What are the important events that happened on May 31? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
May 31: Facts & Myths About This Day
May 31 is the 152nd day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 214 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 18, 2024 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,717,113,600 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectapentacontadigon’ day.
Gemini is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Emerald is the modern birthstone for this month. Sapphire is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 243 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,179 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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May 31 Historical Events
- 1279 BC –Rameses II (The Great) (19th dynasty) becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
- 1866 –In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O'Neill leads 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to free Ireland from the United Kingdom. Canadian militia and British regulars repulse the invaders in over the next three days, at a cost of 9 dead and 38 wounded to the Fenian’s 19 dead and about 17 wounded.
- 1884 –Arrival at Plymouth of Tawhiao, King of Maoris, to claim protection of Queen Victoria
- 1889 –Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam break sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
- 1924 –The Soviet Union signs an agreement with the Peking government, referring to Outer Mongolia as an “integral part of the Republic of China”, whose “sovereignty” therein the Soviet Union promises to respect.
- 1962 –The West Indies Federation dissolves.
- 1977 –The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System completed.
- 1981 –Burning of Jaffna library, Sri Lanka, It is one of the violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the twentieth century.
- 1985 –1985 United States-Canadian tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.
- 2009 –Anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder shoots and kills physician George Tiller during church services in Wichita, Kansas.
Who were born on May 31?
- 1943 –Joe Namath, American football player
- 1948 –Lynda Bellingham, Canadian-born English actress and broadcaster
- 1955 –Susie Essman, American actress
- 1974 –Sean Kent, American stand-up comedian, actor and writer
- 1975 –Yiasoumis Yiasoumi, Greek-Cypriot footballer
- 1977 –Greg Leeb, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 –Scott Klopfenstein, American musician (Reel Big Fish)
- 1981 –Tasha Reid, Korean rapper
- 1982 –Jonathan Tucker, American actor
- 1984 –Nate Robinson, American basketball player
Who died on May 31?
- 1495 –Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (b. 1415)
- 1831 –Samuel Bentham, British mechanical engineer (b. 1757)
- 1837 –Joseph Grimaldi, British clown (b. 1779)
- 1908 –Louis-Honoré Fréchette, French Canadian poet (b. 1839)
- 1931 –Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, French Canadian cardinal (b. 1866)
- 1961 –Walter Little, Canadian politician (b. 1877)
- 1972 –Walter Freeman, American physician (b. 1895)
- 1986 –James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1917)
- 2000 –Tito Puente, American musician (b. 1923)
- 2004 –Robert Quine, American guitarist (b. 1941)
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