May 23

Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAY : May 23

May 23 is the 143rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (144th in leap years). There are 222 days remaining.

Contents

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances

4.1 Liturgical feast days

5 External links

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 executed 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 - 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.
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.
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.
1934 - American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed by police and killed in Black Lake, Louisiana.
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.
1999 - World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar Owen Hart falls to his death during the Pay Per View Over the Edge at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri after a botched entrance stunt.
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.
2006 - World Wrestling Entertainment's Wreckless Intent CD is released.

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)
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, Persian leader 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)
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 - 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
1925 - Joshua Lederberg, American molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
1928 - Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
1928 - Nigel Davenport , English actor
1928 - Pauline Julien, French Canadian singer (d. 1998)
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)
1944 - John Newcombe, Australian tennis player
1945 - Padmarajan, Indian film director (d. 1991)
1946 - Frederik de Groot, Dutch actor
1947 - Bernard Comrie, English linguist
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
1958 - Mitch Albom, American writer
1958 - Drew Carey, American actor and comedian
1961 - Karen Duffy, American actress
1963 - Wally Dallenbach Jr., American race car driver and announcer
1964 - Allan Kayser, American actor
1964 - Ruth Metzler-Arnold, member of the Swiss Federal Council
1967 - Phil Selway, English drummer (Radiohead)
1970 - Yigal Amir, Israeli assassin of the Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin
1971 - Charmaine Sinclair, Playboy model
1972 - Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
1974 - Ken Jennings, American game show contestant
1974 - Jewel, American singer
1974 - Monica Naranjo, Spanish singer
1974 - Richard Jones (Stereophonics), Welsh musician
1976 - Kelly Monaco, American soap opera, General Hospital, star
1976 - Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer
1977 - Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
1978 - Scott Raynor, original drummer for San Diego Pop-punk trio Blink-182
1982 - Malene Mortensen, Danish singer
1983 - Patrick Martin, professional wrestler, more commonly known as Alex Shelley
1983 - Heidi Range, British singer (Sugababes)
1984 - Adam Wylie, American actor

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)
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
1999 - Owen Hart, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1965)
2002 - Sam Snead, American golfer (b. 1912)
2003 - Jean Yanne, French actor and director (b. 1933)
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. 1950)

Holidays and observances

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

Liturgical feast days

Saint Desiderius
Saint Guibert of Gemblours
Saint Montana

External links

May 22 - May 24 - April 23 - June 23 – listing of all days

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