On this day in history

May 23

30 births · 15 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

458

Eighty Years' War

458 years ago

Born this day

1707

Carl Linnaeus

Died aged 70

Photo (modified): Alexander Roslin · Public domain

Oldest record

974th

Philip I of France

birth anniversary

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Famous births30

1052 · 974 yrs

Philip I of France

Philip I (c. 1052 – 29 July 1108), called the Amorous (French: L’Amoureux), was King of the Franks from 1060 to 1108. His reign of nearly 48 years, like that of most of the early Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 56

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1707 · 319 yrs

Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 70

View profile Photo (modified): Alexander Roslin · Public domain

1734 · 292 yrs

Franz Anton Mesmer

Franz Anton Mesmer ( MEZ-mər; German:; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorized the existence of a process of natural energy transference occurring between all animate and inanimate objects; this he called "animal magnetism", later referred to as mesmerism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 80

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · CC BY 4.0

1790 · 236 yrs

Jules Dumont d'Urville

Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (French pronunciation:; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 51

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1803 · 223 yrs

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (25 May 1803 – 18 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Henry William Pickersgill · Public domain

1810 · 216 yrs

Margaret Fuller

Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 40

View profile Photo (modified): Chappel · Public domain

1842 · 184 yrs

Maria Konopnicka

Maria Konopnicka (Polish pronunciation:; née Wasiłowska; 23 May 1842 – 8 October 1910) was a Polish poet, novelist, children's writer, translator, journalist, critic and activist for women's rights and for Polish independence. She used pseudonyms, including Jan Sawa.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 68

View profile Photo (modified): Aleksander Regulski · Public domain

1844 · 182 yrs

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (Persian: عبد البهاء, IPA:;, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás (Persian: عباس, IPA:), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921.

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PhilosophyDied aged 77

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1848 · 178 yrs

Otto Lilienthal

Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (German pronunciation:; 23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making the idea of heavier-than-air aircraft a reality.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

TechnologyDied aged 48

View profile Photo (modified): Photographer: A. Regis · Public domain

1880 · 146 yrs

Alexander Grin

Aleksandr Stepanovich Grinevsky (Russian: Александр Степанович Грине́вский; 23 August 1880 – 8 July 1932), better known by his pen name Alexander Green or Grin (Russian: Александр Грин, romanized: Aleksandr Grin, IPA: ), was a Russian writer, notable for his romantic novels and short stories, mostly set in an unnamed…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 146

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1883 · 143 yrs

Douglas Fairbanks

Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckling roles in silent films.

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FilmWould be 143

View profile Photo (modified): Harris & Ewing · Public domain

1891 · 135 yrs

Pär Lagerkvist

Pär Fabian Lagerkvist (23 May 1891 – 11 July 1974) was a Swedish author who received the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature. Lagerkvist wrote poetry, plays, novels, short stories, and essays of considerable expressive power and influence from his early 20s to his late 70s.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 135

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Showing 12 of 30

Famous deaths15

1125 · 901 yrs

Henry V

Henry V (German: Heinrich V.; probably 11 August 1081 or 1086 – 23 May 1125) was King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ruler by his father, Henry IV, in 1098.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 38

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1498 · 528 yrs

Girolamo Savonarola

Girolamo Savonarola, OP (UK:, US:; Italian:; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498), also referred to as Jerome Savonarola, was an Italian ascetic Dominican friar from Ferrara and a preacher active in Renaissance Florence.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 45

View profile Photo (modified): Fra Bartolomeo · Public domain

1524 · 502 yrs

Ismail I

Ismail I (Persian: اسماعیل یکم, romanized: Ismāʿīl; 17 July 1487 – 23 May 1524) was the founder and first shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1501 until his death in 1524. His reign is one of the most vital in the history of Iran, and the Safavid era is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 36

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1857 · 169 yrs

Augustin-Louis Cauchy

Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy (21 August 1789 – 23 May 1857) was a French mathematician, engineer, and physicist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 67

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1886 · 140 yrs

Leopold von Ranke

Leopold von Ranke (21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of historical documents.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScholarshipDied aged 90

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1906 · 120 yrs

Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Johan Ibsen (Norwegian:; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright. He is considered one of the world's pre-eminent writers of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 78

View profile Photo (modified): Gustav Borgen · Public domain

1936 · 90 yrs

Henri de Régnier

Henri-François-Joseph de Régnier (French pronunciation:; 28 December 1864 – 23 May 1936) was a French symbolist poet, considered one of the most important of France during the early 20th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 71

View profile Photo (modified): Agence de presse Meurisse · Public domain

1937 · 89 yrs

John D. Rockefeller

John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

BusinessDied aged 97

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1945 · 81 yrs

Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (German:; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician, police administrator, and military leader. He was the fourth and longest-serving Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel (Protection Squadron; SS), serving from 1929 to 1945.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 126

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1947 · 79 yrs

Charles Ferdinand Ramuz

Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (24 September 1878 – 23 May 1947) was a French-speaking Swiss writer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 148

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1995 · 31 yrs

Harold Wilson

James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995), was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1976.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 110

View profile Photo (modified): Eric Koch for Anefo · CC0

2009 · 17 yrs

Roh Moo-hyun

Roh Moo-hyun (Korean: 노무현, pronounced; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea from 2003 to 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 80

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Showing 12 of 15

Events5

1568 · 458 yrs

Eighty Years' War

The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (c. 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1592 · 434 yrs

Japanese invasions of Korea

The Imjin War (Korean: 임진왜란; Hanja: 壬辰倭亂) was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596 between the conflicts, followed by a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War (정유재란; 丁酉再亂).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1969 · 57 yrs

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) is an international agreement that regulates treaties among sovereign states. Known as the "treaty on treaties", the VCLT establishes comprehensive, operational guidelines, rules, and procedures for how treaties are drafted, defined, amended, and interpreted.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2019 · 7 yrs

2019 European Parliament election

The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2021 · 5 yrs

Ryanair Flight 4978

Ryanair Flight 4978 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Athens International Airport, Greece, to Vilnius Airport, Lithuania, operated by a Boeing 737-800 owned by Buzz, a Polish subsidiary of the Irish airline Ryanair.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tragedy

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