May 23

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May 23 is the 143rd day of the year (144th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 222 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 1430 - Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne. (See Siege of Compiègne.)
• 1498 - Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake, in Florence, Italy, 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 - over the prior night the 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.
• 1846 - Mexican-American War: Mexico declares war on the United States.
• 1863 - Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan.
• 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.
• 1907 - Unicameral Parliament of Finland gathered for its first plenary session.
• 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.
• 1933 - Seabiscuit, legendary American racehorse, is born
• 1934 - American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed by police and killed in Black Lake, Louisiana.
• 1934 - The Auto-Lite Strike culminated in the "Battle of Toledo," a five-day melee 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 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.
• 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.
• 2007 - Parliament of Finland celebrated its 100th anniversary plenary session, with President Tarja Halonen and veterans in attendance.
• 2007 A.C Milan defeated Liverpool FC two goals to one in the Uefa Champions League Final, In Athens, to take the trophy for a seventh time. The goals came from Inzaghi, and Liverpool's from Kuyt.

Births

• 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)
• 1741 - Andrea Luchesi, Italian composer (d. 1801)
• 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, Successor to Prophet 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)
• 1889 - Ernst Niekisch, German politician (d. 1967)
• 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 - Betty Astell, British actress (d. 2005)
• 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
• 1923 - Alicia de Larrocha, Spanish pianist
• 1923 - Walter Wolfrum, German fighter pilot
• 1925 - Joshua Lederberg, American molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 1925 - Mac Wiseman, American musician
• 1928 - Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
• 1928 - Nigel Davenport , English actor
• 1928 - Pauline Julien, Quebecois singer (d. 1998)
• 1929 - Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish actress (d. 1982)
• 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)
• 1942 - K. Raghavendra Rao, Indian film director
• 1942 - Gabriel Liiceanu, Romanian philosopher
• 1943 - General Norman Johnson, American rock vocalist with Chairman of the Board
• 1944 - John Newcombe, Australian tennis player
• 1945 - Padmarajan, Indian film director (d. 1991)
• 1946 - Frederik de Groot, Dutch actor
• 1947 - Bernard Comrie, English linguist
• 1947 - Ann Hui, Hong Kong film director
• 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
• 1957 - Baltimora, British singer (d. 1995)
• 1958 - Mitch Albom, American writer
• 1958 - Drew Carey, American actor and comedian
• 1958 - François Feldman, French singer
• 1962 - Karen Duffy, American actress
• 1963 - Wally Dallenbach Jr., American race car driver and announcer
• 1963 - Gregg "Opie" Hughes, American radio personality (The Opie and Anthony Show)
• 1964 - Allan Kayser, American actor
• 1964 - Ruth Metzler-Arnold, member of the Swiss Federal Council
• 1966 - Graeme Hick, English cricketer
• 1967 - Phil Selway, English drummer (Radiohead)
• 1967 - Anna Ibrisagic, Swedish politician
• 1970 - Yigal Amir, Israeli assassin of the Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin
• 1970 - Bryan Herta, American race car driver
• 1970 - Blake Schwendiman, American author
• 1971 - Charmaine Sinclair, Playboy model
• 1972 - Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian formula 1 driver
• 1974 - Ken Jennings, American game show contestant
• 1974 - Jewel, American singer
• 1974 - Mónica Naranjo, Spanish singer
• 1974 - Charlie Yeung, Hong Kong actress and singer
• 1975 - Kim Sung-soo, South Korean actor
• 1976 - Kelly Monaco, American actress
• 1976 - Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1977 - Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
• 1978 - Scott Raynor, original drummer for Blink-182
• 1979 - Brian Campbell, Canadian Hockey Player currently with the Buffalo Sabres
• 1978 - Mike González, Atlanta Braves relief pitcher
• 1980 - Theofanis Gekas, Greek footballer
• 1982 - Malene Mortensen, Danish singer
• 1982 - Cyrill Gloor, Swiss footballer
• 1982 - Tristan Prettyman, American musician
• 1983 - Patrick Martin, professional wrestler, more commonly known as Alex Shelley
• 1983 - Heidi Range, British singer (Sugababes)
• 1984 - Adam Wylie, American actor
• 1986 - Ruben Zadkovich, Australian soccer player

Deaths

• 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)
• 1981 - Rayner Heppenstall, British novelist (d. 1911)
• 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)
• 2004 - Ramon Margalef, Spanish scientist (b. 1919)
• 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. 1949)

Holidays and observances

• Bahá'í Faith: Declaration of the Báb
• World Turtle Day
• Discordianism: Day of Disunity

Liturgical feast days

• Aaron the Illustrious in the Syriac Orthodox Church
• Saint Desiderius
• Saint Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Hegumena of the Monastery of the Holy Saviour (1173)
• Saint Guibert of Gemblours
• Saint Montana

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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