May 31 facts for kids

2023 Calendar

May 31 is the 151st day of the year (152nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 214 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events
Births
Deaths
Observances
See also

Events

Up to 1900

1279 BC – Rameses II (the Great) becomes Pharaoh of Egypt.
455 - Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus is killed by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.
526 – Antioch, Turkey is hit by an earthquake kills 250,000 people.
1578 – Henry II of France lays the first stone of the Point Neuf (New Bridge) in Paris.
1578 - Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England to Frobisher Bay, Canada to mine fool's gold, used to pave the streets in London.
1669 – Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys makes the last entry in his diary.
1740 - Frederick II of Prussia becomes King.
1790 – Alferez Manuel Quimper explores the strait of Juan de Fuca.
1795 - French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.
1813 - In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route crossing the Blue Mountains in New South Wales.
1854 - The civil death procedure is banned in France.
1859 – Big Ben in London, UK starts keeping time.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor.
1884 - John Harvey Kellogg receives a patent for Cornflakes.
1889 – Johnstown flood: A dam break causes a flash flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,000 people.
1890 - In Ulm, southern Germany, Ulm Minster, the city's cathedral, is completed.

1901 – 2000

1902 - The Second Boer War ends, through the Treaty of Vereeniging, ensuring British control over South Africa.
1906 – An attack on the wedding of King Alfonso XIII of Spain kills more than 20 people.
1910 – The Union of South Africa is formed.
1911 – The hull of the ocean liner RMS Titanic is launched.
1911 – President Porfirio Diaz flees Mexico during the Mexican Revolution.
1916 – World War I: The Battle of Jutland is fought.
1921 – Tulsa, Oklahoma race riot: At least 39 people are killed.
1927 – The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line.
1929 – The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse is released.
1935 – An earthquake in Quetta, Pakistan, kills around 40,000 people.
1941 – World War II: 38 people are killed in an air raid in Dublin.
1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.
1946 - A magnitude 6 earthquake in Turkey kills around 1,200 people.
1952 - Dwight D. Eisenhower ends his service with the United States Military.
1961 – The Republic of South Africa is founded.
1962 - The West Indies Federation dissolves.
1962 – Nazi official Adolf Eichmann is executed.
1970 – Ancash Earthquake: Southern Peru is hit by a major earthquake. Along with resulting avalanches, it kills 47,000 people. 20,000 people alone are killed in a single avalanche that hit the town of Yungay.
1970 – Brasilia Cathedral, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, is completed.
1970 - The 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico begins.
1971 - Memorial Day in the United States is held on the last Monday in May for the first time, instead of the traditional May 30 date.
1973 - The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets in Cambodia.
1977 – The Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline is completed.
1981 - Burning of the Jaffna Library in Sri Lanka.
1985 – 76 people are killed in a tornado outbreak in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario.
1991 – Civil War political parties in Angola agree on a ceasefire and fire elections.

From 2001

2002 – The 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan begins, where the Senegal national football team beats the France national football team 1-0.
2003 – Aung San Suu Kyi is arrested in Burma.
2009 – The last-living survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking, Millvina Dean dies aged 97.
2010 – Germany's President Horst Koehler resigns from office. Christian Wulff succeeds him over a month later.
2010 – Israeli forces storm the Gaza-bound international flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 9 Turkish activists.
2013 - A series of anti-government protests in Turkey begins in Istanbul.
2013 - Asteroid (285263) 1998 GE-2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.
2013 - A tornado measuring 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) wide hits El Reno, Oklahoma.

Births

Up to 1800

1048 – Omar Khayyám, Persian poet, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher (d. 1131)
1162 – Genghis Khan, Mongol ruler (d. 1227)
1243 - King James II of Majorca (d. 1311)
1443 – Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England (d. 1509)
1469 – King Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
1491 - Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish Jesuit (d. 1556)
1535 – Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (d. 1607)
1557 – Feodor I of Russia (d. 1598)
1613 – John George II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1680)
1640 – Michael of Poland (d. 1673)
1641 – Dositheus, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (d. 1707)
1656 – Marin Marais, French composer and violin player (d. 1728)
1683 - Jean-Pierre Christin, French physicist, mathematician and astronomer (d. 1755)
1744 - Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Irish author and engineer (d. 1817)
1750 – Karl August of Hardenberg, statesman and reformer (d. 1822)
1753 – Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French revolutionary (d. 1793)
1754 – Andrea Appiani, Italian painter (d. 1817)
1773 – Ludwig Tieck, German poet and writer (d. 1853)
1791 - John Brown Francis, Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1864)

1801 – 1900

1801 – Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist (d. 1887)
1809 - Federico de Roncali, 1st Count of Alcoy, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1857)
1816 - Dimitrie Ghica, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1897)
1817 - Georg Herwegh, German poet (d. 1875)
1818 - John Albion Andrew, 25th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1867)
1819 – Walt Whitman, American poet (d. 1892)
1825 - Domenico Agostini, Italian cardinal (d. 1891)
1838 – Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher (d. 1900)
1852 – Francisco Moreno, Argentine explorer (d. 1919)
1852 - Julius Richard Petri, German bacteriologist (d. 1921)
1857 – Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
1860 – Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
1862 - Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (d. 1942)
1863 - Francis Younghusband, English army officer, explorer and writer (d. 1942)
1866 - Vladimir Rebikov, Russian composer (d. 1920)
1872 – Heath Robinson, English cartoonist (d. 1944)
1872 – Charles Greeley Abbot, American astrophysicist (d. 1973)
1882 – Sandor Graf Festetics, Hungarian politician (d. 1956)
1883 – Lauri Kristian Relander, 2nd President of Finland (d. 1942)
1885 – Alois Hudal, Austrian Roman Catholic bishop, helped Nazi war criminals escape (d. 1963)
1887 – Saint-John Perse, French diplomat and poet (d. 1975)
1892 – Michel Kikoine, Belarussian painter (d. 1968)
1892 - Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian writer (d. 1968)
1892 – Gregor Strasser, German politician (d. 1934)
1894 – Fred Allen, American comedian (d. 1956)
1898 – Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, American clergyman (d. 1993)

1901 – 1950

1901 - Alfredo Antonini, Italian-American conductor and composer (d. 1983)
1908 – Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
1908 - Nils Poppe, Swedish actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2000)
1909 - Art Coulter, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2000)
1911 – Maurice Allais, French economist (d. 2010)
1912 - Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American physicist (d. 1997)
1912 – Alfred Deller, English countertenor (d. 1979)
1914 - Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (d. 2006)
1916 - Bert Haanstra, Dutch movie and documentary director (d. 1997)
1921 - Alida Valli, Italian actress (d. 2006)
1921 - Edna Doré, English actress (d. 2014)
1922 – Denholm Elliott, English actor (d. 1992)
1923 – Prince Rainier III of Monaco (d. 2005)
1923 - Ellsworth Kelly, American painter, sculptor and printmaker (d. 2015)
1925 - Frei Otto, German architect (d. 2015)
1926 – James Krüss, writer (d. 1997)
1927 – Red Holloway, American musician (d. 2012)
1928 - Édouard Molinaro, French actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1929 – Menahem Golan, Israeli director, screenwriter and producer (d. 2014)
1929 - Andreas Meyer-Landrut, German diplomat
1930 – Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, producer
1930 – Elaine Stewart, American actress (d. 2011)
1931 – Shirley Verrett, American soprano (d. 2010)
1931 – John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist
1932 – Jay Miner, American microchip designer (d. 1994)
1935 – Jim Bolger, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
1938 – Johnny Paycheck, American country music singer (d. 2003)
1938 – John Prescott, former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1938 – Peter Yarrow, American folk singer ("Peter, Paul and Mary")
1939 – Terry Waite, British humanitarian
1939 – Haraldur Sigurdsson, Icelandic volcanologist and geochemist
1940 - Anatoliy Bondarchuk, Ukrainian hammer thrower and coach
1941 – Louis J. Ignarro, American pharmacologist
1943 – Sharon Gless, American actress
1943 – Joe Namath, American football star
1945 - Pepe Eliaschev, Argentine journalist and writer (d. 2014)
1945 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor and director (d. 1982)
1945 – Laurent Gbagbo, former President of Ivory Coast
1947 - Junior Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter
1948 - Svetlana Alexievich, Belarussian journalist and writer
1948 – John Bonham, English musician, drummer with Led Zeppelin (d. September 25, 1980)
1948 – Lynda Bellingham, English actress and broadcaster (d. 2014)
1948 - Duncan Hunter, American lieutenant, lawyer and politician
1949 – Tom Berenger, American actor
1950 – Gregory Harrison, actor

1951 – 1975

1952 – Karl Bartos, German musician (Kraftwerk)
1953 - Lynne Truss, English journalist and author
1955 - Tommy Emmanuel, Australian guitarist and singer
1956 - Gerd Weber, East German footballer
1959 - Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver (d. 2014)
1960 – Peter Winterbottom, English rugby player
1960 – Chris Elliott, American comedian
1961 – Lea Thompson, American actress
1962 – Corey Hart, Canadian singer-songwriter
1963 – Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary
1963 – Wesley Willis, American musician
1964 - Yukio Edano, Japanese politician
1965 – Brooke Shields, American model and actress
1966 - Roshan Mahamana, Sri Lankan cricketer
1966 - Nick Scotti, American model, actor and singer
1967 - Sandrine Bonnaire, French actress
1972 – Antti Niemi, Finnish footballer
1972 – Frode Estil, Norwegian cross-country skier
1972 - Sarah Murdoch, English-Australian model and actress
1973 - Kate Howey, British judoka
1974 – Chad Campbell, American golfer
1974 - Tristram Hunt, English politician
1975 – Toni Nieminen, Finnish ski jumper
1975 - Antonin Kinsky, Czech footballer

From 1976

1976 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
1976 - Matt Harping, American basketball player
1976 - Tonka Tomicic, Chilean model and television host
1977 – June Sarpong, British television presenter
1977 – Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
1979 - Jean-François Gillet, Belgian footballer
1980 – Andy Hurley, American musician (Fall Out Boy)
1981 - Yoon Mi-rae, American-Korean singer and songwriter
1981 – Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer
1981 - Daniele Bonera, Italian footballer
1981 - Marlies Schild, Austrian skier
1983 – Reggie Yates, British television presenter
1984 – Jason Smith, Australian actor
1984 – Nate Robinson, American basketball player
1986 – Sopho Khalvashi, Georgian singer
1988 – Lisa Bund, German singer
1989 – Marco Reus, German footballer
1989 - Pablo Alboran, Spanish singer
1989 - Bas Dost, Dutch footballer
1990 - Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
1991 - Azealia Banks, American rapper, singer and songwriter.

Deaths

Up to 1900

455 – Petronius Maximus, West Roman Emperor
1076 - Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria (b. 1050)
1162 – Geza II of Hungary (b. 1130)
1246 – Isabella of Angouleme, queen of John of England (b. 1188)
1349 – Thomas Wake
1408 – Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Ashikaga shogun (b. 1358)
1495 – Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (b. 1415)
1594 – Tintoretto, Italian painter (b. 1518)
1680 – Joachim Neander, German Calvinist clergyman (b. 1650)
1740 – King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia (b. 1688)
1747 – Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (b. 1686)
1799 – Pierre Lemonnier, French astronomer (b. 1715)
1809 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (b. 1732)
1809 – Jean Lannes, French Marshal of Empire (b. 1769)
1831 – Samuel Bentham, mechanical engineer (b. 1757)
1832 – Evariste Galois, French mathematician (b. 1811)
1837 – Joseph Grimaldi, British clown (b. 1779)
1846 – Philip Marheineke, German Protestant divine (b. 1780)
1847 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish pastor, social reformer, educator, writer, and scientist (b. 1780)
1848 – Eugénie de Guérin, writer (b. 1805)
1881 - Hugh J. Anderson, Governor of Maine (b. 1801)
1887 - Moritz Wagner, German geographer and naturalist (b. 1813)
1899 - Elisha Baxter, Governor of Arkansas (b. 1827)

1901 – 2000

1908 - Louis-Honoré Fréchette, Canadian author, poet and politician (b. 1839)
1910 – Elizabeth Blackwell, first female physician in the United States (b. 1821)
1918 – Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist (b. 1836)
1920 – Nasrullah Khan, Emir of Afghanistan
1945 – Odilo Globocnik, Austrian Nazi officer (b. 1904)
1957 – Stefanos Sarafis, Greek Resistance activist (b. 1890)
1957 – Leopold Staff, Polish poet (b. 1878)
1960 – Walther Funk, Nazi leader (b. 1890)
1960 – Willem Elsschot, Flemish writer (b. 1882)
1961 - Walter Little, Canadian politician (b. 1877)
1962 – Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official (b. 1906)
1963 – Edith Hamilton, German-American writer and teacher (b. 1867)
1967 - Billy Strawhorn, American composer, pianist and arranger (b. 1915)
1970 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
1976 – Jacques Monod, French biologist (b. 1910)
1977 – William Castle, American director (b. 1914)
1978 – Jozsef Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925)
1981 – Gyula Lorant, Hungarian footballer (b. 1928)
1981 – Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician (b. 1902)
1982 - Carlo Mauri, Italian mountaineer (b. 1930)
1983 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer (b. 1895)
1986 – James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
1986 - Gaston Rebuffat, French mountaineer (b. 1921)
1994 - Herva Nelli, Italian-American soprano (b. 1909)
1996 – Paul Peter Piech, artist (b. 1920)
1999 - Gene Sarazen, American golfer (b. 1902)
2000 – Tito Puente, musician (b. 1923)
2000 – Johnnie Taylor, vocalist (b. 1938)