May 24
is the 144th day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar (145th in
leap years). There are 221 days remaining.
*
1153 -
Malcolm IV becomes King of
Scotland.
*
1218 - The
Fifth Crusade leaves
Acre for
Egypt.
*
1276 -
Magnus Ladulås crowned
King of Sweden in
Uppsala Cathedral.
*
1487 -
Imposter Lambert Simnel is crowned as "
King Edward VI" at
Dublin.
*
1595 -
Nomenclator of
Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
*
1621 -
Protestant Union formally dissolved.
*
1626 -
Peter Minuit buys
Manhattan.
*
1668 -
Glen Cove, New York is founded.
*
1689 - The
English Parliament passes the
Act of Toleration protecting
Protestants (
Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded).
*
1738 -
John Wesley is
converted, essentially launching the
Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by
Methodists as
Aldersgate Day.
*
1787 - The
United States Constitutional Convention is convened after a
quorum of delegates arrives in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
*
1798 -
Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the
United Irishmen against
British rule begins.
*
1822 -
Battle of Pichincha:
Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the
Presidency of
Quito.
*
1830 -
Mary had a little lamb by
Sarah Hale is published.
*
1844 -
Samuel F. B. Morse sent the message
"What hath God wrought" (a
Bible quotation,
Numbers 23:23) from the
Supreme Court room in
Washington, D.C. to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in
Baltimore, Maryland.
*
1846 -
Mexican-American War:
General Zachary Taylor captures
Monterrey.
*
1856 -
John Brown and his men murder five slavery supporters at
Pottawatomie Creek,
Kansas.
*
1861 -
American Civil War:
Union troops occupy
Alexandria, Virginia.
*
1883 - The
Brooklyn Bridge in
New York is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
*
1893 - The
Niagara Falls Park and River Railway opens in
Ontario.
*
1895 -
Henry Irving becomes the first personage from the
theatre to be
knighted.
*
1899 - The first public
parking garage in the
United States is opened in
Boston, Massachusetts.
*
1900 -
Second Boer War: The
United Kingdom annexes the
Orange Free State.
*
1911 - The
New York Public Library opened.
*
1915 -
World War I:
Italy declares war on
Austria-Hungary.
*
1921 - The trial of
Sacco and Vanzetti opens.
*
1929 -
The Cocoanuts, the first film to star the
Marx Brothers, opens.
*
1930 -
Amy Johnson lands in
Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from
England to
Australia (she left on
May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).
*
1935 -
Crosley Field in
Cincinnati, Ohio, hosts major-league baseball's first night game ever as the
Cincinnati Reds beat the
Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.
*
1940 -
Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor
helicopter flight.
*
1941 -
World War II: In the
North Atlantic, the
German Battleship Bismarck sinks the
HMS Hood killing all but three crewmen on what was the pride of the
Royal Navy.
*
1943 -
Holocaust:
Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer in
Auschwitz concentration camp.
*
1949 - The
Soviet Union ends the 11-month
Berlin Blockade.
*
1958 -
United Press International is formed through a merger of the
United Press and the
International News Service.
*
1961 -
American civil rights movement:
Freedom Riders are arrested in
Jackson, Mississippi for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus.
*
1962 -
American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the
Earth three times in the
Aurora 7 space capsule.
*
1968 - Students set fire to the
Paris bourse.
*1968 -
FLQ separatists bomb the
U.S. consulate in
Quebec City.
*
1970 - The
drilling of the
Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the
USSR*
1974 - After a nine-year run,
The Dean Martin Show airs for the last time.
*
1976 -
London to
Washington, DC Concorde service begins.
*
1980 - The
International Court of Justice calls for the release of
United States embassy hostages in
Tehran. The hostages would not be freed until the following
January.
* 1980 -
Bobby Nystrom scores the game winning overtime goal to lift the
New York Islanders to their first of four consecutive
Stanley Cups.
*
1981 - First
International Women's Day for
Disarmament.
*
1988 -
Section 28 is passed as law by
Parliament in the
United Kingdom.
*
1989 -
Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the
Yorkshire Ripper, is awarded a six-figure sum in
damages after winning a
libel action against
Private Eye.
*
1990 - A car carrying
Earth First! activists
Judi Bari and
Darryl Cherney explodes in
Oakland, California, critically injuring both.
*
1991 -
Israel conducts
Operation Solomon, evacuating
Ethiopian Jews to
Israel.
*
1992 - The last
Thai dictator,
General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.
*
1993 -
Eritrea gains its independence from
Ethiopia.
* 1993 -
Microsoft unveils
Windows NT.
*
2000 -
Israeli troops withdraw from
southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
*
2001 -
Mountain climbing: 15-year-old
Sherpa Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of
Mount Everest.
* 2001 - The
Versailles wedding hall collapse in
Jerusalem,
Israel, kills 23 and injures over 200 in
Israel's worst-ever civil disaster.
*
15 BC -
Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander (d.
19)
*
1494 -
Pontormo, Italian painter (d.
1557)
*
1522 -
John Jewel, English bishop (d.
1571)
*
1544 -
William Gilbert, English natural philosopher (d.
1603)
*
1616 -
John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, (d.
1682)
*
1671 -
Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d.
1737)
*
1686 -
Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist and engineer (d.
1736)
*
1689 -
Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician (d.
1769)
*
1743 -
Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary (d.
1793)
*
1794 -
William Whewell, English scientist, philosopher, and historian of science (d.
1866)
*
1810 -
Charles Clark, Governor of Mississippi (d.
1877)
*1810 -
Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d.
1874)
*
1816 -
Emanuel Leutze, German-born painter (d.
1868)
*
1819 - Queen
Victoria of the United Kingdom (d.
1901)
*
1830 -
Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter (d.
1897)
*
1836 -
Joseph Rowntree, British social reformer (d.
1925)
*
1854 -
John Riley Banister, American law officer and cowboy (d.
1918)
*
1855 -
Arthur Wing Pinero, English playwright (d.
1934)
*
1863 -
George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d.
1938)
*
1868 -
Charles E. Taylor, First aircraft maintenance professional (d.
1956)
*
1870 -
Benjamin Cardozo, American jurist (d.
1938)
*1870 -
Jan Christian Smuts,
Prime Minister of South Africa (d.
1950)
*
1878 -
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American engineer (d.
1972)
*
1886 -
Paul Paray, French conductor and composer (d.
1979)
*
1891 -
William F. Albright, American archeologist and Biblical scholar (d.
1971)
*
1899 -
Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d.
1938)
*1899 -
Henri Michaux, French poet (d.
1984)
*
1900 -
Lionel Conacher, Canadian athlete and politician (d.
1954)
*1900 -
Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor and screenwriter (d.
1984)
*
1901 -
José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer (d.
1968)
*
1905 -
Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1984)
*
1909 -
Wilbur Mills, American politician (d.
1992)
*
1914 -
Lilli Palmer, German-born actress (d.
1986)
*
1923 -
Siobhán McKenna, Irish actress (d.
1986)
*
1925 -
Mai Zetterling, Swedish-born entertainer (d.
1994)
*
1926 -
Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor
*
1928 -
William Trevor, Irish writer
*
1930 -
Hans-Martin Linde, German conductor
*
1934 -
Jane Byrne, Mayor of Chicago
*1934 -
Barry Rose, English choir-trainer and organist
*
1935 -
Joan Micklin Silver, American director
*
1936 -
Harold Budd, American musician
*
1938 -
Tommy Chong, Canadian-born actor and comedian
*
1940 -
Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1996)
*
1941 -
Bob Dylan, American singer and songwriter
*
1943 -
Gary Burghoff, American actor
*
1944 -
Patti LaBelle, American singer
*
1945 -
Priscilla Presley, American actress
*
1946 -
Irena Kirszenstein-Szewinska, Russian-born Polish athlete
*
1949 -
Jim Broadbent, English actor
*
1955 -
Rosanne Cash, American singer
*
1956 -
Michael Jackson, Northern Irish clergyman
*
1959 -
Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish professional goaltender (d.
1985)
*
1960 -
Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
*
1962 -
Gene Anthony Ray, American actor (d.
2003)
*
1963 -
Joe Dumars, American basketball player
*1963 -
Kathy Leander, Swiss singer
*
1964 -
Adrian Moorhouse, British swimmer
*1964 -
Pat Verbeek, Canadian
ice hockey player
*
1965 -
John C. Reilly, American actor
* 1965 -
Shinichiro Watanabe, Japanese anime director
*
1966 -
Eric Cantona, French footballer
*
1967 -
Heavy D, American rapper and actor
* 1967 -
Carlos Hernández, baseball player
*
1969 -
Rich Robinson, American musician (
Black Crowes)
*
1970 -
Tommy Page, American singer
*
1971 -
Kris Draper, Canadian
ice hockey player (
Detroit Red Wings)
*
1972 -
Greg Berlanti, American television writer and producer
*
1973 -
Bartolo Colón, Dominican
Major League Baseball player
*1973 -
Dermot O'Leary, English television presenter
*1973 -
Ruslana, Ukrainian singer
*1973 -
Ramón Ortiz, Baseball player
*
1975 -
Marc Gagnon, Canadian short track speed skater
*
1976 -
Alessandro Cortini, Italian musician
*
1978 -
Bryan Greenberg, American actor
*
1978 -
Brian Ching, Hawai'i soccer player
*
1979 -
Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
*
1980 -
Cecilia Cheung, Hong Kong actress
*
1982 -
Issah Ahmed,Ghana footbal player
*
1984 -
Sarah Hagan, American actress
*
1987 -
Dominika Kasprzycka, Polish singer
*
1988 -
Billy Gilman, American singer
*
1995 -
Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein*
1153 - King
David I of Scotland (b.
1084)
*
1351 -
Abu al-Hasan 'Ali, Sultan of Morocco
*
1425 -
Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b.
1362)
*
1456 -
Ambroise de Loré, French military commander (b.
1396)
*
1543 -
Nicolas Copernicus, astronomer (b.
1473)
*
1612 -
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman and spymaster (b.
1563)
*
1627 -
Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet (b.
1561)
*
1725 -
Jonathan Wild, English criminal (b.
1683)
*
1734 -
Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b.
1660)
*
1749 -
Graf Valentin Potocki, Polish nobleman (burned at the stake)
*
1792 -
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, British naval officer (b.
1718)
*
1806 -
John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, British field marshal (b.
1723)
*
1879 -
William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist, writer, and publisher (b.
1805)
*
1881 -
Samuel Palmer, English artist (b.
1805)
*
1883 -
Abdel Kadir, Algerian leader (b.
1808)
*
1919 -
Amado Nervo, Mexican poet (b.
1870)
*
1945 -
Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal (b.
1892)
*
1947 -
C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (b.
1878)
*
1948 -
Jacques Feyder, Belgian director and screenwriter (b.
1885)
*
1949 -
Aleksey Shchusev, Russian architect (b.
1873)
*
1950 -
Archibald Wavell, American general (b.
1883)
*
1959 -
John Foster Dulles,
United States Secretary of State (b.
1888)
*
1963 -
Elmore James, American musician (b.
1918)
*
1969 -
Willy Ley, German-born rocket scientist (b.
1906)
*
1974 -
Duke Ellington, American composer and musician (b.
1899)
*
1984 -
Vincent J. McMahon, American pro wrestling promoter (b.
1914)
*
1991 -
Gene Clark, American singer and songwriter (
The Byrds) (b.
1944)
*
1995 -
Harold Wilson, British statesman and prime minister (b.
1916)
*
1997 -
Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b.
1923)
*
1999 -
Owen Hart, Professional wrestler (b.
1965)
*
2000 -
Kurt Schork, American reporter and war correspondent (b.
1947)
*
2003 -
Rachel Kempson, Lady Redgrave, English actress, widow of Sir
Michael Redgrave, and the mother of
Corin Redgrave,
Vanessa Redgrave and
Lynn Redgrave (b.
1910)
*
2004 -
Henry Ries, American photographer (b.
1917)
*
2005 -
Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist and resistance fighter (b.
1913)
* 2005 -
Vivian Liberto, first wife of Johnny Cash (b.
1934)
*
Canada:
Victoria Day, on this date or the
Monday before it. In
Quebec, it is known as
National Patriotes Day (
Journée nationale des patriotes). The holiday is often referred to as "May Two-Four," -- a "
two-four" being slang for a case of beer with 24 bottles or cans.
*
Bermuda:
Bermuda Day.
*
Eritrea:
National Day.
*
Bulgaria:
Saints Cyril and Methodius Day celebrated as Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavonic Script Day.
*
Macedonia:
Saints Cyril and Methodius Day celebrated as Macedonian Script and Culture Day.
*
Aldersgate Day (
Methodism).
Liturgical feasts
*
Saints Donatianus and Rogatianus*
Saint Amaël*
Saint Suzanna*
Mary, Help of the Christians*
Saint Sarah is celebrated in
Camargue,
France by the
Roma or
Gypsies.
*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This Day*
On this day in CanadaMay 23 -
May 25 -
April 24 -
June 24 –
listing of all days
