What happened on May 31? There are more than 271 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About May 31
May 31 is the 152nd day of the year 2024. There are 214 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 22nd week of the year 2024.
On this day in Jackson, Michigan 49203 sunrise occured at 06:02 AM and sunset occured at 09:08 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Gemini. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 243 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
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Historical Events For May 31
- 1279 BCRameses II (The Great) (19th dynasty) becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
- 526A devastating earthquake strikes Antioch, Turkey, killing 250,000.
- 1223Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River – Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus and Cumans.
- 1578King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris.
- 1578Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England to Frobisher Bay, Canada, eventually to mine fool’s gold, used to pave streets in London.
- 1669Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.
- 1678The Godiva procession through Coventry begins.
- 1775American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolutions are allegedly adopted in the Province of North Carolina.
- 1790Alferez Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- 1790French Revolution: the Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.
- 1790The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
- 1805French and Spanish forces begin the assault against British forces occupying Diamond Rock
- 1813In Australia, Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, reached Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.
- 1854The civil death procedure is abolished in France.
- 1859The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time.
- 1862American Civil War Peninsula Campaign: Battle of Seven Pines or (Battle of Fair Oaks) – Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston & G. W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
- 1864American Civil War Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor – The Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee engages the Army of the Potomac under Ulysses S. Grant & George G. Meade.
- 1866In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O'Neill leads 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to free Ireland from the United Kingdom. Canadian militia and British regulars repulse the invaders in over the next three days, at a cost of 9 dead and 38 wounded to the Fenian’s 19 dead and about 17 wounded.
- 1884Arrival at Plymouth of Tawhiao, King of Maoris, to claim protection of Queen Victoria
- 1889Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam break sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
- 1902Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.
- 1909The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the NAACP, convenes for the first time.
- 1910Creation of the Union of South Africa.
- 1911President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.
- 1911The hull of the ocean liner RMS Titanic is launched.
- 1916World War I: Battle of Jutland – The British Grand Fleet under the command of Sir John Jellicoe & Sir David Beatty engage the Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Reinhard Scheer & Franz von Hipper in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.
- 1921Tulsa Race Riot: A civil unrest in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, the official death toll is 39, but recent investigations suggest the actual toll may be much higher.
- 1924The Soviet Union signs an agreement with the Peking government, referring to Outer Mongolia as an “integral part of the Republic of China”, whose “sovereignty” therein the Soviet Union promises to respect.
- 1927The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
- 1929The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse, “The Karnival Kid”, is released.
- 1935A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan: 40,000 dead.
- 1941A Luftwaffe air raid in Dublin, Ireland, claims 38 lives.
- 1941Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
- 1942World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.
- 1961In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.
- 1961The Union of South Africa becomes the Republic of South Africa.
- 1962Adolf Eichmann is hanged in Israel.
- 1962The West Indies Federation dissolves.
- 1970The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide that buries the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people are killed.
- 1971In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.
- 1973The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.
- 1977The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System completed.
- 1981Burning of Jaffna library, Sri Lanka, It is one of the violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the twentieth century.
- 19851985 United States-Canadian tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.
- 1991Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations’ UNAVEM II mission.
- 2005Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat.
- 2009Anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder shoots and kills physician George Tiller during church services in Wichita, Kansas.
- 2010In international waters, armed Shayetet 13 commandos, intending to force the flotilla to anchor at the Ashdod port, boarded ships trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, resulting in 9 civilian deaths when teams of IHH activists on the MV Mavi Marmara attacked them with knives and metal rods and abducted one of the soldiers.
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Who Were Born On May 31?
- 1162Genghis Khan, Khagan of the Mongol Empire (d. 1227)
- 1443Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England (d. 1509)
- 1469Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
- 1535Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (d. 1607)
- 1557Feodor I of Russia (d. 1598)
- 1613John George II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1680)
- 1640Michael of Poland (d. 1673)
- 1641Dositheos, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (d. 1707)
- 1656Marin Marais, French composer (d. 1728)
- 1732Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian Roman Catholic Archbishop (d. 1812)
- 1753Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French statesman (d. 1793)
- 1754Andrea Appiani, Italian painter (d. 1817)
- 1773Ludwig Tieck, German writer (d. 1853)
- 1801Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist (d. 1887)
- 1818John Albion Andrew, American politician (d. 1867)
- 1819Walt Whitman, American poet (d. 1892)
- 1835Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese military leader (d. 1869)
- 1838Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher (d. 1900)
- 1852Francisco Moreno, Argentine explorer (d. 1919)
- 1857Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
- 1860Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
- 1863Francis Younghusband, British explorer (d. 1942)
- 1872W. Heath Robinson, English cartoonist (d. 1944)
- 1879Frances Alda, New Zealand-Australian operatic soprano (d. 1952)
- 1882Sándor Graf Festetics, Hungarian politician (d. 1956)
- 1883Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish politician (d. 1942)
- 1885Alois Hudal, Austrian Roman Catholic bishop (d. 1963)
- 1887Saint-John Perse, French diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
- 1892Erich Neumann, German Nazi politician (d. 1951)
- 1892Gregor Strasser, German Nazi politician (d. 1934)
- 1892Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian writer (d. 1968)
- 1892Michel Kikoine, Belarusian painter (d. 1968)
- 1894Fred Allen, American comedian (d. 1956)
- 1898Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, American clergyman (d. 1993)
- 1901Alfredo Antonini, American conductor and composer (d. 1983)
- 1902Billy Mayerl, English pianist and composer (d. 1959)
- 1905Florence Desmond, English actress and comedian (d. 1993)
- 1908Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1908Nils Poppe, Swedish actor (d. 2000)
- 1909Aurore Gagnon, French Canadian child abuse victim (d. 1920)
- 1911Maurice Allais, French economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1912Alfred Deller, English countertenor (d. 1979)
- 1914Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (d. 2006)
- 1916Bert Haanstra, Dutch filmmaker (d. 1997)
- 1919Robie Macauley, American novelist and literary critic (d. 1995)
- 1921Alida Valli, Italian actress (d. 2006)
- 1921Howard Reig, American radio and television announcer (d. 2008)
- 1922Denholm Elliott, English actor (d. 1992)
- 1923Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
- 1930Clint Eastwood, American film director and actor
- 1931John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1931Shirley Verrett, American soprano (d. 2010)
- 1932Ed Lincoln, Brazilian musician and album producer
- 1932Jay Miner, American microchip designer (d. 1994)
- 1933Henry B. Eyring, American religious figure; son of Henry Eyring
- 1934Jim Hutton, American actor d. 1979
- 1935Jim Bolger, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1938John Prescott, English politician
- 1938Johnny Paycheck, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1938Peter Yarrow, American folk singer (Peter, Paul and Mary)
- 1939Terry Waite, British humanitarian
- 1940Gilbert Shelton, American underground comics illustrator
- 1941Louis J. Ignarro, American pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1943Joe Namath, American football player
- 1943Sharon Gless, American actress
- 1945Bernard Goldberg, American journalist
- 1945Laurent Gbagbo, Fourth President of Côte d'Ivoire
- 1945Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German film director (d. 1982)
- 1946Steve Bucknor, West Indian Cricket Umpire
- 1946Ted Baehr, American media critic
- 1947Junior Campbell, British musician and songwriter (The Marmalade)
- 1948Duncan Hunter, American politician
- 1948John Bonham, British musician (Led Zeppelin) (d. 1980)
- 1948Lynda Bellingham, Canadian-born English actress and broadcaster
- 1949Nancy Shade, American opera singer
- 1949Tom Berenger, American actor
- 1950Gregory Harrison, American actor
- 1952Karl Bartos, German musician (Kraftwerk, Electronic)
- 1953Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Finnish actor
- 1954Thomas Mavros, Greek footballer
- 1954Vicki Sue Robinson, American singer (d. 2000)
- 1955Susie Essman, American actress
- 1955Tommy Emmanuel, Australian Guitarist CGP
- 1956Fritz Hilpert, German musician and sound engineer (Kraftwerk)
- 1957Jim Craig, American hockey player
- 1959Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver
- 1960Chris Elliott, American comedian
- 1960Greg Adams, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1960Peter Winterbottom, English Rugby player
- 1961Justin Madden, Australian politician and footballer
- 1961Lea Thompson, American actress
- 1961Ray Cote, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1962Corey Hart, Canadian musician
- 1962Sebastian Koch, German actor
- 1963Hugh Dillon, Canadian musician and actor
- 1963Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician
- 1963Wesley Willis, American musician (d. 2003)
- 1964Darryl McDaniels, American musician (Run-D.M.C.)
- 1964Leonard Asper, Canadian businessman
- 1964Scotti Hill, American rock guitarist
- 1965Brooke Shields, American actress and supermodel
- 1965Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player
- 1966Jeremy Hotz, Canadian stand-up comedian
- 1966Nick Scotti, American actor and singer
- 1967Kenny Lofton, American baseball player
- 1967Phil Keoghan, New Zealand television personality
- 1967Sandrine Bonnaire, French actress
- 1967Vampiro, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1968John Connolly, Irish author
- 1969Mindi Abair, American smooth jazz saxophonist
- 1971Diana Damrau, German soprano
- 1972Antti Niemi, Finnish footballer
- 1972Archie Panjabi, English actress
- 1972Dave Roberts, American baseball player
- 1972Frode Estil, Norwegian cross-country skier
- 1972Karl Geary, Irish actor
- 1972Sarah Murdoch, Australian model
- 1973Dominique Van Roost, Belgian tennis player
- 1974Adrian Tomine, American cartoonist
- 1974Chad Campbell, American golfer
- 1974Sean Kent, American stand-up comedian, actor and writer
- 1974Zsolt Erdei, Hungarian light heavyweight boxer
- 1975Yiasoumis Yiasoumi, Greek-Cypriot footballer
- 1976Colin Farrell, Irish actor
- 1976Matt Harpring, American basketball player
- 1976Tonka Tomicic, Chilean model and television presenter
- 1977Debbie King, English TV presenter
- 1977Domenico Fioravanti, Italian swimmer
- 1977Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
- 1977Greg Leeb, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977Joachim Olsen, Danish athlete
- 1977Joel Ross, British disc jockey
- 1977June Sarpong, British television presenter
- 1977Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
- 1977Petr Tenkrát, Czech ice hockey player
- 1977Phil Devey, Canadian baseball player
- 1977Scott Klopfenstein, American musician (Reel Big Fish)
- 1977Theodoros Baev, Bulgarian-born Greek volleyball player
- 1979Jean-François Gillet, Belgian footballer
- 1980Andy Hurley, American musician (Fall Out Boy)
- 1980Craig Bolton, Australian rules footballer
- 1981Jake Peavy, American baseball player
- 1981Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer
- 1981Tasha Reid, Korean rapper
- 1982Jonathan Tucker, American actor
- 1983David Hernandez, American singer
- 1983Dustin Wells, New Zealand footballer
- 1983Reggie Yates, English television presenter
- 1984Jason Smith, Australian actor
- 1984Milorad Čavić, Serbian swimmer
- 1984Nate Robinson, American basketball player
- 1985Ian Vougioukas, Greek basketball player
- 1986Melissa McIntyre, Canadian actress
- 1986Waka Flocka Flame, American rapper
- 1989Marco Reus, German footballer
- 1990Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
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Who Died On May 31?
- 1162Géza II of Hungary (b. 1130)
- 1246Isabella of Angouleme, queen of John of England (b. 1188)
- 1349Thomas Wake, English politician (b. 1297)
- 1408Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Japanese shogun (b. 1358)
- 1410King Martin I of Aragon (b. 1356)
- 1495Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (b. 1415)
- 1558Philip Hoby, English politician (b. 1505)
- 1567Guido de Bres, Belgian theologian (b. 1522)
- 1594Tintoretto, Italian painter (b. 1518)
- 1680Joachim Neander, German clergyman (b. 1650)
- 1740King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia (b. 1688)
- 1747Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (b. 1686)
- 1799Pierre Lemonnier, French astronomer (b. 1715)
- 1809Jean Lannes, French marshal (b. 1769)
- 1809Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (b. 1732)
- 1831Samuel Bentham, British mechanical engineer (b. 1757)
- 1832Évariste Galois, French mathematician (b. 1811)
- 1837Joseph Grimaldi, British clown (b. 1779)
- 1846Philip Marheineke, German clergyman (b. 1780)
- 1847Thomas Chalmers, Scottish pastor (b. 1780)
- 1848Eugénie de Guérin, French writer (b. 1805)
- 1908Louis-Honoré Fréchette, French Canadian poet (b. 1839)
- 1910Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician (b. 1821)
- 1931Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, French Canadian cardinal (b. 1866)
- 1945Odilo Globocnik, Austrian Nazi officer (b. 1904)
- 1954Antonis Benakis, Greek politician and art collector (b. 1873)
- 1957Leopold Staff, Polish poet (b. 1878)
- 1957Stefanos Sarafis, Greek Greek Resistance figure (b. 1890)
- 1960Walther Funk, Nazi leader (b. 1890)
- 1960Willem Elsschot, Flemish writer (b. 1882)
- 1961Walter Little, Canadian politician (b. 1877)
- 1962Adolf Eichmann, German Nazi official (b. 1906)
- 1962Henry Fountain Ashurst, American politician (b. 1874)
- 1967Billy Strayhorn, American composer, pianist and arranger (b. 1915)
- 1970Terry Sawchuk, Canadian hockey player (b. 1929)
- 1972Walter Freeman, American physician (b. 1895)
- 1976Jacques Monod, French biologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
- 1977William Castle, American film director (b. 1914)
- 1978József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925)
- 1983Jack Dempsey, American boxer (b. 1895)
- 1985Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer (b. 1921)
- 1986James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1917)
- 1986Jane Frank (Jane Schenthal Frank), American artist (b. 1918)
- 1987John Abraham (director), Indian film director (b. 1937)
- 1992Walter Neugebauer, Croatian comic book author (b. 1921)
- 1993Francis Lynch, American state legislator (b. 1920)
- 1994Herva Nelli, Italian-born soprano (b. 1909)
- 1996Timothy Leary, American professor and LSD advocate (b. 1920)
- 1997James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (b. 1905)
- 1998Charles Van Acker, Belgian racing driver (b. 1912)
- 2000Johnnie Taylor, American singer (b. 1938)
- 2000Tito Puente, American musician (b. 1923)
- 2001Arlene Francis, American television personality (b. 1907)
- 2004Étienne Roda-Gil, French songwriter and screenwriter (b. 1941)
- 2004Robert Quine, American guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2006Lula Mae Hardaway, American songwriter, mother of singer Stevie Wonder (b. 1930)
- 2006Miguel Berrocal, Spanish sculptor (b. 1933)
- 2006Raymond Davis Jr., American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
- 2006Ryan Bennett, American sportscaster (b. 1970)
- 2009Danny La Rue, British entertainer (b. 1927)
- 2009George Tiller, American abortion doctor (b. 1941)
- 2009Millvina Dean, British survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking (b. 1912)
- 2010Benjamin Lees, American composer (b. 1924)
- 2010Brian Duffy, British photographer and film producer (b. 1933)
- 2010Louise Bourgeois, French-born American sculptor (b. 1911)
- 2010Merata Mita, New Zealander filmmaker (b. 1942)
- 2010Rubén Juárez, Argentine bandoneonist (b. 1947)
- 2010William A. Fraker, American cinematographer (b. 1923)
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