May 31

Events
Up to 1900
1279 BC - Rameses II (the Great) becomes Pharaoh of Egypt.
455 - Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.
526 - Antioch, Turkey is hit by an earthquake kills 250,000 people.
1578 - Henry II of France lays the first stone of the Point Neuf (New Bridge) in Paris.
1578 - Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England to Frobisher Bay, Canada to mine fool's gold, used to pave the streets in London.
1669 - Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys makes the last entry in his diary.
1740 - Frederick II of Prussia becomes King.
1790 - Alferez Manuel Quimper explores the strait of Juan de Fuca.
1795 - French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.
1813 - In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route crossing the Blue Mountains in New South Wales.
1854 - The civil death procedure is banned in France.
1859 - Big Ben in London, UK starts keeping time.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor.
1884 - John Harvey Kellogg receives a patent for Cornflakes.
1889 - Johnstown flood: A dam break causes a flash flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,000 people.
1890 - In Ulm, southern Germany, Ulm Minster, the city's cathedral, is completed.
1901 2000
1902 - The Second Boer War ends, through the Treaty of Vereeniging, ensuring British control over South Africa.
1906 - An attack on the wedding of King Alfonso XIII of Spain kills more than 20 people.
1910 - The Union of South Africa is formed.
1911 - The hull of the ocean liner RMS Titanic is launched.
1911 - President Porfirio Diaz flees Mexico during the Mexican Revolution.
1916 - World War I: The Battle of Jutland is fought.
1921 - Tulsa, Oklahoma race riot: At least 39 people are killed.
1927 - The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line.
1929 - The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse is released.
1935 - An earthquake in Quetta, Pakistan, kills around 40,000 people.
1941 - World War II: 38 people are killed in an air raid in Dublin.
1942 - World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.
1946 - A magnitude 6 earthquake in Turkey kills around 1,200 people.
1952 - Dwight D. Eisenhower ends his service with the United States Military.
1961 - The Republic of South Africa is founded.
1962 - The West Indies Federation dissolves.
1962 - Nazi official Adolf Eichmann is executed.
1970 - Ancash Earthquake: Southern Peru is hit by a major earthquake. Along with resulting avalanches, it kills 47,000 people. 20,000 people alone are killed in a single avalanche that hit the town of Yungay.
1970 - Brasilia Cathedral, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, is completed.
1970 - The 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico begins.
1971 - Memorial Day in the United States is held on the last Monday in May for the first time, instead of the traditional May 30 date.
1973 - The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets in Cambodia.
1977 - The Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline is completed.
1981 - Burning of the Jaffna Library in Sri Lanka.
1985 - 76 people are killed in a tornado outbreak in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario.
1991 - Civil War political parties in Angola agree on a ceasefire and fire elections.
From 2001
2002 - The 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan begins, where the Senegal national football team beats the France national football team 1-0.
2003 - Aung San Suu Kyi is arrested in Burma.
2005 - Mark Felt is revealed to have been 'Deep Throat', a key figure in the Watergate scandal.
2009 - The last-living survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking, Millvina Dean, dies aged 97.
2010 - Germany's President Horst Koehler resigns from office. Christian Wulff succeeds him over a month later.
2010 - Israeli forces storm the Gaza-bound international flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 9 Turkish activists.
2013 - A series of anti-government protests in Turkey begins in Istanbul.
2013 - Asteroid (285263) 1998 GE-2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.
2013 - A tornado measuring 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) wide hits El Reno, Oklahoma.
2017 - A massive bomb attack in central Kabul kills at least 150 people.
2018 - The discovery of dunes of methane on the dwarf planet Pluto is announced.
2018 - US President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on products from the European Union, Canada and Mexico.
2019 - Virginia Beach shooting: 12 government employees are shot dead by their colleague DeWayne Craddock in Virginia Beach, before he is killed in a shoot-out with police.
Births
Up to 1800
1048 - Omar Khayyam, Persian poet, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher (d. 1131)
1162 - Genghis Khan, Mongol ruler (d. 1227)
1243 - King James II of Majorca (d. 1311)
1443 - Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England (d. 1509)
1469 - King Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
1491 - Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish Jesuit (d. 1556)
1535 - Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (d. 1607)
1557 - Feodor I of Russia (d. 1598)
1577 - Nur Jahan, Mughal Empress (d. 1645)
1613 - John George II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1680)
1640 - Michael of Poland (d. 1673)
1641 - Dositheus, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (d. 1707)
1656 - Marin Marais, French composer and violin player (d. 1728)
1683 - Jean-Pierre Christin, French physicist, mathematician and astronomer (d. 1755)
1744 - Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Irish author and engineer (d. 1817)
1750 - Karl August of Hardenberg, statesman and reformer (d. 1822)
1753 - Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French revolutionary (d. 1793)
1754 - Andrea Appiani, Italian painter (d. 1817)
1773 - Ludwig Tieck, German poet and writer (d. 1853)
1791 - John Brown Francis, Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1864)
1801 1900
1801 - Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist (d. 1887)
1809 - Federico de Roncali, 1st Count of Alcoy, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1857)
1816 - Dimitrie Ghica, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1897)
1817 - Georg Herwegh, German poet (d. 1875)
1817 - Edouard Deldevez, French violinist and conductor (d. 1897)
1818 - John Albion Andrew, 25th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1867)
1819 - Walt Whitman, American poet (d. 1892)
1825 - Domenico Agostini, Italian cardinal (d. 1891)
1838 - Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher (d. 1900)
1852 - Francisco Moreno, Argentine explorer (d. 1919)
1852 - Julius Richard Petri, German bacteriologist (d. 1921)
1857 - Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
1858 - Graham Wallas, English socialist, psychologist and educator (d. 1932)
1860 - Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
1862 - Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (d. 1942)
1863 - Francis Younghusband, English army officer, explorer and writer (d. 1942)
1866 - Vladimir Rebikov, Russian composer (d. 1920)
1872 - Heath Robinson, English cartoonist (d. 1944)
1872 - Charles Greeley Abbot, American astrophysicist (d. 1973)
1882 - Sandor Festetics, Hungarian politician (d. 1956)
1883 - Lauri Kristian Relander, 2nd President of Finland (d. 1942)
1885 - Alois Hudal, Austrian Roman Catholic bishop, helped Nazi war criminals escape (d. 1963)
1887 - Saint-John Perse, French diplomat and poet (d. 1975)
1892 - Michel Kikoine, Belarussian painter (d. 1968)
1892 - Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian writer (d. 1968)
1892 - Gregor Strasser, German politician (d. 1934)
1894 - Fred Allen, American comedian (d. 1956)
1898 - Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, American clergyman (d. 1993)
1899 - Madge Blake, American actress (d. 1969)
1901 1950
1901 - Alfredo Antonini, Italian-American conductor and composer (d. 1983)
1908 - Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
1908 - Nils Poppe, Swedish actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2000)
1909 - Aurore Gagnon, Canadian child abuse victim (d. 1920)
1909 - Art Coulter, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2000)
1911 - Maurice Allais, French economist (d. 2010)
1912 - Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American physicist (d. 1997)
1912 - Alfred Deller, English countertenor (d. 1979)
1914 - Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (d. 2006)
1915 - Carmen Herrera, Cuban-American artist
1916 - Bert Haanstra, Dutch movie and documentary director (d. 1997)
1916 - Bernard Lewis, British-American historian (d. 2018)
1917 - Jean Rouch, French filmmaker and anthropologist (d. 2004)
1921 - Alida Valli, Italian actress (d. 2006)
1921 - Edna Dore, English actress (d. 2014)
1922 - Denholm Elliott, English actor (d. 1992)
1923 - Prince Rainier III of Monaco (d. 2005)
1923 - Ellsworth Kelly, American painter, sculptor and printmaker (d. 2015)
1925 - Frei Otto, German architect (d. 2015)
1926 - Domenico De Simone, Italian politician (d. 2019)
1926 - James Kruss, writer (d. 1997)
1927 - Red Holloway, American musician (d. 2012)
1927 - Joe Robinson, British actor (d. 2017)
1928 - Edouard Molinaro, French actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1929 - Menahem Golan, Israeli director, screenwriter and producer (d. 2014)
1929 - Andreas Meyer-Landrut, German diplomat
1930 - Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, producer
1930 - Elaine Stewart, American actress (d. 2011)
1931 - Shirley Verrett, American soprano (d. 2010)
1931 - John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist
1932 - Jay Miner, American microchip designer (d. 1994)
1933 - Sadashiv Vasantrao Gorakshkar, Indian writer and curator (d. 2019)
1935 - Jim Bolger, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
1938 - Johnny Paycheck, American country music singer (d. 2003)
1938 - John Prescott, former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1938 - Peter Yarrow, American folk singer ("Peter, Paul and Mary")
1939 - Terry Waite, British humanitarian
1939 - Haraldur Sigurdsson, Icelandic volcanologist and geochemist
1940 - Anatoliy Bondarchuk, Ukrainian hammer thrower and coach
1941 - Louis Ignarro, American pharmacologist
1942 - Minos Kyriakou, Greek businessman (d. 2017)
1943 - Sharon Gless, American actress
1943 - Joe Namath, American football star
1945 - Pepe Eliaschev, Argentine journalist and writer (d. 2014)
1945 - Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor and director (d. 1982)
1945 - Laurent Gbagbo, former President of Ivory Coast
1947 - Junior Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter
1948 - Svetlana Alexievich, Belarussian journalist and writer
1948 - John Bonham, English musician, drummer with Led Zeppelin (d. September 25, 1980)
1948 - Lynda Bellingham, English actress and broadcaster (d. 2014)
1948 - Duncan Hunter, American lieutenant, lawyer and politician
1949 - Tom Berenger, American actor
1950 - Gregory Harrison, actor
1951 1975
1952 - Karl Bartos, German musician (Kraftwerk)
1955 - Tommy Emmanuel, Australian guitarist and singer
1955 - Lynne Truss, English author
1956 - Gerd Weber, East German footballer
1959 - Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver (d. 2014)
1960 - Peter Winterbottom, English rugby player
1960 - Chris Elliott, American comedian
1961 - Lea Thompson, American actress
1962 - Corey Hart, Canadian singer-songwriter
1963 - Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary
1963 - Wesley Willis, American musician
1964 - Yukio Edano, Japanese politician
1965 - Brooke Shields, American model and actress
1966 - Roshan Mahamana, Sri Lankan cricketer
1966 - Nick Scotti, American model, actor and singer
1967 - Sandrine Bonnaire, French actress
1972 - Antti Niemi, Finnish footballer
1972 - Frode Estil, Norwegian cross-country skier
1972 - Sarah Murdoch, English-Australian model and actress
1973 - Kate Howey, British judoka
1974 - Chad Campbell, American golfer
1974 - Kenan Dogulu, Turkish singer
1974 - Tristram Hunt, English politician
1975 - Toni Nieminen, Finnish ski jumper
1975 - Antonin Kinsky, Czech footballer
From 1976
1976 - Colin Farrell, Irish actor
1976 - Matt Harping, American basketball player
1976 - Tonka Tomicic, Chilean model and television host
1977 - June Sarpong, British television presenter
1977 - Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
1977 - Katrin Jonsdottir, Icelandic footballer
1977 - Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
1978 - Eric Moussambani, Equatoguinean swimmer
1978 - Robert Rinder, English barrister and television personality
1979 - Jean-Francois Gillet, Belgian footballer
1980 - Andy Hurley, American musician (Fall Out Boy)
1981 - Yoon Mi-rae, American-Korean singer and songwriter
1981 - Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer
1981 - Daniele Bonera, Italian footballer
1981 - Marlies Schild, Austrian skier
1983 - Reggie Yates, British television presenter
1984 - Jason Smith, Australian actor
1984 - Nate Robinson, American basketball player
1984 - Daniela Samulski, German swimmer (d. 2018)
1986 - Sopho Khalvashi, Georgian singer
1988 - Lisa Bund, German singer
1989 - Marco Reus, German footballer
1989 - Pablo Alboran, Spanish singer
1989 - Bas Dost, Dutch footballer
1990 - Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
1991 - Azealia Banks, American rapper, singer and songwriter.
Deaths
Up to 1900
455 - Petronius Maximus, West Roman Emperor
1076 - Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria (b. 1050)
1162 - Geza II of Hungary (b. 1130)
1246 - Isabella of Angouleme, queen of John of England (b. 1188)
1349 - Thomas Wake
1408 - Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Ashikaga shogun (b. 1358)
1495 - Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (b. 1415)
1594 - Tintoretto, Italian painter (b. 1518)
1680 - Joachim Neander, German Calvinist clergyman (b. 1650)
1740 - King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia (b. 1688)
1747 - Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (b. 1686)
1799 - Pierre Lemonnier, French astronomer (b. 1715)
1809 - Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (b. 1732)
1809 - Jean Lannes, French Marshal of Empire (b. 1769)
1831 - Samuel Bentham, mechanical engineer (b. 1757)
1832 - Evariste Galois, French mathematician (b. 1811)
1837 - Joseph Grimaldi, British clown (b. 1779)
1846 - Philip Marheineke, German Protestant divine (b. 1780)
1847 - Thomas Chalmers, Scottish pastor, social reformer, educator, writer, and scientist (b. 1780)
1848 - Eugenie de Guerin, writer (b. 1805)
1881 - Hugh J. Anderson, Governor of Maine (b. 1801)
1887 - Moritz Wagner, German geographer and naturalist (b. 1813)
1899 - Elisha Baxter, Governor of Arkansas (b. 1827)
1901 2000
1908 - Louis-Honore Frechette, Canadian author, poet and politician (b. 1839)
1910 - Elizabeth Blackwell, first female physician in the United States (b. 1821)
1918 - Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist (b. 1836)
1920 - Nasrullah Khan, Emir of Afghanistan
1945 - Odilo Globocnik, Austrian Nazi officer (b. 1904)
1957 - Stefanos Sarafis, Greek Resistance activist (b. 1890)
1957 - Leopold Staff, Polish poet (b. 1878)
1960 - Walther Funk, Nazi leader (b. 1890)
1960 - Willem Elsschot, Flemish writer (b. 1882)
1961 - Walter Little, Canadian politician (b. 1877)
1962 - Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official (b. 1906)
1963 - Edith Hamilton, German-American writer and teacher (b. 1867)
1967 - Billy Strawhorn, American composer, pianist and arranger (b. 1915)
1970 - Terry Sawchuk, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
1976 - Jacques Monod, French biologist (b. 1910)
1977 - William Castle, American director (b. 1914)
1978 - Jozsef Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925)
1981 - Gyula Lorant, Hungarian footballer (b. 1928)
1981 - Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician (b. 1902)
1982 - Carlo Mauri, Italian mountaineer (b. 1930)
1983 - Jack Dempsey, American boxer (b. 1895)
1986 - James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
1986 - Gaston Rebuffat, French mountaineer (b. 1921)
1994 - Herva Nelli, Italian-American soprano (b. 1909)
1996 - Paul Peter Piech, artist (b. 1920)
1996 - Timothy Leary, American LSD advocate (b. 1920)
1999 - Gene Sarazen, American golfer (b. 1902)
2000 - Tito Puente, musician (b. 1923)
2000 - Johnnie Taylor, vocalist (b. 1938)
From 2001
2001 - Arlene Francis, American actress (b. 1907)
2002 - Subhash Gupte, Indian cricketer (b. 1929)
2003 - Francesco Colasuonno, Italian cardinal (b. 1925)
2004 - Robert Quine, guitarist (b. 1942)
2006 - Raymond Davis Jr., American physicist (b. 1914)
2009 - Millvina Dean, last-living RMS Titanic survivor (b. 1912)
2009 - George Tiller, American abortion doctor (b. 1941)
2010 - Louise Bourgeois, French-born sculptor (b. 1911)
2011 - Pauline Betz, American tennis player (b. 1919)
2011 - Andy Robustelli, American football player (b. 1925)
2011 - Ezzatollah Sahabi, Iranian politician (b. 1930)
2013 - Jean Stapleton, American actress (b. 1923)
2013 - Tim Samaras, American storm chaser (b. 1957)
2013 - Paul Samaras, American storm chaser (b. 1988)
2014 - Marilyn Beck, American entertainment journalist (b. 1928)
2014 - Hoss Ellington, American NASCAR driver (b. 1935)
2014 - Martha Hyer, American actress (b. 1924)
2014 - Brajanath Ratha, Indian poet (b. 1936)
2014 - Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, daughter of Winston Churchill (b. 1922)
2014 - Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer (b. 1952)
2015 - Karl Wlaschek, Austrian executive (b. 1917)
2015 - Mario Saliwa, South African cricketer (b. 1984)
2015 - Slim Richey, American guitarist (b. 1938)
2016 - Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (b. 1947)
2016 - Jan Crouch, American televangelist and broadcasting executive (b. 1938)
2016 - Antonio Imbert Barrera, President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1920)
2016 - Carla Lane, English television writer (b. 1928)
2016 - Rupert Neudeck, German journalist and humanitarian (b. 1939)
2016 - David Tod Roy, Chinese translator (b. 1933)
2016 - Corry Brokken, Dutch singer (b. 1932)
2017 - Lubomyr Husar, Ukrainian religious figure (b. 1933)
2017 - Tino Insana, American actor (b. 1948)
2017 - Fred Kummerow, American science professor (b. 1914)
2017 - Bern Nix, American jazz guitarist (b. 1947)
2017 - Jiri Belohlavek, Czech conductor (b. 1946)
2018 - Michael D. Ford, English art director and set decorator (b. 1928)
2018 - Anibal Quijano, Peruvian sociologist (b. 1928)
2019 - Roky Erickson, American singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
Observances
Anti-Tobacco Day
Castile-La Mancha Day
Days of the year