May 23

May 23 is the 143rd day of the year (144th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 222 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Wednesday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Thursday or Friday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Tuesday or Sunday (56).

Events

• 844 – Battle of Clavijo: The Apostle Saint James the Greater is said to have miraculously appeared to a force of outnumbered Asturians and aided them against the forces of the Emir of Cordoba.
• 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, England.
• 1706 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy in 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, and 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.
• 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 – The 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, the head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody.
• 1945 – World War II: The Flensburg Government under Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are captured and arrested by British forces.
• 1948 – Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel.
• 1949 – The Federal Republic of Germany is established and the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is proclaimed.
• 1951 – Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with China.
• 1958 – The satellite Explorer 1 ceases transmission.
• 1970 – Robert Stephenson's pioneering Britannia Tubular Bridge over the Menai Strait is catastrophically damaged by fire after standing for 120 years.
• 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. The assassination of Falcone's colleague Paolo Borsellino less than two months later marks a turning point in Sicilian mafia prosecutions in Italy.
• 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 75% voting yes.
• 2002 – The "55 parties" clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.
• 2004 – Part of Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport's Terminal 2E collapses, killing four people and injuring three others.
• 2006 – Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts.
• 2008 – The 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.
• 2009 – Former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun commits suicide, jumping from a 45-meter cliff in Bongha, Gimhae, South Korea.
• 2009 – A study has discovered that the gravitional acceleration increases on May 23, especially at the Owl's Rock(g+5.18m/s^2), in Bongha, Gimhae, South Korea
• 2010 – Jamaican police begin a manhunt for drug lord Christopher Coke, after the United States requested his extradition, leading to three days of violence during which at least 73 gunmen, policemen and bystanders are killed.
• 2012 – Adam Lambert became the first openly gay artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 Album Charts, with his album Trespassing.
• 2013 – The Interstate 5 bridge 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.

Births

• 635 – K'inich Kan Bahlam II, Mayan king (d. 702)
• 1052 – Philip I of France (d. 1108)
• 1100 – Emperor Qinzong of Song (d. 1161)
• 1330 – Gongmin of Goryeo, Korean ruler (d. 1374)
• 1606 – Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish mathematician and philosopher (d. 1682)
• 1614 – Bertholet Flemalle, Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1675)
• 1617 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (d. 1692)
• 1629 – William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, noble of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1663)
• 1696 – Johann Caspar Vogler, German organist and composer (d. 1763)
• 1707 – Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist (d. 1778)
• 1718 – William Hunter, Scottish-English anatomist and physician (d. 1783)
• 1729 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet and educator (d. 1799)
• 1730 – Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, Prussian prince and general (d. 1813)
• 1734 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologer (d. 1815)
• 1735 – Charles-Joseph, 7th Prince of Ligne, Austrian field marshal and noble (d. 1814)
• 1741 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian organist and composer (d. 1801)
• 1789 – Franz Schlik, Austrian earl and general (d. 1862)
• 1790 – Jules Dumont d'Urville, French admiral and explorer (d. 1842)
• 1790 – James Pradier, French neoclassical sculptor (d. 1852)
• 1794 – Ignaz Moscheles, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1870)
• 1795 – Charles Barry, English architect, designed the Upper Brook Street Chapel and Halifax Town Hall (d. 1860)
• 1810 – Margaret Fuller, American journalist and critic (d. 1850)
• 1820 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (d. 1887)
• 1820 – Lorenzo Sawyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 1891)
• 1824 – Ambrose Burnside, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1881)
• 1826 – Adile Sultan, Ottoman princess (d. 1899)
• 1834 – Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis, Latvian architect (d. 1891)
• 1834 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (d. 1890)
• 1837 – Anatole Mallet, Swiss mechanical engineer and inventor (d. 1919)
• 1837 – Józef Wieniawski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1912)
• 1838 – Amaldus Nielsen, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
• 1848 – Otto Lilienthal, German pilot and engineer (d. 1896)
• 1855 – Isabella Ford, English author and activist (d. 1924)
• 1859 – Joseph-Alfred Archambeault, Canadian bishop (d. 1913)
• 1861 – József Rippl-Rónai, Hungarian painter (d. 1927)
• 1863 – Władysław Horodecki, Polish architect (d. 1930)
• 1864 – William O'Connor, American fencer (d. 1939)
• 1865 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian jurist and politician, 11th President of Brazil (d. 1942)
• 1867 – John Exley, American rower (d. 1938)
• 1870 – J. Storer Clouston, Orcadian author (d. 1944)
• 1871 – Saint-George Ashe, Maltese-English rower (d. 1922)
• 1875 – Alfred P. Sloan, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1966)
• 1879 – Elizabeth Gunn, New Zealand soldier and pediatrician (d. 1963)
• 1879 – Dezső Lauber, Hungarian tennis player and architect (d. 1966)
• 1882 – William Halpenny, Canadian pole vaulter (d. 1960)
• 1883 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1939)
• 1883 – Ferenc Talányi, Slovenian journalist and painter (d. 1959)
• 1884 – Corrado Gini, Italian sociologist and demographer (d. 1965)
• 1887 – Jose Collins, English actress and singer (d. 1958)
• 1887 – Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician and logician (d. 1963)
• 1887 – Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian sailor and captain (d. 1951)
• 1888 – Adriaan Roland Holst, Dutch writer (d. 1976)
• 1888 – Zack Wheat, American baseball player and police officer (d. 1972)
• 1889 – Ernst Niekisch, German educator and politician (d. 1967)
• 1890 – Herbert Marshall, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
• 1891 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)
• 1892 – Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, British peer and grandfather of Diana Spencer (d. 1975)
• 1893 – Ulysses S. Grant IV, American geologist and paleontologist (d. 1977)
• 1895 – Billy Smith, English footballer and manager (d. 1956)
• 1896 – Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (d. 1966)
• 1897 – Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motor cycle racer (d. 1937)
• 1898 – Scott O'Dell, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1989)
• 1898 – Josef Terboven, German soldier and politician (d. 1945)
• 1900 – Hans Frank, German lawyer and politician (d. 1946)
• 1900 – Franz Leopold Neumann, German lawyer and theorist (d. 1954)
• 1908 – John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
• 1908 – Hélène Boucher, French pilot (d. 1934)
• 1910 – Margaret Wise Brown, American author and educator (d. 1952)
• 1910 – Hugh Casson, English architect and academic (d. 1999)
• 1910 – Scatman Crothers, American actor and guitarist (d. 1986)
• 1910 – Artie Shaw, American clarinet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2004)
• 1910 – Franz Kline, American painter and academic (d. 1962)
• 1911 – Lou Brouillard, Canadian boxer (d. 1984)
• 1911 – Paul Augustin Mayer, German cardinal (d. 2010)
• 1912 – Jean Françaix, French pianist and composer (d. 1997)
• 1912 – John Payne, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1989)
• 1914 – Harold Hitchcock, English visionary landscape artist (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Celestine Sibley, American journalist and author (d. 1999)
• 1914 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist and journalist (d. 1981)
• 1915 – S. Donald Stookey, American physicist and chemist, invented CorningWare (d. 2014)
• 1917 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (d. 2008)
• 1918 – Denis Compton, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1997)
• 1919 – Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright (d. 1988)
• 1919 – Ruth Fernández, Puerto Rican-American singer and politician (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2011)
• 1920 – Helen O'Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
• 1921 – James Blish, American author and critic (d. 1975)
• 1921 – Humphrey Lyttelton, English trumpet player and composer (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Alicia de Larrocha, Catalan-Spanish pianist (d. 2009)
• 1924 – Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Joshua Lederberg, American biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
• 1925 – Mac Wiseman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1926 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African politician (d. 1995)
• 1928 – Jeannie Carson, English actress and singer
• 1928 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
• 1928 – Nigel Davenport, English actor (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Pauline Julien, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1998)
• 1928 – Nina Otkalenko, Russian runner (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish-Austrian actress (d. 1982)
• 1930 – Friedrich Achleitner, German poet and critic
• 1930 – Richard Anuszkiewicz, American painter, printmaker, and sculptor
• 1931 – Barbara Barrie, American actress and author
• 1932 – Kevork Ajemian, Syrian-French journalist and author (d. 1998)
• 1933 – Joan Collins, English actress
• 1933 – Ove Fundin, Swedish motorcycle racer
• 1934 – Robert Moog, American businessman, invented the Moog synthesizer (d. 2005)
• 1935 – Julian Grenfell, 3rd Baron Grenfell, English politician
• 1936 – Ingeborg Hallstein, German soprano and actress
• 1936 – Charles Kimbrough, American actor and singer
• 1938 – Nobuyuki Katsube, Japanese actor and voice actor
• 1939 – Michel Colombier, French-American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
• 1939 – Reinhard Hauff, German director and screenwriter
• 1940 – Giles Gordon, Scottish author and agent (d. 2003)
• 1940 – Gérard Larrousse, French race car driver
• 1940 – Bjørn Johansen, Norwegian saxophnist (d. 2002)
• 1942 – Zalman King, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Gabriel Liiceanu, Romanian philosopher, author, and academic
• 1942 – Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao, Indian director, screenwriter, and choreographer
• 1943 – General Johnson, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
• 1943 – Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (d. 2016)
• 1943 – Alan Walden, American businessman and manager, co-founded Capricorn Records
• 1944 – John Newcombe, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
• 1945 – Padmarajan, Indian director, screenwriter, and author (d. 1991)
• 1946 – David Graham, Australian golfer
• 1946 – Stephen Marks, English businessman
• 1947 – Ann Hui, Hong Kong actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1947 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and translator (d. 1995)
• 1948 – Myriam Boyer, French actress, director, and producer
• 1949 – Daniel DiNardo, American cardinal
• 1949 – Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 93rd President of Peru
• 1949 – Janet Thornton, English biologist and academic
• 1950 – Martin McGuinness, Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer 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 – Anne-Marie David, French singer
• 1952 – Martin Parr, English photographer and journalist
• 1954 – Marvelous Marvin Hagler, American boxer and actor
• 1954 – Hakubun Shimomura, Japanese politician
• 1954 – Anja Snellman, Finnish author
• 1955 – Mary Black, Irish folk singer
• 1955 – Luka Bloom, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1956 – Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician and diplomat, Foreign Minister of Austria
• 1956 – Buck Showalter, American baseball player, coach, and manager
• 1957 – Craig Brown, English journalist, critic, and satirist
• 1958 – Mitch Albom, American journalist, author, and screenwriter
• 1958 – Drew Carey, American actor, producer, and game show host
• 1958 – Lea DeLaria, American actress and singer
• 1958 – François Feldman, French singer-songwriter
• 1958 – Thomas Reiter, European astronaut
• 1959 – Daniel Alfredson, Swedish film director
• 1959 – Ryuta Kawashima, Japanese neuroscientist and academic
• 1960 – Linden Ashby, American actor and martial artist
• 1963 – Wally Dallenbach Jr., American race car driver and sportscaster
• 1964 – Ruth Metzler, Swiss lawyer and politician
• 1965 – Melissa McBride, American actress and casting director
• 1965 – Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo, Spanish footballer
• 1965 – Tom Tykwer, German director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
• 1965 – Kappei Yamaguchi, Japanese voice actor and singer
• 1966 – H. Jon Benjamin, American actor and comedian
• 1966 – Graeme Hick, Zimbabwean-English cricketer and coach
• 1966 – Kwak Kyung-taek, South Korean film director
• 1966 – Gary Roberts, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1967 – Luis Roberto Alves, Mexican footballer
• 1967 – Philip Selway, English drummer and songwriter
• 1968 – Guinevere Turner, American actress and screenwriter
• 1969 – Mindi Abair, American saxophonist and composer
• 1970 – Nanette Burstein, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1970 – Matt Flynn, American drummer and producer
• 1970 – Bryan Herta, American race car driver and businessman, co-founded Bryan Herta Autosport
• 1971 – George Osborne, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
• 1972 – Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
• 1972 – Alexandre-Ferdinand Nguendet, Central African politician
• 1973 – Maxwell, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1974 – Jewel, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actress, and poet
• 1974 – Ken Jennings, American computer scientist, author, and game show contestant
• 1974 – Mónica Naranjo, Spanish singer
• 1974 – Manuela Schwesig, German politician, German Federal Minister of Family Affairs
• 1974 – Charlie Young, Taiwanese-Hong Kong actress and singer
• 1975 – Darren Styles, English record producer
• 1975 – Kim Sung-soo, South Korean actor and television host
• 1976 – Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer and manager
• 1976 – Sinha, Brazilian-Mexican footballer
• 1977 – Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
• 1977 – Christian Monzon, American model and actor
• 1977 – Sergio Mur, Spanish television actor
• 1978 – Mike Gonzalez, American baseball player
• 1978 – Scott Raynor, American drummer
• 1979 – Rasual Butler, American basketball player
• 1979 – Brian Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Theofanis Gekas, Greek footballer
• 1980 – Chris Gethard, American actor and screenwriter
• 1981 – Pierre Lapointe, Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• 1981 – Tim Robinson, American actor and screenwriter
• 1982 – Tristan Prettyman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1983 – Heidi Range, English singer-songwriter
• 1983 – Alex Shelley, American wrestler and singer
• 1984 – Hugo Almeida, Portuguese footballer
• 1984 – Mark O'Brien, Canadian actor
• 1985 – Sebastián Fernández, Uruguayan footballer
• 1985 – Wim Stroetinga, Dutch cyclist
• 1986 – Alice Tait, Australian swimmer
• 1986 – Sam Webb, British model
• 1987 – Gracie Otto, Australian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1987 – Bray Wyatt, American wrestler
• 1988 – Morgan Pressel, American golfer
• 1989 – Ezequiel Schelotto, Italian footballer
• 1990 – Kristína Kučová, Slovak tennis player
• 1990 – Oliver Venno, Estonian volleyball player
• 1991 – Lena Meyer-Landrut, German singer-songwriter
• 1991 – Aaron Donald, American football player

Deaths

• 779 – Emperor Daizong of Tang (b. 727)
• 1125 – Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1081)
• 1304 – Jehan de Lescurel, French poet and composer
• 1370 – Toghon Temür, Mongol emperor (b. 1320)
• 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola, Italian friar and preacher (b. 1452)
• 1523 – Ashikaga Yoshitane, Japanese shogun (b. 1466)
• 1524 – Ismail I, Iran ruler (b. 1487)
• 1591 – John Blitheman, English organist and composer (b. 1525)
• 1662 – John Gauden, English bishop (b. 1605)
• 1670 – Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1610)
• 1691 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (b. 1622)
• 1701 – William Kidd, Scottish pirate (b. 1645)
• 1749 – Abraham ben Abraham, Polish martyr (b. 1700)
• 1752 – William Bradford, English-American printer (b. 1663)
• 1754 – John Wood, the Elder, English architect, designed The Circus and Queen Square (b. 1704)
• 1783 – James Otis, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1725)
• 1786 – Maurice, Count de Benyovszky, Hungarian explorer (b. 1746)
• 1813 – Géraud Duroc, French general and diplomat (b. 1772)
• 1815 – Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, American clergyman and botanist (b. 1753)
• 1825 – Gugsa of Yejju
• 1841 – Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1765)
• 1855 – Charles Robert Malden, English lieutenant and explorer (b. 1797)
• 1857 – Augustin-Louis Cauchy, French mathematician and academic (b. 1789)
• 1868 – Kit Carson, American general (b. 1809)
• 1886 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian and academic (b. 1795)
• 1893 – Anton von Schmerling, Austrian politician (b. 1805)
• 1895 – Franz Ernst Neumann, German mineralogist, physicist, and mathematician (b. 1798)
• 1906 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian director, playwright, and poet (b. 1828)
• 1908 – François Coppée, French poet and author (b. 1842)
• 1920 – Svetozar Boroević, Croatian-Austrian field marshal (b. 1856)
• 1921 – August Nilsson, Swedish shot putter and tug of war competitor (b. 1872)
• 1925 – R. A. Jones, English clock and watchmaker (b. 1849)
• 1934 – Clyde Barrow, American criminal (b. 1909)
• 1934 – Mihkel Martna, Estonian journalist and politician (b. 1860)
• 1934 – Bonnie Parker, American criminal (b. 1910)
• 1937 – John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company and Rockefeller University (b. 1839)
• 1938 – Frederick Ruple, Swiss-American painter (b. 1871)
• 1942 – Panagiotis Toundas, Greek composer and conductor (b. 1886)
• 1945 – Heinrich Himmler, German commander and politician, Reich Minister of the Interior (b. 1900)
• 1947 – Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss author and poet (b. 1878)
• 1949 – Jan Frans De Boever, Belgian painter and illustrator (b. 1872)
• 1956 – Gustav Suits, Latvian-Estonian poet and politician (b. 1883)
• 1960 – Georges Claude, French engineer and inventor, created Neon lighting (b. 1870)
• 1962 – Louis Coatalen, French engineer (b. 1879)
• 1963 – August Jakobson, Estonian author and politician (b. 1904)
• 1965 – Earl Webb, American baseball player and coach (b. 1897)
• 1966 – Demchugdongrub, Mongolian politician (b. 1902)
• 1967 – Lionel Groulx, Canadian priest and historian (b. 1878)
• 1975 – Moms Mabley, American comedian (b. 1894)
• 1979 – S. Selvanayagam, Sri Lankan geographer and academic (b. 1932)
• 1981 – Gene Green, American baseball player (b. 1933)
• 1981 – Rayner Heppenstall, English author and poet (b. 1911)
• 1981 – George Jessel, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1898)
• 1981 – David Lewis, Belarusian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
• 1986 – Sterling Hayden, American actor and author (b. 1916)
• 1988 – Aya Kitō, Japanese author (b. 1962)
• 1989 – Georgy Tovstonogov, Russian director and producer (b. 1915)
• 1989 – Karl Koch, German computer hacker (b. 1965)
• 1991 – Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist and composer (b. 1895)
• 1991 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1907)
• 1992 – Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer (b. 1948)
• 1992 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian lawyer and judge (b. 1939)
• 1994 – Ray Candy, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1951)
• 1994 – Joe Pass, American guitarist and composer (b. 1929)
• 1994 – Olav H. Hauge, Norwegian poet (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Kronid Lyubarsky, Russian journalist and activist (b. 1934)
• 1998 – Telford Taylor, American general and lawyer (b. 1908)
• 1999 – Owen Hart, Canadian-American wrestler (b. 1965)
• 2002 – Sam Snead, American golfer and journalist (b. 1912)
• 2003 – Jean Yanne, French actor and director (b. 1933)
• 2004 – Ramon Margalef, Spanish ecologist and academic (b. 1919)
• 2006 – Clifford Antone, American businessman (b. 1949)
• 2006 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1921)
• 2006 – Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and manager (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Nigel Anderson, Australian-born English soldier, landowner and politician (b. 1920)
• 2008 – Iñaki Ochoa de Olza, Spanish mountaineer (b. 1967)
• 2008 – Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean soldier and politician, 9th President of South Korea (b. 1946)
• 2010 – José Lima, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1972)
• 2011 – Xavier Tondo, Spanish cyclist (b. 1978)
• 2012 – T. Garry Buckley, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 72nd Lieutenant Governor of Vermont (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Gyula Elek, Hungarian handball player and coach (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Paul Fussell, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
• 2012 – William C. Wampler, American soldier and politician (b. 1926)
• 2013 – William Demby, American author (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Epy Guerrero, Dominican baseball player, coach, and scout (b. 1942)
• 2013 – Hayri Kozakçıoğlu, Turkish police officer and politician, 15th Governor of Istanbul Province (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Georges Moustaki, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Flynn Robinson, American basketball player (b. 1941)
• 2013 – Luis Zuloaga, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Mikhail Egorovich Alekseev, Russian linguist and academic (b. 1949)
• 2014 – Michael Gottlieb, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1945)
• 2014 – Richard Kolitsch, German footballer (b. 1989)
• 2014 – Madhav Mantri, Indian cricketer (b. 1921)
• 2014 – Anand Modak, Indian composer and director (b. 1951)
• 2014 – Panagiotis Poikilidis, Greek wrestler (b. 1965)
• 2015 – Leo Berman, American businessman and politician (b. 1935)
• 2015 – Anne Meara, American actress, comedian and playwright (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Aleksey Mozgovoy, Ukrainian sergeant (b. 1975)
• 2015 – Alicia Nash, Salvadoran-American physicist and engineer (b. 1933)
• 2015 – John Forbes Nash, Jr., American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Aaron the Illustrious (Syriac Orthodox Church)
  • Desiderius of Vienne
  • Julia of Corsica
  • Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Quintian, Lucius and Julian
  • May 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (Germany)
• Declaration of the Báb (Bahá'í Faith)
• Labour Day (Jamaica)
• Students' Day (Mexico)
• World Turtle Day

External links

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