May 25 is the 145th day of the year (146th in leap years ) in the Gregorian calendar . There are 220 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
567 BC – Servius Tullius , the king of Rome , celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans .
240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet .
1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain , back from the Moors .
1420 – Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ .
1521 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , issues the Edict of Worms , declaring Martin Luther an outlaw .
1644 – Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan pass, letting the Manchus through towards the capital Beijing.
1659 – Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament , beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England .
1738 – A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners .
1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion : Battle of Carlow begins; executions of suspected rebels at Carnew and at Dunlavin Green take place.
1809 – Chuquisaca Revolution : Patriot revolt in Chuquisaca (modern day Sucre ) against the Spanish Empire , sparking the Latin American wars of independence .
1810 – May Revolution : citizens of Buenos Aires expel Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the May week , starting the Argentine War of Independence .
1819 – The Argentine Constitution of 1819 is promulgated .
1833 – The Chilean Constitution of 1833 is promulgated.
1837 – The Rebels of Lower Canada (Quebec ) rebel against the British for freedom .
1865 – In Mobile, Alabama , 300 are killed when an ordnance depot explodes .
1878 – Gilbert and Sullivan 's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.
1895 – The playwright, poet, and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons " and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
1895 – The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as its president .
1914 – The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.
1925 – Scopes Trial : John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Charles Darwin 's theory of evolution in Tennessee.
1926 – Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura , the head of the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic , which is in government-in-exile in Paris.
1935 – Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan .
1936 – The Remington Rand strike , led by the American Federation of Labor , begins.
1938 – Spanish Civil War : The bombing of Alicante takes place, with 313 deaths.
1940 – World War II : The German 2nd Panzer Division captures the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer ; the surrender of the last French and British troops marks the end of the Battle of Boulogne .
1946 – The parliament of Transjordan makes Abdullah I of Jordan their Emir.
1950 – Public transport : Green Hornet disaster. A Chicago Surface Lines streetcar crashes into a fuel truck, killing 33.
1953 – Nuclear testing : At the Nevada Test Site , the United States conduct their first and only nuclear artillery test.
1953 – The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston .
1955 – In the United States, a night-time F5 tornado strikes the small city of Udall, Kansas , killing 80 and injuring 273. It is the deadliest tornado to ever occur in the state and the 23rd deadliest in the U.S.
1955 – First ascent of Kangchenjunga (8,586 m.), the third-highest mountain in the world, by a British expedition led by Charles Evans . Joe Brown and George Band reached the summit on May 25, followed by Norman Hardie and Tony Streather the next day.
1961 – Apollo program : U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of the Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the Moon " before the end of the decade.
1961 – The Bukit Ho Swee Fire , the biggest fire in Singapore history.
1962 – The Old Bay Line , the last overnight steamboat service in the United States, goes out of business.
1963 – In Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , the Organisation of African Unity is established.
1966 – Explorer program : Explorer 32 launches.
1966 – The first prominent dàzìbào during the Cultural Revolution in China is posted at Peking University .
1967 – Celtic F.C. from Glasgow, Scotland, becomes the first ever Northern European team to win the European Cup ; with previous winners being from Spain, Italy and Portugal.
1968 – Gateway Arch Saint Louis Gateway Arch is dedicated.
1973 – HNS Velos , while participating in a NATO exercise and in order to protest against the dictatorship in Greece , anchored at Fiumicino , Italy, refusing to return to Greece.
1977 – Star Wars is released in theaters.
1977 – Chinese government removes a decade old ban on William Shakespeare 's work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966.
1979 – American Airlines Flight 191 : In Chicago, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport killing all 271 on board and two people on the ground.
1979 – Etan Patz , who is six years old, disappears from the street just two blocks away from his home in New York City, prompting an international search for the child, and causing the U.S. President Ronald Reagan to designate May 25 as National Missing Children's Day (in 1983).
1981 – In Riyadh , the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates .
1982 – HMS Coventry is sunk during the Falklands War .
1985 – Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge , which kills approximately 10,000 people.
1986 – Hands Across America takes place.
1997 – A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah .
1999 – The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report which details the People's Republic of China's nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.
2000 – Liberation Day of Lebanon . Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978 .
2001 – Erik Weihenmayer , 32 years old, of Boulder, Colorado , becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest .
2002 – China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait . All 225 people on board are killed.
2008 – NASA 's Phoenix lander lands in Green Valley region of Mars to search for environments suitable for water and microbial life .
2009 – North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device . Following the nuclear test, Pyongyang also conducted several missile tests building tensions in the international community.
2011 – Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her twenty-five-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show .
2012 – The Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous with the International Space Station .
2013 – Suspected Maoist rebels kill at least 28 people and injure 32 others in an attack on a convoy of Indian National Congress politicians in Chhattisgarh , India.
2013 – A gas cylinder explodes on a school bus in the Pakistani city of Gujrat , killing at least 18 people.
Births
1048 – Emperor Shenzong of Song (d. 1085)
1334 – Emperor Sukō of Japan (d. 1398)
1458 – Mahmud Begada , Indian sultan (d. 1511)
1572 – Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1632)
1606 – Charles Garnier , French missionary and saint (d. 1649)
1661 – Claude Buffier , Polish-French historian and philosopher (d. 1737)
1713 – John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute , Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)
1725 – Samuel Ward , American politician, 31st Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island (d. 1776)
1749 – Gregorio Funes , Argentinian priest, historian, and academic (d. 1829)
1783 – Philip Pendleton Barbour , American farmer and politician, 12th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1841)
1791 – Minh Mạng , Vietnamese emperor (d. 1841)
1803 – Edward Bulwer-Lytton , English author, playwright, and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1873)
1803 – Ralph Waldo Emerson , American poet and philosopher (d. 1882)
1818 – Jacob Burckhardt , Swiss historian and academic (d. 1897)
1818 – Louise de Broglie, Countess d'Haussonville , French essayist and biographer (d. 1882)
1830 – Trebor Mai (né Robert Williams) , Welsh poet (d. 1877)
1845 – Lip Pike , American baseball player and manager (d. 1893)
1846 – Naim Frashëri , Albanian-Turkish poet and translator (d. 1900)
1846 – Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (d. 1923)
1848 – Johann Baptist Singenberger , Swiss composer, educator, and publisher (d. 1924)
1852 – William Muldoon , American wrestler and trainer (d. 1933)
1856 – Louis Franchet d'Espèrey , Algerian-French general (d. 1942)
1860 – James McKeen Cattell , American psychologist and academic (d. 1944)
1865 – John Mott , American evangelist and saint, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
1865 – Pieter Zeeman , Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
1867 – Anders Peter Nielsen , Danish target shooter (d. 1950)
1869 – Mathilde Verne , English pianist and educator (d. 1936)
1877 – Billy Murray , American singer and actor (d. 1954)
1878 – Bill Robinson , American actor and dancer (d. 1949)
1879 – Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook , Canadian-English businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 1964)
1879 – William Stickney , American golfer (d. 1944)
1880 – Jean Alexandre Barré , French neurologist and academic (d. 1967)
1882 – Marie Doro , American actress (d. 1956)
1883 – Carl Johan Lind , Swedish hammer thrower (d. 1965)
1886 – Rash Behari Bose , Indian soldier and activist (d. 1945)
1886 – Philip Murray , Scottish-American miner and labor leader (d. 1952)
1887 – Pio of Pietrelcina , Italian priest and saint (d. 1968)
1888 – Miles Malleson , English actor and screenwriter (d. 1969)
1889 – Günther Lütjens , German admiral (d. 1941)
1889 – Igor Sikorsky , Russian-American aircraft designer, founded Sikorsky Aircraft (d. 1972)
1897 – Gene Tunney , American boxer and soldier (d. 1978)
1898 – Bennett Cerf , American publisher, co-founded Random House (d. 1971)
1899 – Kazi Nazrul Islam , Bengali poet, author, and flute player (d. 1976)
1900 – Alain Grandbois , Canadian poet and author (d. 1975)
1903 – Binnie Barnes , English-American actress and singer (d. 1998)
1907 – U Nu , Burmese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Burma (d. 1995)
1908 – Theodore Roethke , American poet and academic (d. 1963)
1909 – Alfred Kubel , German politician, 5th Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (d. 1999)
1909 – Marie Menken , American actress, director, and painter (d. 1970)
1912 – Princess Deokhye of Korea (d. 1989)
1912 – Dean Rockwell , American commander, wrestler, and coach (d. 2005)
1913 – Heinrich Bär , German colonel and pilot (d. 1957)
1913 – Richard Dimbleby , English journalist and producer (d. 1965)
1916 – Brian Dickson , Canadian captain, lawyer, and politician, 15th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1998)
1916 – Giuseppe Tosi , Italian discus thrower (d. 1981)
1917 – Steve Cochran , American actor (d. 1965)
1917 – Theodore Hesburgh , American priest, theologian, and academic (d. 2015)
1920 – Archduchess Dorothea of Austria (d. 2015)
1920 – Arthur Wint , Jamaican runner and diplomat (d. 1992)
1921 – Hal David , American songwriter and composer (d. 2012)
1921 – Kitty Kallen , American singer and actress (d. 2016)
1921 – Jack Steinberger , German-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1922 – Enrico Berlinguer , Italian politician (d. 1984)
1924 – István Nyers , French-Hungarian footballer (d. 2005)
1925 – Rosario Castellanos , Mexican poet and author (d. 1974)
1925 – Jeanne Crain , American actress and singer (d. 2003)
1925 – Eldon Griffiths , English journalist and politician (d. 2014)
1925 – Don Liddle , American baseball player (d. 2000)
1926 – Claude Akins , American actor (d. 1994)
1926 – William Bowyer , English painter and academic (d. 2015)
1926 – Phyllis Gotlieb , Canadian author and poet (d. 2009)
1926 – David Wynne , English sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
1927 – Robert Ludlum , American soldier and author (d. 2001)
1927 – Norman Petty , American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 1984)
1929 – Warren Frost , American actor
1929 – Ann Robinson , American actress
1929 – Beverly Sills , American soprano and actress (d. 2007)
1931 – Herb Gray , Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2014)
1931 – Georgy Grechko , Russian engineer and astronaut
1931 – Aili Jõgi , Estonian activist
1931 – Irwin Winkler , American director and producer
1932 – Roger Bowen , American actor and author (d. 1996)
1932 – John Gregory Dunne , American author, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2003)
1932 – K. C. Jones , American basketball player and coach
1932 – Steve Rossi , American comedian and actor (d. 2014)
1933 – Romuald Klim , Belarusian hammer thrower (d. 2011)
1933 – Sarah Marshall , English-American actress (d. 2014)
1933 – Basdeo Panday , Trinidadian lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
1933 – Ray Spencer , English footballer
1933 – Jógvan Sundstein , Faroese accountant and politician, 7th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1935 – John Ffowcs Williams , Welsh engineer and academic
1935 – Cookie Gilchrist , American football player (d. 2011)
1935 – W. P. Kinsella , Canadian author and poet
1935 – Victoria Shaw , Australian-American actress (d. 1988)
1936 – Tom T. Hall , American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1936 – Rusi Surti , Indian cricketer (d. 2013)
1937 – Tom Phillips , English painter and academic
1938 – Raymond Carver , American author and poet (d. 1988)
1938 – Margaret Forster , English historian, author, and critic (d. 2016)
1938 – Malcolm Innes of Edingight
1938 – Geoffrey Robinson , English businessman and politician
1939 – Dixie Carter , American actress and singer (d. 2010)
1939 – Ian McKellen , English actor and screenwriter
1940 – Nobuyoshi Araki , Japanese photographer
1941 – Vladimir Voronin , Moldovan economist and politician, 3rd President of Moldova
1943 – Jessi Colter , American singer-songwriter and pianist
1943 – John Palmer , English keyboard player (Family , Eclection , and Blossom Toes )
1943 – Leslie Uggams , American actress and singer
1944 – Digby Anderson , English journalist and philosopher
1944 – Pierre Bachelet , French singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
1944 – John Bunnell , American police officer, television host, and actor
1944 – Charlie Harper , English singer-songwriter and producer (U.K. Subs )
1944 – Robert MacPherson , American mathematician and academic
1944 – Frank Oz , English-American puppeteer, voice actor, and director
1946 – Bill Adam , Scottish-Canadian race car driver
1946 – David A. Hargrave , American game designer, created Arduin (d. 1988)
1947 – Mitch Margo , American singer-songwriter and producer (The Tokens )
1947 – Karen Valentine , American actress
1947 – Catherine G. Wolf , American psychologist and computer scientist
1948 – Bülent Arınç , Turkish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
1948 – Marianne Elliott , Northern Irish historian, author, and academic
1948 – Klaus Meine , German singer-songwriter and guitarist (Scorpions )
1949 – Jamaica Kincaid , Antiguan-American novelist and essayist
1949 – Barry Windsor-Smith , English painter and illustrator
1951 – Bob Gale , American director, producer, and screenwriter
1952 – Jeffrey Bewkes , American businessman
1952 – Nick Fotiu , American ice hockey player and coach
1952 – David Jenkins , Trinidadian-Scottish runner
1952 – Al Sarrantonio , American author and publisher
1952 – Gordon H. Smith , American businessman and politician
1953 – Eve Ensler , American playwright and producer
1953 – Daniel Passarella , Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager
1953 – Stan Sakai , Japanese-American author and illustrator
1954 – Murali , Indian actor, producer, and politician (d. 2009)
1955 – Alistair Burt , English lawyer and politician
1955 – Connie Sellecca , American model, actress, and producer
1956 – Stavros Arnaoutakis , Greek politician
1956 – Tatsutoshi Goto , Japanese wrestler
1956 – Sugar Minott , Jamaican singer and producer (d. 2010)
1956 – David P. Sartor , American composer and conductor
1957 – Alastair Campbell , English journalist and author
1957 – Edward Lee , American author
1957 – Robert Picard , Canadian ice hockey player
1957 – Hillary B. Smith , American actress and producer
1958 – Katerina Batzeli , Greek politician
1958 – Zahida Manzoor , English businesswoman
1958 – Paul Weller , English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Jam and The Style Council )
1959 – Julian Clary , English comedian, actor, and author
1959 – Manolis Kefalogiannis , Greek politician
1959 – Rick Wamsley , Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – Amy Klobuchar , American lawyer and politician
1960 – Anthea Turner , English journalist and television host
1962 – Ric Nattress , Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1963 – George Hickenlooper , American director and producer (d. 2010)
1963 – Mike Myers , Canadian-American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter
1963 – Eha Rünne , Estonian shot putter and discus thrower
1964 – Ivan Bella , Slovak colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1964 – David Shaw , Canadian-American ice hockey player
1964 – Ray Stevenson , Northern Irish actor
1965 – Yahya Jammeh , Gambian colonel and politician, President of the Gambia
1966 – Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands
1967 – Poppy Z. Brite , American author
1967 – Mark Rosewater , American screenwriter and illustrator
1968 – Kendall Gill , American basketball player, boxer, and sportscaster
1969 – Glen Drover , Canadian guitarist and songwriter (Megadeth , Eidolon , and King Diamond )
1969 – Anne Heche , American actress, director, and screenwriter
1969 – Stacy London , American journalist and author
1970 – Sandra Dopfer , Austrian tennis player
1970 – Joey Eischen , American baseball player and coach
1970 – Jamie Kennedy , American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1970 – Octavia Spencer , American actress
1970 – Satsuki Yukino , Japanese voice actress and singer
1971 – Stefano Baldini , Italian runner
1971 – Marco Cappato , Italian politician
1971 – Justin Henry , American actor
1972 – Karan Johar , Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1973 – Daz Dillinger , American rapper and producer (Tha Dogg Pound )
1973 – Al-Saadi Gaddafi , Libyan footballer
1973 – Demetri Martin , American actor and comedian
1973 – Molly Sims , American model and actress
1974 – Dougie Freedman , Scottish footballer and manager
1974 – Frank Klepacki , American drummer and composer (Home Cookin' and I Am )
1974 – Miguel Tejada , Dominican-American baseball player
1975 – Blaise Nkufo , Congolese-Swiss footballer
1976 – Tarik Glenn , American football player
1976 – Stefan Holm , Swedish high jumper
1976 – Cillian Murphy , Irish actor
1976 – Sandra Nasić , German singer (Guano Apes )
1976 – Erki Pütsep , Estonian cyclist
1976 – Marcelo José da Silva , Brazilian footballer
1976 – Ethan Suplee , American actor
1976 – Miguel Zepeda , Mexican footballer
1977 – Karthi , Indian actor and singer
1977 – Andre Anis , Estonian footballer
1977 – Alberto Del Rio , Mexican-American mixed martial artist and wrestler
1978 – Brian Urlacher , American football player
1979 – Carlos Bocanegra , American soccer player
1979 – Sayed Moawad , Egyptian footballer
1979 – Caroline Ouellette , Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1979 – Sam Sodje , English-Nigerian footballer
1979 – Jonny Wilkinson , English rugby player
1980 – Joe King , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Fray )
1980 – David Navarro , Spanish footballer
1981 – Michalis Pelekanos , Greek basketball player
1982 – Adam Boyd , English footballer
1982 – Daniel Braaten , Norwegian footballer
1982 – Ryan Gallant , American skateboarder
1982 – Roger Guerreiro , Polish footballer
1982 – Justin Hodges , Australian rugby player
1982 – Ezekiel Kemboi , Kenyan runner
1982 – Jason Kubel , American baseball player
1982 – Stacey Pensgen , American figure skater and meteorologist
1982 – Luke Webster , Australian footballer
1983 – Tiago Cardoso Fonseca Brazilian footballer
1983 – Aleksandr Petrov , Estonian ice hockey player
1984 – Luke Ball , Australian footballer
1984 – Kyle Brodziak , Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – A. J. Foyt IV , American race car driver
1984 – Shawne Merriman , American football player
1984 – Marion Raven , Norwegian singer-songwriter and actress (M2M )
1984 – Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir , Icelandic model and actress, Miss World 2005
1985 – Luciana Abreu , Portuguese singer and actress (2B )
1985 – Demba Ba , French footballer
1985 – Gert Kams , Estonian footballer
1985 – Tuğba Daşdemir Kocaağa , Turkish skier and coach
1985 – Roman Reigns , American football player and wrestler
1986 – Edewin Fanini , Brazilian footballer
1986 – Yoan Gouffran , French footballer
1986 – Neon Hitch , English singer-songwriter
1986 – Takahiro Hōjō , Japanese actor and musician
1986 – Geraint Thomas , Welsh cyclist
1986 – Juri Ueno , Japanese actress
1987 – Timothy Derijck , Belgian footballer
1987 – Yves De Winter , Belgian footballer
1987 – Moritz Stehling , German footballer
1987 – Daisuke Ueda , Japanese model
1988 – Elle Fowler , American blogger
1988 – Dávid Škutka , Slovak footballer
1988 – Cameron van der Burgh , South African swimmer
1989 – Karel Tammjärv , Estonian skier
1990 – Bo Dallas , American wrestler
1990 – Nikita Filatov , Russian ice hockey player
1991 – Jillian Wheeler , American singer-songwriter and actress
1993 – James Porter , English cricketer
1994 – Aly Raisman , American gymnast
Deaths
615 – Pope Boniface IV (b. 550)
675 – Li Hong , Chinese prince (b. 652)
709 – Aldhelm , English-Latin bishop, poet, and scholar (b. 639)
992 – Mieszko I of Poland (b. 935)
1085 – Pope Gregory VII (b. 1020)
1261 – Pope Alexander IV (b. 1185)
1452 – John Stafford , English archbishop and politician
1555 – Gemma Frisius , Dutch physician, mathematician, and cartographer (b. 1508)
1555 – Henry II of Navarre (b. 1503)
1595 – Valens Acidalius , German poet and critic (b. 1567)
1595 – Philip Neri , Italian priest and saint (b. 1515)
1632 – Adam Tanner , Austrian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1572)
1667 – Gustaf Bonde , Finnish-Swedish politician, 5th Lord High Treasurer of Sweden (b. 1620)
1681 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca , Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1600)
1693 – Madame de La Fayette , French author (b. 1634)
1741 – Daniel Ernst Jablonski , German bishop and theologian (b. 1660)
1786 – Peter III of Portugal (b. 1717)
1789 – Anders Dahl , Swedish botanist and physician (b. 1751)
1797 – John Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden , English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (b. 1719)
1805 – William Paley , English priest and philosopher (b. 1743)
1848 – Annette von Droste-Hülshoff , German author and composer (b. 1797)
1849 – Benjamin D'Urban , English general and politician, Governor of British Guiana (b. 1777)
1895 – Ahmed Cevdet Pasha , Ottoman sociologist, historian, and jurist (b. 1822)
1899 – Rosa Bonheur , French painter and sculptor (b. 1822)
1912 – Austin Lane Crothers , American educator and politician, 46th Governor of Maryland (b. 1860)
1917 – Maksim Bahdanovič , Belarusian poet and critic (b. 1891)
1919 – Eliza Pollock , American archer (b. 1840)
1919 – Madam C. J. Walker , American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company (b. 1867)
1924 – Lyubov Popova , Russian painter and illustrator (b. 1889)
1926 – Symon Petliura , Ukrainian journalist and politician (b. 1879)
1927 – Payne Whitney , American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1876)
1930 – Randall Davidson , Scottish-English archbishop (b. 1848)
1934 – Gustav Holst , English trombonist, composer, and educator (b. 1874)
1937 – Henry Ossawa Tanner , American-French painter and illustrator (b. 1859)
1939 – Frank Watson Dyson , English astronomer and academic (b. 1868)
1940 – Joe De Grasse , Canadian-American actor and director (b. 1873)
1942 – Emanuel Feuermann , Ukrainian-American cellist and educator (b. 1902)
1943 – Nils von Dardel , Swedish painter (b. 1888)
1946 – Marcel Petiot , French physician (b. 1897)
1948 – Witold Pilecki , Polish officer and Resistance leader (b. 1901)
1951 – Paula von Preradović , Croatian poet and author (b. 1887)
1954 – Robert Capa , Hungarian photographer and journalist (b. 1913)
1957 – Leo Goodwin , American swimmer, diver, and water polo player (b. 1883)
1968 – Georg von Küchler , German field marshal (b. 1881)
1970 – Tom Patey , Scottish mountaineer and author (b. 1932)
1977 – Yevgenia Ginzburg , Russian author (b. 1904)
1979 – Itzhak Bentov , Czech-Israeli engineer, mystic, and author (b. 1923)
1979 – Amédée Gordini , Italian-born French racing driver and sports car manufacturer (b. 1899)
1979 – John Spenkelink , American murderer (b. 1949)
1981 – Ruby Payne-Scott , Australian physicist and astronomer (b. 1912)
1981 – Fredric Warburg , English author and publisher (b. 1898)
1983 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek , Turkish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1904)
1983 – Idris of Libya (b. 1889)
1983 – Jean Rougeau , Canadian wrestler and manager (b. 1925)
1983 – Jack Stewart , Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1917)
1986 – Chester Bowles , American journalist and politician, 22nd Under Secretary of State (b. 1901)
1990 – Vic Tayback , American actor (b. 1930)
1993 – Buddhadasa , Thai monk and philosopher (b. 1906)
1995 – Élie Bayol , French race car driver (b. 1914)
1995 – Krešimir Ćosić , Croatian basketball player and coach, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer 1996 (b. 1948)
1995 – Dany Robin , French actress and singer (b. 1927)
1996 – Renzo De Felice , Italian historian and author (b. 1929)
1996 – Bradley Nowell , American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Sublime ) (b. 1968)
2000 – Nicholas Clay , English actor (b. 1946)
2001 – Alberto Korda , Cuban photographer (b. 1928)
2002 – Pat Coombs , English actress (b. 1926)
2003 – Jeremy Michael Ward , American singer and guitarist (The Mars Volta and De Facto ) (b. 1976)
2003 – Sloan Wilson , American author and poet (b. 1920)
2004 – Roger Williams Straus, Jr. , American publisher, co-founded Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishing Company (b. 1917)
2005 – Sunil Dutt , Indian actor, director, producer, and politician (b. 1929)
2005 – Robert Jankel , English businessman, founded Panther Westwinds (b. 1938)
2005 – Graham Kennedy , Australian actor and game show host (b. 1934)
2005 – Zoran Mušič , Slovene painter and illustrator (b. 1909)
2006 – Desmond Dekker , Jamaican-English singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
2007 – Laurie Bartram , American actress and dancer (b. 1958)
2007 – Charles Nelson Reilly , American actor, singer, and director (b. 1931)
2008 – J. R. Simplot , American businessman, founded Simplot (b. 1909)
2008 – Camu Tao , American rapper and producer (The Weathermen ) (b. 1977)
2009 – Haakon Lie , Norwegian politician (b. 1905)
2010 – Alexander Belostenny , Ukrainian basketball player (b. 1959)
2010 – Michael H. Jordan , American businessman (b. 1936)
2010 – Alan Hickinbotham , Australian footballer and coach (b. 1925)
2010 – Siphiwo Ntshebe , South African tenor (b. 1975)
2010 – Gabriel Vargas , Mexican painter and illustrator (b. 1915)
2010 – Jarvis Williams , American football player and coach (b. 1965)
2011 – Terry Jenner , Australian cricketer and coach (b. 1944)
2012 – R. Dilip , Indian actor (b. 1955)
2012 – William Hanley , American author and screenwriter (b. 1931)
2012 – Edoardo Mangiarotti , Italian fencer (b. 1919)
2012 – Peter D. Sieruta , American author and critic (b. 1958)
2012 – Beatrice Sparks , American therapist and author (b. 1917)
2012 – Lou Watson , American basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
2013 – Tyrone Brunson , American singer (b. 1956)
2013 – Gene Burns , American radio host (b. 1940)
2013 – Mahendra Karma , Indian politician (b. 1950)
2013 – Marshall Lytle , American bass player and songwriter (Bill Haley & His Comets and The Jodimars ) (b. 1933)
2013 – Nand Kumar Patel , Indian politician (b. 1953)
2013 – T. M. Soundararajan , Indian singer and actor (b. 1922)
2014 – David Allen , English cricketer (b. 1935)
2014 – Bertha Gilkey , American activist (b. 1949)
2014 – Wojciech Jaruzelski , Polish general and politician, 1st President of Poland (b. 1923)
2014 – Herb Jeffries , American singer and actor (b. 1913)
2014 – Toaripi Lauti , Tuvaluan educator and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Tuvalu (b. 1928)
2014 – Matthew Saad Muhammad , American boxer and trainer (b. 1954)
2014 – Malcolm Simmons , English motorcycle racer (b. 1946)
2014 – Bunny Yeager , American model and photographer (b. 1929)
2015 – George Braden , Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of the Northwest Territories (b. 1949)
2015 – Mary Ellen Mark , American photographer and journalist (b. 1940)
2015 – John M. Murphy , American soldier and politician (b. 1926)
2015 – Bill O'Herlihy , Irish sportscaster (b. 1938)
2015 – Wallace Sampson , American physician and critic (b. 1930)
Holidays and observances
Africa Day (African Union )
African Liberation Day (African Union )
Christian feast day :
Day of Youth , celebrated on Josip Broz Tito 's birthday (the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia )
Earliest day on which Arbor Day can fall, celebrated on the last Sunday in May (Venezuela )
Earliest day on which Children's Day can fall, celebrated on the last Sunday in May (Hungary)
Earliest day on which Memorial Day can fall, celebrated on the last Monday in May (United States)
Earliest day on which Mother's Day can fall, celebrated on the last Sunday in May (Algeria, Dominican Republic, France (First Sunday of June, if Pentecost occurs on this day), Haiti, Mauritius, Morocco, Sweden, Tunisia)
Earliest day on which Turkmen Carpet Day can fall, celebrated on the last Sunday in May (Turkmenistan )
First National Government / National Day (Argentina)
Geek Pride Day (geek culture)
Independence Day (Jordan) , celebrates the independence of Jordan from the United Kingdom in 1946
International Missing Children's Day
Last bell (Russia, post-Soviet countries)
Liberation Day (Lebanon)
National Missing Children's Day (United States)
National Tap Dance Day (United States)
Towel Day in honour of the work of the writer Douglas Adams
External links
Months and days of the year
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December