Events Pre-1600 1040 – The Seljuks defeat the Ghaznavids in the battle of Dandanaqan. 1308 – Robert the Bruce, king of Scots, defeats John Comyn, earl of Buchan, decisively in the battle of Inverurie. 1430 – Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction. 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 and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years' War.
1601–1900 1609 – Official ratification of the Second Virginia Charter takes place. 1618 – The Third Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years' War. 1706 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy at the Battle of Ramillies.Falkner, James. Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles. Pen & Sword Books Ltd, (2006). 1788 – South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution. 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 – Báb: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Baháʼí Faith. 1846 – Mexican–American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States. 1863 – The General German Workers' Association, a precursor of the modern Social Democratic Party of Germany, is founded in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony. 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.
1901–present 1905 – Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, publicly announces the creation of the Ullah millet for the Aromanians of the empire, which had been established one day earlier. For this reason, the Aromanian National Day is usually celebrated on May 23, although some do so on May 22 instead. 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. 1919 – Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji, a Kurdish sheikh and at-the-time governor of the Slêmanî Province of British Iraq, initiates the first Mahmud Barzanji revolt. 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 – 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. 1941 – World War II: German paratroopers start a series of mass executions of Greek civilians in Missiria for their participation in the ongoing Battle of Crete. 1945 – World War II: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody. 1945 – World War II: Germany's Flensburg Government under Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are arrested by British forces. 1946 – The start of a two-day tornado outbreak across the Central United States that spawned at least 15 significant tornadoes. 1948 – Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel. 1949 – Cold War: The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish a new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany. 1951 – Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement with China. 1960 – A tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile the previous day kills 61 people in Hilo, Hawaii.Gates, Alexander E.; Ritchie, David. (2009). Encyclopedia of Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Ed. Infobase Publishing. . p. 49 1971 – Seventy-eight people are killed when Aviogenex Flight 130 crashes on approach to Rijeka Airport in present-day Rijeka, Croatia (then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). 1971 – The Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest opens, becoming the second-tallest building in the city. 1978 – A Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near the Russian town of Yegoryevsk, killing two. 1980 – The Shining, the psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, is premiered on 10 screens in New York City and Los Angeles on the Memorial Day weekend. 1991 – Aeroflot Flight 8556 crashes at Pulkovo Airport, killing 13. 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. His friend and colleague Paolo Borsellino will be assassinated less than two months later, making 1992 a turning point in the history of Italian Mafia prosecutions. 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 roughly 75% voting yes. 2002 – The "55 parties" clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland. 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. 2013 – A freeway bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Skagit River collapses in Mount Vernon, Washington. 2014 – Seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed and another 14 injured in the Isla Vista attacks near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara. 2015 – At least 30 people are killed as a result of floods and tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma, and northern Mexico. 2016 – Two suicide bombings, conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, kill at least 45 potential army recruits in Aden, Yemen. 2016 – Eight bombings are carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Jableh and Tartus, coastline cities in Syria. One hundred eighty-four people are killed and at least 200 people injured. 2017 – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declares martial law in Mindanao, following the Maute's attack in Marawi. 2021 – A cable car falls from a mountain near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, killing 14 people. 2021 – Ryanair Flight 4978 is forced to land by Belarusian authorities to detain dissident journalist Roman Protasevich. 2022 – Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party is sworn in as the 31st Prime Minister of Australia after winning the 2022 Australian federal election, ending 9 years of conservative rule.
Births Pre-1600 635 – Kʼinich Kan Bahlam II, Mayan king (died 702) 675 – Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar II, King of Mutharaiyar dynasty, Tamil Nadu, India 1052 – Philip I of France (died 1108) 1100 – Emperor Qinzong of Song (died 1161) 1127 – Uijong of Goryeo, Korean monarch of the Goryeo dynasty (died 1173) 1330 – Gongmin of Goryeo, Korean ruler (died 1374) 1586 – Paul Siefert, German composer and organist (died 1666)
1601–1900 1606 – Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish mathematician and philosopher (died 1682) 1614 – Bertholet Flemalle, Flemish Baroque painter (died 1675) 1617 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (died 1692) 1629 – William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, noble of Hesse-Kassel (died 1663) 1707 – Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist (died 1778) 1718 – William Hunter, Scottish-English anatomist and physician (died 1783) 1729 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet and educator (died 1799) 1730 – Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, Prussian prince and general (died 1813) 1734 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologer (died 1815) 1741 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian organist and composer (died 1801) 1789 – Franz Schlik, Austrian earl and general (died 1862) 1790 – Jules Dumont d'Urville, French admiral and explorer (died 1842) 1790 – James Pradier, French neoclassical sculptor (died 1852) 1794 – Ignaz Moscheles, Czech pianist and composer (died 1870) 1795 – Charles Barry, English architect, designed the Upper Brook Street Chapel and Halifax Town Hall (died 1860) 1800 – Rómulo Díaz de la Vega, Mexican general and president (1855) (died 1877) 1810 – Margaret Fuller, American journalist and critic (died 1850) 1817 – Manuel Robles Pezuela, Unconstitutional Mexican interim president (died 1862) 1820 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (died 1887) 1820 – Lorenzo Sawyer, American lawyer and judge (died 1891) 1824 – Ambrose Burnside, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Rhode Island (died 1881) 1834 – Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis, Latvian architect (died 1891) 1834 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (died 1890) 1837 – Anatole Mallet, Swiss mechanical engineer and inventor (died 1919) 1837 – Józef Wieniawski, Polish pianist and composer (died 1912) 1838 – Amaldus Nielsen, Norwegian painter (died 1932) 1840 – George Throssell, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Western Australia (died 1910) 1844 – ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Iranian religious leader (died 1921) 1848 – Otto Lilienthal, German pilot and engineer (died 1896) 1855 – Isabella Ford, English author and activist (died 1924) 1861 – József Rippl-Rónai, Hungarian painter (died 1927) 1863 – Władysław Horodecki, Polish architect (died 1930) 1864 – William O'Connor, American fencer (died 1939) 1865 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian jurist and politician, 11th President of Brazil (died 1942) 1875 – Alfred P. Sloan, American businessman and philanthropist (died 1966) 1882 – William Halpenny, Canadian pole vaulter (died 1960) 1883 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1939) 1884 – Corrado Gini, Italian sociologist and demographer (died 1965) 1887 – Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (died 1963) 1887 – Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian sailor and captain (died 1951) 1887 – C. R. M. F. Cruttwell, English historian (died 1941) 1888 – Adriaan Roland Holst, Dutch writer (died 1976) 1888 – Zack Wheat, American baseball player and police officer (died 1972) 1889 – Ernst Niekisch, German educator and politician (died 1967) 1890 – Herbert Marshall, English-American actor and singer (died 1966) 1891 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1974) 1892 – Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, British peer (died 1975) 1896 – Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (died 1966) 1897 – Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motorcycle racer (died 1937) 1898 – Scott O'Dell, American soldier, journalist, and author (died 1989) 1898 – Josef Terboven, German soldier and politician (died 1945) 1899 – Jeralean Talley, American super-centenarian (died 2015) 1900 – Hans Frank, German lawyer and politician (died 1946) 1900 – Franz Leopold Neumann, German lawyer and theorist (died 1954)
1901–present 1908 – John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1991) 1908 – Hélène Boucher, French pilot (died 1934) 1908 – Tomiko Itooka, Japanese supercentenarian (died 2024) 1908 – Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Swiss author and photographer (died 1942) 1910 – Margaret Wise Brown, American author and educator (died 1952) 1910 – Hugh Casson, English architect and academic (died 1999) 1910 – Scatman Crothers, American actor and comedian (died 1986) 1910 – Franz Kline, American painter and academic (died 1962)