May 24

### Up to 1900

- 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre, in present-day Israel, for Egypt.
- 1276 – Magnus Ladulas is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
- 1487 – 10-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, with the name Edward VI, in a bid to threaten the reign of King Henry VII of England.
- 1595 – The Nomenclator of Leiden University Library in the Netherlands appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
- 1607 – 100 English settlers leave for Jamestown, Virginia.
- 1621 – The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.
- 1626 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
- 1667 – The French Royal Army crosses the border into the then-Spanish Netherlands, starting the War of Devolution opposing France to the Spanish Empire and the Triple Alliance.
- 1689 – The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration, protecting Protestants, with Roman Catholics intentionally excluded.
- 1738 – John Wesley is converted, establishing the Methodist Movement.
- 1798 – The Irish Rebellion of 1798 against British rule begins.
- 1813 – Simon Bolivar enters Mérida, Venezuela.
- 1819 – Queen Victoria is born at Kensington Palace in London. At the time of her birth, she is not expected to become Queen.
- 1822 – The Battle of Pichincha in Ecuador: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.
- 1830 – _Mary had a Little Lamb_ by Sarah Josepha Hale is published.
- 1832 – The first Kingdom of Greece is declared at the London Conference.
- 1844 – Samuel Morse sends the message _What hath God wrought_ to inaugurate the first telegraph line.
- 1846 – Mexican-American War: Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey.
- 1856 – John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
- 1883 – The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened.
- 1895 – Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1901 – The Caerphilly pit disaster in South Wales kills 78 miners.
- 1913 – Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia marries Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover.
- 1915 – World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- 1921 – In the US, the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti begins.
- 1930 – Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first Woman to fly solo from England to Australia.
- 1935 – In Cincinnati, Ohio the first night game in Major League Baseball is held.
- 1940 – Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
- 1941 – World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German battleship _Bismarck_ sinks the Royal Navy's HMS _Hood_, killing all but three of the sailors on board.
- 1944 – Iceland, then-still under the Danish crown, holds a referendum on its future status, with 97% of voters choosing to become a republic, which is declared on June 17.
- 1950 – The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is proclaimed.
- 1956 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland. It is won by Switzerland's Lys Assia.
- 1958 – United Press International is formed.
- 1960 – The Cordon Caulle volcano in Chile erupts, two days after the strongest-ever measured earthquake struck the area.
- 1962 – The rocket Mercury Atlas 7 is launched by NASA.
- 1963 – United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy meets with author James Baldwin in an unsuccessful attempt at improving race relations.
- 1964 – After the Peru national football team had a goal against the Argentina national football team disallowed, in Lima, a mass panic breaks out, killing 328 people.
- 1967 – Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of Israel's Red Sea coast.
- 1968 – Front de la Libération de Québec separatists bomb the US Consulate in Quebec City.
- 1970 – Drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the northwest of the Soviet Union, now northwest Russia, near the border with Finland.
- 1976 – The London to Washington, DC Concorde service begins.
- 1981 – President of Ecuador Jaime Roldos Aguilera is killed in an aircraft accident, along with his wife and Presidential Committee.
- 1992 – The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-Democracy protests.
- 1992 – Thomas Klestil is elected to replace Kurt Waldheim as President of Austria.
- 1993 – Eritrea becomes independent from Ethiopia.
- 1994 – Four men are convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and sentenced to 240 years each in prison.
- 1999 – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands, indicts Slobodan Milosevic and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo.
- 2000 – Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon, following a 22-year occupation.

### From 2001

- 2001 – 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri reaches the top of Mount Everest.
- 2001 – The Versailles wedding hall disaster in Jerusalem kills 23 people.
- 2002 – Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.
- 2003 – Sertab Erener, representing Turkey, wins the 48th Eurovision Song Contest in Riga, Latvia. In the same competition, the United Kingdom, represented by Jemini, finishes with 0 points for the first time.
- 2004 – North Korea bans mobile phones.
- 2008 – Dima Bilan, representing Russia, wins the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia.
- 2014 – Three people are shot dead at a Jewish Centre in Brussels, Belgium.
- 2014 – For the first time, the UEFA Champions League final is contested by two teams from the same city. In Lisbon, Real Madrid defeat Atlético Madrid 4–1 in extra time.
- 2015 – Andrzej Duda is elected President of Poland.
- 2017 – Taiwan's highest court rules in favour of same-sex marriage.
- 2019 – Taiwan's same-sex marriage law enters into effect, making it the first legalisation of same-sex marriage in Asia.
- 2019 – Theresa May announces her intention to resign as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with her successor to be chosen before the end of July.

### Up to 1900

- 15 BC – Germanicus, Roman general (d. 19 AD)
- 1084 – King David I of Scotland (d. 1153)
- 1494 – Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
- 1522 – John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury (d. 1571)
- 1544 – William Gilbert, English astronomer and philosopher (d. 1603)
- 1671 – Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
- 1686 – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Dutch scientist (d. 1736)
- 1743 – Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary (d. 1793)
- 1751 – Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia (d. 1819)
- 1759 – Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, German composer (d. 1845)
- 1803 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish biologist (d. 1866)
- 1810 – Charles Clark, 24th Governor of Mississippi (d. 1877)
- 1810 – Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
- 1816 – Emanuel Leutze, German painter (d. 1868)
- 1819 – Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland (d. 1901)
- 1821 – Juan Bautista Topete, Spanish admiral and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1885)
- 1830 – Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter (d. 1897)
- 1836 – Joseph Rowntree, British social reformer (d. 1925)
- 1851 – Ramón González Valencia, 29th President of Colombia (d. 1928)
- 1852 – Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, Scottish politician, writer, journalist and adventurer (d. 1936)
- 1854 – John Riley Banister, American lawyer and cowboy (d. 1918)
- 1855 – Arthur Wing Panero, English actor, director and playwright (d. 1934)
- 1856 – Andrew Watson, Guyanese-Scottish footballer (d. 1921)
- 1861 – Gerald Strickland, 4th Prime Minister of Malta and British colonial Governor in Australia (d. 1940)
- 1870 – Jan Christiaan Smuts, Prime minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
- 1874 – Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1878)
- 1875 – Robert Garrett, American athlete (d. 1961)
- 1876 – Maurilio Fossati, Archbishop of Turin (d. 1965)
- 1878 – Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American psychologist and industrial engineer (d. 1972)
- 1879 – H. B. Reese, American candy maker (d. 1956)
- 1886 – Paul Paray, French conductor and composer (d. 1979)
- 1895 – Marcel Janco, Romanian-Israeli artist, writer and architect (d. 1984)
- 1899 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi poet (d. 1976)
- 1899 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d. 1938)
- 1899 – Henri Michaux, French poet (d. 1984)
- 1900 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1984)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1901 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Sylvia Daoust, Canadian sculptor (d. 2004)
- 1903 – Milo Burcham, American pilot (d. 1944)
- 1903 – Wladyslaw Orlicz, Polish mathematician (d. 1990)
- 1905 – Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer (d. 1984)
- 1910 – Jimmy Demaret, American golfer (d. 1983)
- 1911 – Ne Win, Burmese officer and politician (d. 2002)
- 1914 – Lilli Palmer, German actress (d. 1986)
- 1914 – George Tabori, Hungarian-German writer, screenwriter and dramatist (d. 2007)
- 1914 – Giuseppe Valdengo, Italian baritone (d. 2007)
- 1916 – Roden Cutler, Australian diplomat (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Maria Michi, Italian actress (d. 1980)
- 1924 – Mike Bongiorno, Italian-American television presenter (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Aleksander Arulaid, Estonian chess player and engineer (d. 1995)
- 1925 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish entertainer (d. 1994)
- 1925 – Carmine Infantino, American illustrator (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Carlo Annovazzi, Italian footballer (d. 1980)
- 1926 – Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor
- 1928 – Adrian Frutiger, Swiss typeface designer (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Jacobo Zabludovsky, Mexican lawyer and journalist (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Kurt Weber, Polish cinematographer (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Matthew Meselson, American geneticist and molecular biologist
- 1931 – Michael Lonsdale, French actor
- 1932 – Arnold Wesker, British dramatist (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Aharon Lichtenstein, French-Israeli rabbi (d. 2015)
- 1934 – Jane Byrne, 50th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2014)
- 1936 – Harold Budd, American composer and poet
- 1937 – Dick Balharry, Scottish conservationist (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Roger Peterson, American pilot (d. 1959)
- 1938 – Prince Buster, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
- 1940 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian poet (d. 1996)
- 1941 – Bob Dylan, American musician
- 1942 – Ichiro Ozawa, Japanese politician
- 1942 – Hannu Mikkola, Finnish rally driver
- 1942 – Fraser Stoddart, Scottish-American chemist
- 1944 – Susana Baca, Peruvian singer
- 1944 – Patti LaBelle, American singer
- 1945 – Priscilla Presley, American actress and wife of Elvis Presley
- 1945 – Terry Callier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Driss Jetou, former Prime Minister of Morocco
- 1946 – Tansu Ciller, former Prime Minister of Turkey
- 1946 – Irena Szewinska, Polish athlete
- 1946 – Thomas Nordahl, Swedish footballer
- 1947 – Waddy Wachtel, American composer, musician, bandleader and producer
- 1947 – Martin Winterkorn, German businessman
- 1948 – Richard Dembo, French director and screenwriter
- 1949 – Jim Broadbent, British actor
- 1949 – Hubert Birkenmeier, German-American soccer player and coach

### 1951 – 1975

- 1953 – Alfred Molina, British actor
- 1955 – Rosanne Cash, American musician
- 1955 – Philippe Lafontaine, Belgian singer-songwriter
- 1956 – Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin
- 1956 – Larry Blackmon, American singer-songwriter, musician, producer and actor
- 1956 – Dominic Grieve, English politician
- 1957 – Walter Moers, German comic artist and writer
- 1959 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1985)
- 1960 – Guy Fletcher, British musician (Dire Straits)
- 1960 – Kristin Scott Thomas, British actress
- 1961 – Alain Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1962 – Massimo Mauro, Italian footballer
- 1962 – Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican boxer (d. 2012)
- 1964 – Liz McColgan, Scottish athlete
- 1964 – Adrian Moorhouse, English swimmer
- 1964 – Pat Verbeek, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1965 – Jens Becker, German musician
- 1965 – John C. Reilly, American actor, singer, producer and screenwriter
- 1965 – Shinichiro Watanabe, Japanese director, producer and screenwriter
- 1966 – Eric Cantona, French footballer and actor
- 1966 – Ella Guru, American painter and musician
- 1967 – Heavy D, American rapper (d. 2011)
- 1967 – Dana Ashbrook, American actor
- 1967 – Andrey Borodin, Russian economist and businessman
- 1967 – Eric Close, American actor
- 1969 – Richard Lochhead, Scottish politician
- 1969 – Jacob Rees-Mogg, English politician
- 1972 – Greg Berlanti, American director, producer and screenwriter
- 1972 – Jim McIntyre, Scottish footballer and coach
- 1973 – Ruslana, Ukrainian singer
- 1973 – Jill Johnson, Swedish singer
- 1973 – Dermot O'Leary, British television presenter
- 1973 – Vladimir Smicer, Czech footballer
- 1973 – Shirish Kunder, Indian director, producer and screenwriter
- 1974 – Magnus Manske, German biochemist and computer programmer
- 1974 – Masahide Kobayashi, Japanese baseball player
- 1975 – Marc Gagnon, Canadian speed skater
- 1975 – Giannis Goumas, Greek footballer

### From 1976

- 1976 – Alessandro Cortini, Italian musician
- 1976 – Catherine Cox, Australian netball player
- 1978 – Johan Holmqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1978 – Jo Joyner, English actress
- 1978 – Brian Ching, American soccer player
- 1982 – DaMarcus Beasley, American soccer player
- 1982 – Roberto Colautti, Argentine-Israeli footballer
- 1985 – Björgvin Páll Gústavsson, Icelandic handball player
- 1986 – Jordan Metcalfe, English actor
- 1987 – Déborah François, Belgian actress
- 1987 – Fabio Fognini, Italian tennis player
- 1988 – Artem Anisimov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Mohammed Fellah, Norwegian footballer
- 1989 – Adel Taarabt, Moroccan footballer
- 1990 – Yuya Matsushita, Japanese singer and actor
- 1991 – Erika Umeda, Japanese singer
- 1992 – Rachel Victoria, Canadian actress
- 1994 – Cayden Boyd, American actor
- 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
- 1995 – Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein
- 2007 – Maru the cat, famous cat and internet celebrity

### Up to 1900

- 641 – Constantine III, Eastern Roman Emperor (b. 612)
- 1153 – David I of Scotland (b. 1084)
- 1201 – Theobald III, Count of Champagne (b. 1179)
- 1351 – Abu al-Hasan 'Ali, Sultan of Morocco (b. 1297)
- 1377 – Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania (b. 1296)
- 1408 – Taejo of Joseon, ruler of Korea (b. 1335)
- 1543 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer (b. 1473)
- 1612 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1563)
- 1734 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
- 1806 – John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, Scottish field marshal (b. 1723)
- 1848 – Annette von Droste-Huelshoff, German writer and composer (b. 1797)
- 1861 – Elmer G. Ellsworth, American colonel (b. 1837)
- 1876 – Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1843)
- 1879 – William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist and publisher (b. 1805)
- 1881 – Samuel Palmer, English painter (b. 1805)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1901 – Charlotte Mary Yonge, English novelist (b. 1823)
- 1908 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (b. 1821)
- 1909 – Georg von Neumayer, German geophysicist and polar scientist (b. 1826)
- 1919 – Amado Nervo, Mexican poet (b. 1870)
- 1948 – Jacques Feyder, Belgian director and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- 1949 – Alkesey Shchusev, Russian architect (b. 1873)
- 1950 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, British field marshal (b. 1883)
- 1959 – John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- 1960 – Avraham Arnon, Israeli educator (b. 1887)
- 1972 – Ismail Yasin, Egyptian actor (b. 1915)
- 1972 – Asta Nielsen, Danish actress (b. 1881)
- 1974 – Duke Ellington, American jazz musician (b. 1899)
- 1979 – Ernest Bullock, English organist, composer and educator (b. 1890)
- 1981 – Jaime Roldos Aguilera, President of Ecuador (b. 1940)
- 1984 – Vince McMahon, Sr., American wrestling promoter and businessman (b. 1914)
- 1991 – Gene Clark, American singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1944)
- 1992 – Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese racing driver (b. 1965)
- 1993 – Juan Jesus Posadas, Mexican cardinal (b. 1926)
- 1995 – Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)

### From 2001

- 2003 – Rachel Kempson, British actress (b. 1910)
- 2004 – Edward Wagenknecht, American literary critic (b. 1900)
- 2005 – Vivian Liberto, first wife of Johnny Cash (b. 1934)
- 2005 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)
- 2008 – Rob Knox, British actor (b. 1989)
- 2008 – Jimmy McGriff, American jazz musician and bandleader (b. 1936)
- 2010 – Paul Gray, American musician (Slipknot) (b. 1972)
- 2010 – Anneliese Rothenberger, German opera singer (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian movie director, screenwriter and cinematographer (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Antonio Puchades, Spanish footballer (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Ed Shaughnessy, American drummer (b. 1929)
- 2014 – John Vasconcellos, American politician (b. 1932)
- 2015 – Marcus Belgrave, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Tanith Lee, British writer (b. 1947)
- 2015 – Bharat Raj Upreti, Nepalese judge (b. 1950)
- 2016 – Burt Kwouk, Chinese-English actor (b. 1930)
- 2016 – Lewis Fiander, Australian actor (b. 1938)
- 2016 – Buck Kartalian, American actor (b. 1922)
- 2016 – Mell Lazarus, American cartoonist (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Berend Jan Udink, Dutch politician (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Ezekiel Anisi, Papua New Guinean politician (b. 1988)
- 2017 – Juliana Koo, Chinese-American diplomat (b. 1905)
- 2017 – Jared Martin, American actor (b. 1941)
- 2017 – Pierre Seron, Belgian comic book artist (b. 1942)
- 2017 – Denis Johnson, American writer (b. 1949)
- 2017 – Tom Gilbey, British fashion designer (b. 1938)
- 2017 – William Duborgh Jensen, Norwegian fashion designer (b. 1935)
- 2017 – Noel Kinsey, Welsh footballer (b. 1925)
- 2017 – Sonny West, American actor and stunt performer (b. 1937)
- 2018 – Cliff Jackson, English footballer (b. 1941)
- 2018 – Roblimo, American journalist and author (b. 1952)
- 2018 – TotalBiscuit, British gaming critic and commentator (b. 1984)
- 2018 – Gudrun Burwitz, German Nazi militant (b. 1929)
- 2018 – Jerry Maren, American actor (b. 1920)
- 2019 – Murray Gell-Mann, American physicist (b. 1929)

## Observances

- Battle of Pichincha Day (Ecuador)
- Bermuda Day
- Commonwealth Day (Belize)
- Independence Day (Eritrea)
- Aldersgate Day (Methodism)
- National Patriots Day (Quebec)