/year

May 24 in history

237 sourced entries recorded on May 24, from 15 BCE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 843Battle of Blain: Breton forces under Erispoe, count of Vannes, defeat the Franks led by Renaud d'Herbauges, near the town of Messac, at the River Vilaine. This battle marks a Breton war between Charles the Bald and Nominoe, duke of Brittany.source
  • 919The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He recognizes the stem duchies (uniting them in a German confederation) and all their sovereign privileges. Two of the four most influential duchies, Bavaria and Swabia, do not accept his rule. Henry fortifies Magdeburg against the Magyars.source
  • 1086Pope Victor III succeeds Gregory VII as the 158th pope of the Catholic Church, though he does not accept election until 1087.source
  • 1096May 18–26 – The Worms massacre: Members of the People's Crusade under Emicho besiege Worms in the Rhineland before killing at least 800 Jews, despite the intervention of Bishop Adalbert II. He tries to hide some of them in the bishop's palace, others chose to remain outside its walls. One of the victims is Minna of Worms, an influential Jew among the Christian nobility.source
  • 1207John still refuses to accept Stephen Langton as archbishop; Innocent III threatens to place England under an Interdict. In response, John confiscates church property. Many of the English bishops of the great churches in the country flee abroad to the Continent.source
  • 1218A Crusader expeditionary force, (some 30,000 men) under King John I of Jerusalem, embarks at Acre (supported by Frisian ships), and sails for Egypt. They arrive at the harbour of Damietta, on the right bank of the Nile, on May 27. Sultan Al-Adil, surprised by the invasion, recruits an army in Syria, while his son Al-Kamil marches an Egyptian force northwards from Cairo, and encamps at Al-Adiliya, a few miles south of Damietta.source
  • 1240Duke Skule Bårdsson, claimant to the Norwegian throne, is defeated by King Haakon IV ("the Old") and his supporters. He seeks refuge in Elgeseter Priory in Trondheim, and Haakon burns down the monastery, in which Skule is burned alive. Haakon becomes the undisputed ruler; this ends the civil war era in Norway, after 110 years.source
  • 1325In Germany, Henry II, Lord of Mecklenburg cedes the territories of Prignitz and the Uckermark to the Margraviate of Brandenburg in an unfavorable peace treaty signed at Daber (modern-day Dobra Nowogardzka in Poland).source
  • 1337Philip VI of France confiscates Gascony from English control.source
  • 1370The Treaty of Stralsund ends the second war between Denmark and the Hanseatic League, an alliance of market towns across northern Europe along the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.source
  • 1377Władysław II Jagiełło succeeds his father, Algirdas, as Grand Duke of Lithuania. Jagiello initially shares power with his uncle, Kestutis Giedyminowicz, until 1381.source
  • 1446In what is now the state of Karnataka in India, Prince Mallikarjuna Raya becomes the new Emperor of Vijayanagara upon the death of his father, Deva Raya II, and takes the name of Emperor Deva Raya III.source
  • 1448Under an agreement with the Holy Roman Emperor, Friedrich III, the city council of Basel in Switzerland votes to expel all persons attending the Council of Basel, a group of clerics opposed to the Roman Catholic Pope.source
  • 1487Lambert Simnel, a supporter of the late King Richard III who is leading a rebellion against King Henry VII, is crowned King "Edward VI of England" in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland. He claims to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, and challenges Henry VII for the throne of England, where he lands on June 5.source
  • 1487Lambert Simnel is crowned "King Edward VI" in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.source
  • 1503The coronation of Moctezuma II as ruler of the Aztec Empire takes place at the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, part of modern-day Mexico City.source
  • 1567Sture Murders: The mentally unstable King Erik XIV of Sweden and his guards murder five incarcerated nobles at Uppsala Castle.source
  • 1567Erik XIV endures a fit of insanity during which he commits the Sture Murders.source
  • 1570Battle of Manila: The Spanish, led by Martín de Goiti, defeat the forces of Rajah Sulayman.source
  • 1571Moscow is burnt by the Crimean army, under Devlet I Giray.source
  • 1575In an attempt to reform the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran missionaries meet with Jeremias II Tranos, the Ecumenical Patriarch, at his residence in Constantinople, and present him with a Greek translation of the Augsburg Confession. Jeremias sends the missionaries, Jakob Andreae and Martin Crusius, three rebuttals to define the objections he has to the Lutheran document, declaring the reasons why the Eastern Orthodoxy has no desire for reformation.source
  • 1591Sir John Norreys, with an expeditionary force sent by Queen Elizabeth I of England, takes the town of Guingamp in Brittany after a brief siege, on behalf of Henry of Navarre.source
  • 1595The Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.source
  • 1610Jamestown, Virginia: The temporary Governor, Thomas Gates, issues The Divine, Moral, and Martial Laws.source
  • 1617King James VI of Scotland authorizes the Scottish East India Company, led by Lord Glencairn to trade to the East Indies, the Levant, Greenland, Muscovy and all other islands in the north, north-west and north-eastern seas. James VI is advised that the authorization is not in conflict with charters granted by him in his capacity as King James I of England to England's East India Company, the Levant Company, and the Muscovy Company.source
  • 1621The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.source
  • 1624After years of unprofitable operation, Virginia's charter is revoked, and it becomes a royal colony.source
  • 1624The city of Oslo, Norway, is destroyed by fire for the fourteenth time. King Christian IV of Denmark–Norway decrees its rebuilding on a new site, where it will be renamed Christiania.source
  • 1626Peter Minuit buys Manhattan from a Native American tribe (Lenape or Shinnecock) for trade goods, valued at 60 guilders ($1,143 U.S. dollars as of 2020).source
  • 1629May 14–28 – Huguenot rebellions: After a 15-day siege, Louis XIII of France captures Privas.source
  • 1638French forces invest St Omersource
  • 1641Providence Island in the Caribbean, settled by English Puritans and a haven for English pirates off the coast of modern-day Colombia, is captured in a joint operation of the Spanish Navy in an attack led by Don Francisco Díaz Pimienta, and the Portuguese Navy led by the Count of Castel-Melhor Sousa. The expedition takes 770 prisoners, 380 slaves and a fortune in plundered gold and silver.source
  • 1645May 20–30 - Yangzhou massacre, one of the most destructive massacres in historysource
  • 1647The Marquis of Argyll and David Leslie join forces to defeat Alasdair MacColla, at Rhunahoarine Point in Kintyre. MacColla flees to Ireland; his followers are massacred.source
  • 1662Rioting in the Chinese section of Manila breaks out in the wake of calls to kill non-Christian Chinese residents of the Philippines, and the Spanish Army fires cannons at the rioting crowd. An order follows for non-Christian Chinese Filipinos to leave Manila, and for Christian Filipinos to register with the government. Boats begin transporting the non-Christians back to Chinasource
  • 1667After King Philip IV of Spain reneges on payment of a large dowry to King Louis XIV of France, promised to Louis as a gift for Louis' marriage to Philip's daughter Princess Maria Theresa, the War of Devolution begins between France and Spain. The French Army invades the Spanish Netherlands (modern-day Belgium), entering Flanders and Franche-Comté. By the time the war ends on May 2, 1668, parts of the Spanish Netherlands are ceded to France.source
  • 1667The War of Devolution begins: France invades Flanders and Franche-Comté; on 10 August the siege of Lille, the war's only main engagement, begins, ending in a French victory.source
  • 1683The Ashmolean Museum opens in Oxford (England), as the world's second university museum, after the establishment of the Kunstmuseum Basel in 1661 by the University of Basel.source
  • 1683the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, opens as the world's first purpose-built university museum.source
  • 1689The Act of Toleration, drawn up by the Convention Parliament of England to protect Protestants but with Roman Catholics intentionally excluded, is passed; this effectively concludes the Glorious Revolution.source
  • 1689the Toleration Act passed by Parliament protecting freedom of worship for Protestant Nonconformists (Roman Catholics and nontrinitarians are intentionally excluded). This effectively concludes the Glorious Revolution.source
  • 1706Garrisnon Church is inaugurated in Copenhagen.source
  • 1725Jonathan Wild, fraudulent 'Thief-Taker General', is hanged at Tyburn in London, for actually aiding criminals.source
  • 1725Jonathan Wild, fraudulent "Thief Taker General", is hanged in Tyburn, for actually aiding criminals.source
  • 1738John Wesley, newly returned from America, experiences a spiritual rebirth at a Moravian Church meeting in Aldersgate, in the City of London, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day (his younger brother Charles had a similar experience three days earlier).source
  • 1738John Wesley, newly returned from America, experiences a spiritual rebirth at a Moravian Church meeting in Aldersgate in the City of London, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day. His younger brother Charles had a similar experience three days earlier.source
  • 1742War of the Austrian Succession – Battle of Sahay: French forces defeat the Austrians.source
  • 1742War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Sahaysource
  • 1744After receiving the news from Europe that Great Britain and France are at war, the French Army at Louisbourg attacks the British settlement at Fort William Augustus at Canso, Nova Scotia and forces its surrender.source
  • 1755France completes the construction of Fort Duquesne, its new base to the west of the British colony of Pennsylvania. The British capture the fort during the French and Indian War and rename it Fort Pitt. The site, at the junction of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, is now Pittsburgh.source
  • 1776May 15–26 – American Revolution: Battle of the Cedars – British forces skirmish with the American Continental Army around Les Cèdres, Quebec.source
  • 1807Siege of Danzig ends after 6 weeks with Prussian and Russian defenders capitulating to French forces.source
  • 1809Lachlan Macquarie receives his commission as next governor of New South Wales, including instructions to reinstate Bligh temporarily on his arrival.source
  • 1810May 18–25 – May Revolution: Armed citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy and establish a provincial government for Argentina (the Primera Junta). Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros is removed.source
  • 1822Battle of Pichincha: Simón Bolívar secures the independence of Quito.source
  • 1824First Anglo-Burmese War: The British take Rangoon, capital of the Kingdom of Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar), in a surprise attack.source
  • 1824the foundation stone for an oil-gas works at Tanfield in Edinburgh is laid by Sir Walter Scott as company chairman.source
  • 1826John Parry (Bardd Alaw) is given a benefit concert by the Society of Cymmrodorion.source
  • 1827The Royal Netherlands Navy's British-built paddle steamer Curaçao completes the first transatlantic crossing by steam, arriving in Paramaribo in Dutch Guiana (now Suriname) four weeks after its April 26 departure from the Netherlands.source
  • 1829Andrés de Santa Cruz takes office as the 6th president of Bolivia. Velasco becomes the 2nd vice president.source
  • 1841Gas lighting used for the first time in Sydney.source
  • 1844The first electrical telegram is sent by Samuel Morse from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to the B&O Railroad "outer depot" in Baltimore, saying "What hath God wrought".source
  • 1844The first electrical telegram is sent by Samuel F. B. Morse from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to the B&O Railroad "outer depot" in Baltimore, Maryland, saying "What hath God wrought".source
  • 1847Hittebarnet by August Blanche on Djurgårdsteatern in Stockholm.source
  • 1854Slave Runaway Anthony Burns is arrested in Boston, MA and soon thereafter (June 2) shipped back to Virginia–back into a life of slavery. Abolitionists of the North would be infuriated.source
  • 1856Pottawatomie massacre: A group of followers of radical abolitionist John Brown kill 5 homesteaders in Franklin County, Kansas.source
  • 1856Pottawatomie Massacre: A group of followers of radical abolitionist John Brown kill 5 pro-slavery supporters in Franklin County, Kansas.source
  • 1857Slave trader Isaac Bolton shoots and kills slave trader James McMillin, beginning the long-running and violent Bolton–Dickins feud.source
  • 1862Westminster Bridge is opened across the Thames in London. This new iron bridge, designed by Thomas Page, replaces the previous stone one.source
  • 1866Battle of Tuyutí: 32,000 soldiers of the Triple Alliance defeat 24,000 Paraguayan soldiers few miles north of the Paraná, Argentina, in the Paraguayan War, with 16,000 casualties.source
  • 1867Robert William Keate becomes Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal.source
  • 1867Robert William Keate is appointed as Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal.source
  • 1869John Wesley Powell departs Green River, Wyoming, with a company of nine other men, on a trip down the Green and Colorado Rivers.source
  • 1871Henry Larssen, judge.source
  • 1872Convention with The Netherlands for building water defences on the Zwin signed in Bruges.source
  • 1874Revolt of the Muckers: religious service was held in Ferrabraz, where Jacobina announced the end of the world and ordered the extermination of 16 enemy familiessource
  • 1875J. V. Mulligan and party discover the Barron River in Queensland, they left Cooktown on 17 Aprilsource
  • 1881The overloaded steamer Victoria capsizes on the Thames River near London, Ontario, killing 182 people.source
  • 1883Brooklyn Bridge is opened to traffic in New York City, after 13 years of construction.source
  • 1887The new Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral, designed by Pugin, is opened.source
  • 1892Prince George (later George V of the United Kingdom) becomes Duke of York.source
  • 1895Anti-Japanese officials, led by Tang Jingsong in Taiwan, declare independence from the Qing dynasty, forming the short-lived Republic of Formosa.source
  • 1897Lion of Belfort (Montreal) unveiled.source
  • 1899Jules Massenet's Cendrillon, the first opera based on the fairy tale of Cinderella, premieres in Paris at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.source
  • 1900Second Boer War: The British annex the Orange Free State, as the Orange River Colony.source
  • 1905Empire Day is first celebrated in Australia.source
  • 1911Mexican Revolution: Government troops fire at anti-Diaz demonstrators in Mexico City, killing about 200 (officials claim only 40).source
  • 1913May 24–25 – Adolf Hitler moves from Vienna to Munich.source
  • 1913Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia marries Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover in Berlin, ending the decades-long rift between the Houses of Hohenzollern and Hanover and marking the last great gathering of European sovereigns.source
  • 1918Women in Canada, excluding residents of Quebec, are granted the right to vote in federal elections.source
  • 1918May 21–29 - The Ottoman World War I defeat at the Battle of Sardarabad is seen as saving the Armenian nation from destruction.source
  • 1920Venustiano Carranza is buried in Mexico City; all of his mourning allies are arrested. Adolfo de la Huerta is elected provisional president.source
  • 19211921 Irish elections: In the first Northern Ireland general election for the new Parliament of Northern Ireland, Ulster Unionists win 40 out of 52 seats. The dominant-party system here will last for fifty years.source
  • 1921Irish elections, under terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920: In the Northern Ireland general election for the new Parliament of Northern Ireland (held by single transferable vote), it is apparent by 29 May that the Unionists have a substantial majority (40 out of 52 seats). The six Sinn Féin members consider themselves elected to sit in the Second Dáil (where five others also hold seats representing Southern Ireland).source
  • 1923The Irish Civil War ends.source
  • 1923May 21–25 – 1923 Far Eastern Games held in Osaka.source
  • 1926A volcano eruption hit in Mount Tokachi, Hokkaido, according to Japanese government official document figure showed, 144 persons were fatalities, 21 persons missing, about 200 persons were hurt.source
  • 1927The United Kingdom cuts its diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union due to revelations of espionage and underground agitation.source
  • 1928The airship Italia crashes at the North Pole; one of the occupants is Italian general Umberto Nobile. A rescue expedition leaves for the Pole on May 30. Roald Amundsen will be among those who lose their lives in the search for survivors.source
  • 1930Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Australia, becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).source
  • 1933end of the Colombia–Peru Warsource
  • 1933Win 1–0 vs South Coast at Bullisource
  • 1936Romania wins the Balkan Cup for the third time, with Sándor Schwartz scoring the most goals in the tournament.source
  • 1938The new Anti-Partition Party takes eight seats in a Unionist-controlled Londonderry Corporation.source
  • 1939The first issue of Fashizmi is published in Tirana, Albania.source
  • 1941In the Mediterranean, British submarine HMS Upholder torpedoes and sinks Italian ocean liner SS Conte Rosso, in use as a troopship.source
  • 1941In the North Atlantic, German battleship Bismarck sinks British battlecruiser HMS Hood, killing all but 3 crewmen, from a total of 1,418 aboard the pride of the Royal Navy.source
  • 1941In the North Atlantic, the German battleship Bismarck sinks battlecruiser HMS Hood, killing all but 3 crewmen aboard the pride of the Royal Navy.source
  • 1943Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes the chief medical officer of Auschwitz.source
  • 1946May 23–24 – A two-day violent tornado outbreak occurs across the Central United States, with at least 15 significant tornadoes killing four people and injuring 42 others.source
  • 1950Clashes between Albanian forces and Greek forces in Gramos killed six Albanian soldiers and left seven more injured.source
  • 1950The United States Maritime Administration is formed (under the Department of Commerce).source
  • 1951Operation Greenhouse: The first atomic bomb "boosted" by the inclusion of tritium is tested in the "Item" test on Enewetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands by the United States.source
  • 1956The first Eurovision Song Contest is broadcast from Lugano, Switzerland. The winning song is the host country's Refrain by Lys Assia (music by Géo Voumard, lyrics by Émile Gardaz).source
  • 1956Representing Luxembourg, Michèle Arnaud appears in the Eurovision Song Contest 1958 with the song Ne crois pas. No rankings are stated except the winner: Lys Assia of Switzerland.source
  • 1957May 24 – May 24 incident: Anti-American riots erupt in Taipei, Taiwan.source
  • 1959British Empire Day is renamed Commonwealth Day.source
  • 1960Avraham Arnon (born 1887), Russian (Belarus)-born Israeli educator.source
  • 1961Civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for "disturbing the peace", after disembarking from their bus.source
  • 1962Project Mercury: Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth 3 times, in the U.S. Aurora 7 space capsule.source
  • 1966Battle of Mengo Hill: Ugandan army troops arrest Mutesa II of Buganda and occupy his palace.source
  • 1966The Nigerian government forbids all political activity in the country until January 17, 1969.source
  • 1968A magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes near Inangahua Junction, causing three deaths.source
  • 1976Washington, D.C. Concorde service begins.source
  • 1976May 20–24 – Flooding in the wake of a typhoon kills 215 persons and left 60,000 homeless in Luzon Island.source
  • 1976The Judgment of Paris pits French vs. California wines in a blind taste-test in Paris, France. California wines win the contest, surprising the wine world and opening the wine industry to newcomers in several countries.source
  • 1976Shortly after being crowned Miss Venezuela, Elluz Peraza relinquishes her title. Judith Castillo assumes the position as the new Miss Venezuela.source
  • 1979Thorpe Park: Opens its doors having attractions such as Phantom Fantasia also next door had a farm called Thorpe Farmsource
  • 1980May 18–27 – Gwangju Uprising: Students in Gwangju, South Korea, begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms.source
  • 1980The International Court of Justice calls for the release of U.S. Embassy hostages in Tehran.source
  • 1981AKEL and the Democratic Rally both won 12 of the 35 seats in the parliament in parliamentary elections. Voter turnout was 95.7%.source
  • 1982Iran-Iraq War: Iranian troops retake Khorramshahr.source
  • 1982Battle of Khorramshahr ends with Iranian forces retaking the city of Khorramshahr which had been captured by Iraqi forces earlier in the Iran-Iraq war.source
  • 1988Miss Thailand Phonthip Nakhirankanok won the crown title of the Miss Universe 1988 held in Taipei, Taiwan.source
  • 1989Assassinations of Jeffrey Brent Ball and Todd Ray Wilson: A terrorist organization, Zarate Willka Armed Forces of Liberation, kills two American missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they return to their apartment, in La Paz, Bolivia.source
  • 1989May 12–25 – San Bernardino train disaster: Southern Pacific freight locomotive SP 7551 East derails in a residential area of San Bernardino, California, killing four and destroying seven houses. On May 25, as a direct result of the derailment, the Calnev Pipeline explodes, killing an additional two people and destroying eleven more houses and 21 cars.source
  • 1992Burkinabe parliamentary election, 1992source
  • 1992Murder of Helena Rapp: 18-year-old Palestinian Fuad Muhammad Abdulhadi Amrin stabbed to death 15-year-old Israeli Helena Rapp. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.source
  • 1995AFC Ajax wins the UEFA Champions League at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna by defeating A.C. Milan 1–0.source
  • 1997Opposition warlord Dostum is ousted from his fiefdom in northern Afghanistan by a combined assault of Taliban fighters and followers of Gen. Abdul Malik, who switched sides to the Taliban. The Taliban forces and their new allies capture Kunduz, Baghlan and Samangan provinces, now controlling 26 of the 32 provinces. Dostum flees to Turkey, vowing to continue his struggle. Malik promises a strict Islamic regime in the northern areas under his control, centred on Mazari Sharif, which was the last major city to hold out against the Taliban. On May 25 Pakistan becomes the first country to recognize the Taliban government. On May 28, however, Malik turns against the Taliban again, and the Taliban are driven out of Mazari Sharif in a bloody battle in which several thousand of them are taken captive.source
  • 1998Taça de Portugal Finalsource
  • 2000Real Madrid C.F. defeats Valencia CF 3–0 in the UEFA Champions League Final at Stade de France to win their second title between 1998 and 2002, and their eighth overall.source
  • 2001Sherpa Temba Tsheri, 15, becomes the youngest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.source
  • 2002United States President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin sign the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty.source
  • 2003The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 takes place in Riga, Latvia, and is won by Turkish entrant Sertab Erener with the song "Everyway That I Can".source
  • 2004North Korea bans mobile phones (see Communications in North Korea).source
  • 2004A fire at a Momart warehouse destroys numerous works of art.source
  • 2008May 20–24 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 takes place in Belgrade, Serbia, and is won by Russian entrant Dima Bilan with the song "Believe".source
  • 2008Azerbaijani duet Elnur Hüseynov and Samir Javadzadeh finishes 8th at the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.source
  • 2009May 11–24 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope on May 11, landing at Edwards Air Force Base May 24.source
  • 2011The 2011 El Reno–Piedmont tornado, an EF5 tornado, strikes El Reno and Piedmont, Oklahoma, killing 9 people and injuring 181.source
  • 2012May 22–26 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, and is won by Swedish entrant Loreen with the song "Euphoria".source
  • 2014The President of Malawi Joyce Banda annuls the general elections in which she was a candidate because of claimed electoral irregularities.source
  • 2015The second round of the 2015 Polish presidential election is held, with Andrzej Duda reigning victorious over then-incumbent president Bronisław Komorowski.source
  • 2015Aminata Savadogo represents Latvia in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, finishing 6th.source
  • 2018The Constitutional Court unanimously upheld the ban of all forms of ritual slaughter, stating that 'the Constitution did not allow easily preventable suffering to be inflicted on animals without a justified cause', and that this provision did 'not disproportionally interfere' with religious freedom.source
  • 2018Foreign journalists report that tunnels in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site have been destroyed by the North Korean government in a move to reduce regional tensions.source
  • 20182018 Barbadian general electionsource
  • 2019British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Conservative leader, effective June 7, 2019.source
  • 2020Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardons 3,157 prisoners to celebrate Eid al-Fitr and, two days later, President of Zambia Edgar Lungu pardons nearly 3,000 inmates to commemorate Africa Freedom Day.source
  • 2020Mining corporation Rio Tinto admits to blowing up the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge caves in the Pilbara area of Western Australia. The firm later issues an apology to the two Aboriginal peoples who are the traditional owners of the site.source
  • 2021A coup d'état in Mali removes interim president Bah Ndaw and the acting prime minister, Moctar Ouane, from power and restores military rule leading to the country being suspended from the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union, as well as France suspending its military operations in the country.source
  • 2022Uvalde school shooting: 18-year-old Salvador Ramos fatally shoots 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.source
  • 2023Canada and Saudi Arabia agree to restore full diplomatic relations after a breakdown in relations in 2018 over the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.source
  • 2024The UN's highest court, the ICJ, rules that Israel must halt its military offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza.source
  • 2024Saints Cyril and Methodius' Daysource
  • 2024A major landslide in Papua New Guinea kills 160–2,000+ people, with many more buried.source
  • 2025Saints Cyril and Methodius' Daysource

Births

  • 15 BCEGermanicus, Roman general (died AD 19)source
  • 1289Afonso Sanches, Portuguese nobleman and knight (died 1329)source
  • 1335Margaret of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary (died 1349)source
  • 1494Pontormo, Italian painter (died 1557)source
  • 1522John Jewel, English bishop (died 1571)source
  • 1544William Gilbert, English scientist and astronomer (died 1603)source
  • 1576Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley, English courtier (died 1635)source
  • 1616John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale (died 1682)source
  • 1628Marek Sobieski, Polish noble (szlachcic) (died 1652)source
  • 1669Emerentia von Düben, Swedish royal favorite (died 1743)source
  • 1669Emerentia von Düben, royal favorite (died 1743)source
  • 1671Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (died 1737)source
  • 1686Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist, inventor of the Fahrenheit temperature scale (died 1736)source
  • 1689Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, British politician (died 1769)source
  • 1743Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary, doctor and scientist (died 1793)source
  • 1751Charles Emmanuel IV of Savoy, King of Sardinia (died 1819)source
  • 1794William Whewell, English scientist, philosopher and historian of science (died 1866)source
  • 1819Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (died 1901)source
  • 1870Jan Smuts, South African soldier, statesman (died 1950)source
  • 1899Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (died 1938)source
  • 1910Ne Win, 4th President of Burma (died 2002)source
  • 1941Bob Dylan, American poet, musician and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literaturesource
  • 1966Eric Cantona, French footballersource
  • 1972Maia Sandu, Prime Minister of Moldovasource

Deaths

  • 136Judah ben Dama, one of the Ten Martyrssource
  • 189Eleutherius, bishop of Rome (or Catholic Church)source
  • 688Ségéne, bishop of Armagh (born c. 610)source
  • 1071Wulfhild of Norway, duchess of Saxony (born 1020)source
  • 1089Lanfranc, Italian-born archbishop of Canterburysource
  • 1107Raymond of Burgundy, count of Galiciasource
  • 1136Hugues de Payens, French nobleman and knightsource
  • 1153King David I of Scotland dies after a 29-year reign at Carlisle Castle. He is succeeded by his grandson, the 12-year-old Malcolm IV (Virgo). Malcolm is the eldest son of Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, who is crowned as ruler of Scotland at Scone Priory on May 27. Because of his young age, Donnchad (or Duncan) becomes Malcolm's regent and royal adviser.source
  • 1153David I, king of Scotland (born 1084)source
  • 1201Count Theobald III of Champagne suddenly dies and is replaced by Boniface I, marquis of Montferrat, as leader of the Fourth Crusade. He travels to France, where he meets his chief colleagues at Soissons.source
  • 1201Theobald III, French nobleman and knight (born 1179)source
  • 1212Dagmar of Bohemia, queen of Denmarksource
  • 1240Skule Bårdsson, Norwegian noblemansource
  • 1289Frederick V, German nobleman (House of Hohenzollern)source
  • 1351Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman, Sultan of Morocco (born 1297)source
  • 1408Taejo of Joseon, ruler of Korea (born 1335)source
  • 1425Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (born 1362)source
  • 1446Ambroise de Loré, Baron of Ivry (born 1396)source
  • 1472Charles of Valois, Duke of Berry, French noble (born 1446)source
  • 1504Le Hien Tong, Emperor of Vietnam, dies after a reign of six years and is succeeded by his 15-year-old son Le Tuc Tong.source
  • 1543Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (born 1473)source
  • 1567Svante Stensson Sture, statesman (born 1517)source
  • 1612Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman and spymaster (born 1563)source
  • 1627Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet (born 1561)source
  • 1632Robert Hues, English mathematician and geographer (born 1553)source
  • 1647Ferdinando Gorges, colonial entrepreneur (born 1565)source
  • 1665Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Franciscan abbess and spiritual writer (born 1602)source
  • 1718Jeremiah Dummer, American silversmith (born 1643)source
  • 1725Jonathan Wild, English criminal (born 1682)source
  • 1725Jonathan Wild, criminal (born 1682)source
  • 1734Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (born 1660)source
  • 1741Lord Augustus FitzRoy, Royal Navy officer during the Battle of Cartagena de Indias (born 1716)source
  • 1792George Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, British naval officer (born 1718)source
  • 1874Pedro Félix Vicuña (born 1805)source
  • 1879William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer (born 1805)source
  • 1883Keʻelikōlani, princess of Hawaii (born 1826)source
  • 190181 miners are killed in an accident at Universal Colliery, Senghenydd in South Wales.source
  • 1903The Paris–Madrid race for automobiles begins, during which at least eight people are killed; the French government stops the event at Bordeaux and impounds all of the competitors' cars.source
  • 1950Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, British field marshal (born 1883)source
  • 1964May 24–25 – The crowd at a football match in Lima, Peru, riots over a referee's decision in the Peru-Argentina game; 319 are killed, 500 injured.source
  • 1970Abdul Rahman Mohamed Yassin, 1st President of the Dewan Negara (born 1891).source
  • 1974Duke Ellington, American jazz pianist and bandleader (born 1899)source
  • 1980May 18–27 - Gwangju massacre: Up to 165 people are killed when a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju is crushed by the South Korean army.source
  • 1995Harold Wilson, 79, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Alzheimer's disease and colorectal cancer.source
  • 2023Tina Turner, 83, American-born Swiss Hall of Fame singer ("River Deep – Mountain High", "What's Love Got to Do with It") and actress (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), eight-time Grammy winner.source