May 23

Historic Events

2022

Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party is sworn in as the 31st Prime Minister of Australia after winning the 2022 Australian federal election, ending 9 years of conservative rule. ›

2021

A cable car falls from a mountain near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, killing 14 people. ›

2021

Ryanair Flight 4978 is forced to land by Belarusian authorities to detain dissident journalist Roman Protasevich. ›

2017

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declares martial law in Mindanao, following the Maute's attack in Marawi. ›

2016

Two suicide bombings, conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, kill at least 45 potential army recruits in Aden, Yemen. ›

2016

Eight bombings are carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Jableh and Tartus, coastline cities in Syria. One hundred eighty-four people are killed and at least 200 people injured. ›

2015

At least 30 people are killed as a result of floods and tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma, and northern Mexico. ›

2014

Seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed and another 14 injured in a killing spree near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara. ›

2013

A freeway bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Skagit River collapses in Mount Vernon, Washington. ›

2008

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries. ›

2006

Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts. ›

2002

The "55 parties" clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland. ›

1998

The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with roughly 75% voting yes. ›

1995

The first version of the Java programming language is released. ›

1992

Italy's most prominent anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife and three body guards are killed by the Corleonesi clan with a half-ton bomb near Capaci, Sicily. His friend and colleague Paolo Borsellino will be assassinated less than two months later, making 1992 a turning point in the history of Italian Mafia prosecutions. ›

1991

Aeroflot Flight 8556 crashes at Pulkovo Airport, killing 13. ›

1980

The Shining, the psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, is premiered on 10 screens in New York City and Los Angeles on the Memorial Day weekend. ›

1978

A Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near the Russian town of Yegoryevsk, killing two. ›

1971

Seventy-eight people are killed when Aviogenex Flight 130 crashes on approach to Rijeka Airport in present-day Rijeka, Croatia (then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). ›

1971

The Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest opens, becoming the second-tallest building in the city. ›

1960

A tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile the previous day kills 61 people in Hilo, Hawaii. ›

1951

Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement with China. ›

1949

Cold War: The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish a new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany. ›

1948

Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel. ›

1946

The start of a two-day tornado outbreak across the Central United States that spawned at least 15 significant tornadoes. ›

1945

World War II: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody. ›

1945

World War II: Germany's Flensburg Government under Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are arrested by British forces. ›

1941

World War II: German paratroopers start a series of mass executions of Greek civilians in Missiria for their participation in the ongoing Battle of Crete. ›

1939

The U.S. Navy submarine USS Squalus sinks off the coast of New Hampshire during a test dive, causing the death of 24 sailors and two civilian technicians. The remaining 32 sailors and one civilian naval architect are rescued the following day. ›

1934

American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. ›

1934

The Auto-Lite strike culminates in the "Battle of Toledo", a five-day melée between 1,300 troops of the Ohio National Guard and 6,000 picketers. ›

1932

In Brazil, four students are shot and killed during a manifestation against the Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas, which resulted in the outbreak of the Constitutionalist Revolution several weeks later. ›

1919

Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji, a Kurdish sheikh and at-the-time governor of the Slêmanî Province of British Iraq, initiates the first Mahmud Barzanji revolt. ›

1915

World War I: Italy joins the Allies, fulfilling its part of the Treaty of London. ›

1911

The New York Public Library is dedicated. ›

1907

The unicameral Parliament of Finland gathers for its first plenary session. ›

1905

Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, publicly announces the creation of the Ullah millet for the Aromanians of the empire, which had been established one day earlier. For this reason, the Aromanian National Day is usually celebrated on May 23, although some do so on May 22 instead. ›

1900

American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863. ›

1873

The Canadian Parliament establishes the North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. ›

1863

The General German Workers' Association, a precursor of the modern Social Democratic Party of Germany, is founded in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony. ›

1846

Mexican–American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States. ›

1844

Báb: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Baháʼí Faith. ›

1829

Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian in Vienna, Austrian Empire. ›

1793

Battle of Famars during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. ›

1788

South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution. ›

1706

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy at the Battle of Ramillies. ›

1618

The Third Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years' War. ›

1609

Official ratification of the Second Virginia Charter takes place. ›

1568

Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau defeat Jean de Ligne and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years' War. ›

1533

The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void. ›

1498

Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy. ›

1430

Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction. ›

1308

Robert the Bruce, king of Scots, defeats John Comyn, earl of Buchan, decisively in the battle of Inverurie. ›

1040

The Seljuks defeat the Ghaznavids in the battle of Dandanaqan. ›