May 23

Events

• 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 awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca 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

• 635 - K'inich Kan Bahlam II, Mayan king
• 675 - Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar II, King of Mutharaiyar dynasty, Tamil Nadu, India
• 1052 - Philip I of France
• 1100 - Emperor Qinzong of Song
• 1127 - Uijong of Goryeo, Korean monarch of the Goryeo dynasty
• 1330 - Gongmin of Goryeo, Korean ruler
• 1586 - Paul Siefert, German composer and organist
• 1606 - Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish mathematician and philosopher
• 1614 - Bertholet Flemalle, Flemish Baroque painter
• 1617 - Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician
• 1629 - William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, noble of Hesse-Kassel
• 1707 - Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist
• 1718 - William Hunter, Scottish-English anatomist and physician
• 1729 - Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet and educator
• 1730 - Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, Prussian prince and general
• 1734 - Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologer
• 1741 - Andrea Luchesi, Italian organist and composer
• 1789 - Franz Schlik, Austrian earl and general
• 1790 - Jules Dumont d'Urville, French admiral and explorer
• 1790 - James Pradier, French neoclassical sculptor
• 1794 - Ignaz Moscheles, Czech pianist and composer
• 1795 - Charles Barry, English architect, designed the Upper Brook Street Chapel and Halifax Town Hall
• 1800 - Rómulo Díaz de la Vega, Mexican general and president
• 1810 - Margaret Fuller, American journalist and critic
• 1817 - Manuel Robles Pezuela, Unconstitutional Mexican interim president
• 1820 - James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge
• 1820 - Lorenzo Sawyer, American lawyer and judge
• 1824 - Ambrose Burnside, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Rhode Island
• 1834 - Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis, Latvian architect
• 1834 - Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic
• 1837 - Anatole Mallet, Swiss mechanical engineer and inventor
• 1837 - Józef Wieniawski, Polish pianist and composer
• 1838 - Amaldus Nielsen, Norwegian painter
• 1840 - George Throssell, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Western Australia
• 1844 - `Abdu'l-Bahá, Iranian religious leader
• 1848 - Otto Lilienthal, German pilot and engineer
• 1855 - Isabella Ford, English author and activist
• 1861 - József Rippl-Rónai, Hungarian painter
• 1863 - Władysław Horodecki, Polish architect
• 1864 - William O'Connor, American fencer
• 1865 - Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian jurist and politician, 11th President of Brazil
• 1875 - Alfred P. Sloan, American businessman and philanthropist
• 1882 - William Halpenny, Canadian pole vaulter
• 1883 - Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1884 - Corrado Gini, Italian sociologist and demographer
• 1887 - Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician and theorist
• 1887 - Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian sailor and captain
• 1888 - Adriaan Roland Holst, Dutch writer
• 1888 - Zack Wheat, American baseball player and police officer
• 1889 - Ernst Niekisch, German educator and politician
• 1890 - Herbert Marshall, English-American actor and singer
• 1891 - Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1892 - Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, British peer and grandfather of Diana Spencer
• 1896 - Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer
• 1897 - Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motorcycle racer
• 1898 - Scott O'Dell, American soldier, journalist, and author
• 1898 - Josef Terboven, German soldier and politician
• 1899 - Jeralean Talley, American super-centenarian
• 1900 - Hans Frank, German lawyer and politician
• 1900 - Franz Leopold Neumann, German lawyer and theorist
• 1908 - John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1908 - Hélène Boucher, French pilot
• 1910 - Margaret Wise Brown, American author and educator
• 1910 - Hugh Casson, English architect and academic
• 1910 - Scatman Crothers, American actor and comedian
• 1910 - Franz Kline, American painter and academic
• 1910 - Artie Shaw, American clarinet player, composer, and bandleader
• 1911 - Lou Brouillard, Canadian boxer
• 1911 - Paul Augustin Mayer, German cardinal
• 1911 - Betty Nuthall, English tennis player
• 1912 - Jean Françaix, French pianist and composer
• 1912 - John Payne, American actor
• 1914 - Harold Hitchcock, English visionary landscape artist
• 1914 - Celestine Sibley, American journalist and author
• 1914 - Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist, journalist, and prominent Catholic layperson
• 1915 - S. Donald Stookey, American physicist and chemist, invented CorningWare
• 1917 - Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist
• 1918 - Denis Compton, English cricketer and sportscaster
• 1919 - Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright
• 1919 - Ruth Fernández, Puerto Rican contralto and a member of the Puerto Rican Senate
• 1919 - Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1920 - Helen O'Connell, American singer
• 1923 - Alicia de Larrocha, Catalan-Spanish pianist
• 1923 - Irving Millman, American virologist and microbiologist
• 1924 - Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist
• 1925 - Joshua Lederberg, American biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1926 - Basil Salvadore D'Souza, Indian bishop
• 1926 - Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African activist and politician
• 1928 - Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress
• 1928 - Nigel Davenport, English actor
• 1928 - Nina Otkalenko, Russian runner
• 1929 - Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish-Austrian actress
• 1930 - Friedrich Achleitner, German poet and critic
• 1931 - Barbara Barrie, American actress
• 1932 - Kevork Ajemian, Syrian-French journalist and author
• 1933 - Joan Collins, English actress
• 1933 - Ove Fundin, Swedish motorcycle racer
• 1934 - Robert Moog, electronic engineer and inventor of the Moog synthesizer
• 1935 - Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish author
• 1936 - Ingeborg Hallstein, German soprano and actress
• 1936 - Charles Kimbrough, American actor
• 1939 - Michel Colombier, French-American composer and conductor
• 1939 - Reinhard Hauff, German director and screenwriter
• 1940 - Bjorn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist
• 1940 - Gérard Larrousse, French race car driver
• 1940 - Cora Sadosky, Argentinian mathematician and academic
• 1941 - Zalman King, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 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
• 1944 - John Newcombe, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
• 1945 - Padmarajan, Indian director, screenwriter, and author
• 1946 - David Graham, Australian golfer
• 1947 - Jane Kenyon, American poet and translator
• 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
• 1950 - Martin McGuinness, Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland
• 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
• 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
• 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

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

  Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
• *Aaron the Illustrious
• *Desiderius of Vienne
• *Giovanni Battista de' Rossi
• *Julia of Corsica
• *Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler
• *Quintian, Lucius and Julian
• *William of Perth
• *May 23
• Constitution Day
• Earliest day on which Declaration of the Báb can fall, while May 24 is the latest; observed on ‘Aẓamat 8
• Earliest day on which National Heroes' Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on last Monday of May.
• Labour Day
• Students' Day
• World Turtle Day