
*
1918 -
Denis Compton, English cricketer (d.
1997)
*
1919 -
Betty Garrett, American actress and dancer
*
1920 -
Helen O'Connell, American singer (d.
1993)
*
1921 -
James Blish, American author (d.
1975)
* 1921 -
Humphrey Lyttelton, British musician
*
1925 -
Joshua Lederberg, American molecular biologist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine*
1928 -
Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d.
2002)
* 1928 -
Nigel Davenport , English actor
* 1928 -
Pauline Julien, French Canadian singer (d.
1998)
*
1931 -
Barbara Barrie, American actress
*
1933 -
Joan Collins, English actress
*
1934 -
Robert Moog, American inventor (d.
2005)
*
1936 -
Ingeborg Hallstein, German opera singer
* 1936 -
Charles Kimbrough, American actor
*
1938 -
Peter Preston, British journalist and author
*
1939 -
Reinhard Hauff, German film director
* 1939 -
Michel Colombier, French composer and songwriter (d.
2004)
*
1944 -
John Newcombe, Australian tennis player
*
1945 -
Padmarajan, Indian film director (d.
1991)
*
1946 -
Frederik de Groot, Dutch actor
*
1947 -
Bernard Comrie, English linguist
*
1948 -
Reggie Cleveland, baseball player
*
1951 -
Anatoly Karpov, Russian chess player
*
1952 -
Anne-Marie David, French singer
* 1952 -
Marvelous Marvin Hagler, American boxer
*
1955 -
Luka Bloom, Irish Singer/Songwriter
*
1956 -
Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician
* 1956 -
Buck Showalter, baseball player and manager
*
1958 -
Mitch Albom, American writer
* 1958 -
Drew Carey, American actor and comedian
*
1961 -
Karen Duffy, American actress
*
1963 -
Wally Dallenbach Jr., American race car driver and announcer
*
1964 -
Allan Kayser, American actor
* 1964 -
Ruth Metzler-Arnold, member of the Swiss Federal Council
*
1967 -
Phil Selway, English drummer (
Radiohead)
*
1970 -
Yigal Amir,
Israeli
assassin of the
Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin*
1971 -
Charmaine Sinclair,
Playboy model
*
1972 -
Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
*
1974 -
Ken Jennings, American game show contestant
* 1974 -
Jewel, American singer
* 1974 -
Monica Naranjo, Spanish singer
* 1974 -
Richard Jones (Stereophonics), Welsh musician
*
1976 -
Kelly Monaco, American soap opera, General Hospital, star
*1976 -
Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer
*
1977 -
Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
*
1978 -
Scott Raynor, original drummer for
San Diego Pop-punk trio
Blink-182*
1982 -
Malene Mortensen, Danish singer
*
1983 -
Patrick Martin, professional wrestler, more commonly known as Alex Shelley
* 1983 -
Heidi Range, British singer (
Sugababes)
*
1984 -
Adam Wylie, American actor
*
1125 -
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b.
1081)
*
1304 -
Jehan de Lescurel, French poet and composer
*
1498 -
Girolamo Savonarola, Italian religious reformer and ruler of Florence (b.
1452)
*
1523 -
Ashikaga Yoshitane, Japanese shogun (b.
1466)
*
1524 -
Ismail I,
Shah of Persia (b.
1487)
*
1662 -
John Gauden, English bishop and writer (b.
1605)
*
1670 -
Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b.
1610)
*
1691 -
Adrien Auzout, French astronomer (b.
1622)
*
1701 -
Captain Kidd, Scottish pirate (b.
1645)
*
1752 -
William Bradford, British-born printer (b.
1663)
*
1754 -
John Wood, the Elder, English architect (b.
1704)
*
1783 -
James Otis, American lawyer and patriot (b.
1725)
*
1786 -
Móric Beňovský, Slovak explorer
*
1813 -
Geraud Duroc, French general (b.
1772)
*
1825 - Ras
Gugsa of Yejju, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia
*
1841 -
Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (b.
1765)
*
1846 -
Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki, Polish politician (b.
1778)
*
1855 -
Charles Robert Malden, English explorer (b.
1797)
*
1857 -
Augustin Louis Cauchy, French mathematician {b.
1789)
*
1868 -
Kit Carson, American trapper, scout, and Indian agent (b.
1809)
*
1886 -
Leopold von Ranke, German historian (b.
1795)
*
1893 -
Anton von Schmerling, Austrian statesman (b.
1805)
*
1895 -
Franz Ernst Neumann, German mineralogist and physicist (b.
1798)
*
1906 -
Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian writer (b.
1828)
*
1908 -
François Coppée, French poet and novelist (b.
1842)
*
1920 -
Svetozar Boroević, Austrian field marshal (b.
1856)
*
1934 -
Clyde Barrow, American outlaw (b.
1909)
* 1934 -
Bonnie Parker, American outlaw (b.
1910)
*
1937 -
John D. Rockefeller, American entrepreneur (b.
1839)
*
1945 -
Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official (b.
1900)
*
1965 -
Earl Webb, baseball player (b.
1897)
*
1966 -
Demchugdongrub, Mongolian politician (b.
1902)
*
1967 -
Lionel Groulx, French Canadian priest and historian (b.
1878)
*
1975 -
Moms Mabley, American comedian (b.
1894)
*
1981 -
George Jessel, American actor (b.
1898)
* 1981 -
David Lewis (politician), Canadian labour lawyer and politician (b.
1909)
* 1981 -
Gene Green, baseball player (b.
1933)
*
1986 -
Sterling Hayden, American actor (b.
1916)
*
1989 -
Georgy Tovstonogov, Russian theatre director (b.
1915)
*
1991 -
Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist and composer (b.
1895)
*
1992 -
Giovanni Falcone, Italian judge (b.
1939)
*
1994 -
Ray Candy, Professional wrestler (b.
1951)
*
1999 -
Owen Hart, Canadian professional wrestler (b.
1965)
*
2002 -
Sam Snead, American golfer (b.
1912)
*
2003 -
Jean Yanne, French actor and director (b.
1933)
*
2006 -
Lloyd Bentsen, American politician (b.
1921)
* 2006 -
Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer (b.
1921)
* 2006 -
Frits Bernard, American activist (b.
1920)
* 2006 -
Clifford Antone, American businessman (b.
1950)
*
Bahá'í Faith: Declaration of the
Báb*World
Turtle Day
*
Discordianism: Day of Disunity
Liturgical feast days
*
Saint Desiderius*
Saint Guibert of Gemblours*
Saint Montana*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This Day*
On this day in CanadaMay 22 -
May 24 -
April 23 -
June 23 –
listing of all days
