May 23Birthdays & History

On this day: May 23 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 1040The Seljuks defeat the Ghaznavids in the battle of Dandanaqan.AsiaMiddle East
2. 1308Robert the Bruce, king of Scots, defeats John Comyn, earl of Buchan, decisively in the battle of Inverurie.Europe
3. 1430Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction.Europe
4. 1498Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.Europe
5. 1533The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.Europe
6. 1568Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau defeat Jean de Ligne and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years' War.Europe
7. 1609Official ratification of the Second Virginia Charter takes place.North America
8. 1618The Third Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years' War.Europe
9. 1706John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy at the Battle of Ramillies.Europe
10. 1788South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution.North America
11. 1793Battle of Famars during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.Europe
12. 1829Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian in Vienna, Austrian Empire.Europe
13. 1844Báb: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Baháʼí Faith.Middle East
14. 1846Mexican–American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.Latin AmericaNorth America
15. 1863The General German Workers' Association, a precursor of the modern Social Democratic Party of Germany, is founded in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony.Europe
16. 1873The Canadian Parliament establishes the North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.North America
17. 1900American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863.North America
18. 1905Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, publicly announces the creation of the Ullah millet for the Aromanians of the empire, which had been established one day earlier. For this reason, the Aromanian National Day is usually celebrated on May 23, although some do so on May 22 instead.Middle East
19. 1907The unicameral Parliament of Finland gathers for its first plenary session.Europe
20. 1911The New York Public Library is dedicated.North America
21. 1915World War I: Italy joins the Allies, fulfilling its part of the Treaty of London.Europe
22. 1919Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji, a Kurdish sheikh and at-the-time governor of the Slêmanî Province of British Iraq, initiates the first Mahmud Barzanji revolt.Middle EastEurope
23. 1932In 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.Latin America
24. 1934American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.North America
25. 1934The 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.North America
26. 1939The 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.North America
27. 1941World War II: German paratroopers start a series of mass executions of Greek civilians in Missiria for their participation in the ongoing Battle of Crete.Europe
28. 1945World War II: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody.Europe
29. 1945World War II: Germany's Flensburg Government under Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are arrested by British forces.Europe
30. 1946The start of a two-day tornado outbreak across the Central United States that spawned at least 15 significant tornadoes.North America
31. 1948Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel.North AmericaMiddle East
32. 1949Cold War: The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish a new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany.Europe
33. 1951Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement with China.Asia
34. 1960A tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile the previous day kills 61 people in Hilo, Hawaii.Latin AmericaNorth America
35. 1971Seventy-eight people are killed when Aviogenex Flight 130 crashes on approach to Rijeka Airport in present-day Rijeka, Croatia (then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia).Europe
36. 1971The Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest opens, becoming the second-tallest building in the city.Europe
37. 1978A Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near the Russian town of Yegoryevsk, killing two.Europe
38. 1980The Shining, the psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, is premiered on 10 screens in New York City and Los Angeles on the Memorial Day weekend.North America
39. 1991Aeroflot Flight 8556 crashes at Pulkovo Airport, killing 13.Europe
40. 1992Italy'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.Europe
41. 1995The first version of the Java programming language is released.Asia
42. 1998The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with roughly 75% voting yes.Europe
43. 2002The "55 parties" clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.AsiaEurope
44. 2006Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts.North America
45. 2008The 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.Asia
46. 2013A freeway bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Skagit River collapses in Mount Vernon, Washington.North America
47. 2014Seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed and another 14 injured in the Isla Vista attacks near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara.North America
48. 2015At least 30 people are killed as a result of floods and tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma, and northern Mexico.North AmericaLatin America
49. 2016Two suicide bombings, conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, kill at least 45 potential army recruits in Aden, Yemen.Middle East
50. 2016Eight bombings are carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Jableh and Tartus, coastline cities in Syria. One hundred eighty-four people are killed and at least 200 people injured.Middle East
51. 2017Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declares martial law in Mindanao, following the Maute's attack in Marawi.Asia
52. 2021A cable car falls from a mountain near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, killing 14 people.Europe
53. 2021Ryanair Flight 4978 is forced to land by Belarusian authorities to detain dissident journalist Roman Protasevich.Europe
54. 2022Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party is sworn in as the 31st Prime Minister of Australia after winning the 2022 Australian federal election, ending 9 years of conservative rule.Oceania

Source: Wikipedia "May 23" / CC BY-SA 4.0