What happened this day in history May 23

What are the important events that happened on May 23? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

May 23: Facts & Myths About This Day

May 23 is the 143rd day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 222 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 10, 2025 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,747,958,400 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 ‘hectatetracontatrigon’ day.

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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 270 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 4,536 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

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May 23 Historical Events

  • 1568
    The Netherlands declare their independence from Spain.
  • 1701
    After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London.
  • 1788
    South Carolina ratifies the Constitution as the 8th American state.
  • 1805
    Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned King of Italy with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in the Cathedral of Milan.
  • 1915
    World War I: Italy joins the Allies after they declare war on Austria-Hungary.
  • 1945
    World War II: The Flensburg government under Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are captured and arrested by British forces at Flensburg in Northern Germany.
  • 1951
    Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with the People’s Republic of China.
  • 1958
    Explorer 1 ceases transmission.
  • 1990
    Jordan Mack was born.
  • 1995
    The first version of the Java programming language is released.

Who were born on May 23?

  • 1734
    Franz Anton Mesmer, Austrian physician/hypnotist (d. 1815)
  • 1884
    Corrado Gini, Italian sociologist (d. 1965)
  • 1890
    Herbert Marshall, English actor (d. 1966)
  • 1896
    Felix Martin Julius Steiner, German Waffen-SS officer (d. 1966)
  • 1913
    Ruth Fernández, Puerto Rican singer
  • 1928
    Pauline Julien, French Canadian singer (d. 1998)
  • 1958
    Mitch Albom, American writer
  • 1978
    Mike González, American baseball player
  • 1981
    Gwenno Saunders, Welsh dancer and singer (The Pipettes)
  • 1985
    Wim Stroetinga, Dutch racing cyclist

Who died on May 23?

  • 1498
    Girolamo Savonarola, Italian religious reformer and ruler of Florence (b. 1452)
  • 1670
    Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1610)
  • 1783
    James Otis, American lawyer and patriot (b. 1725)
  • 1934
    Bonnie Parker, American outlaw (b. 1910)
  • 1937
    John D. Rockefeller, American industrialist and philanthropist (b. 1839)
  • 1981
    George Jessel, American actor (b. 1898)
  • 1992
    Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer (b. 1948)
  • 2006
    Clifford Antone, American businessman (b. 1949)
  • 2006
    Ian Copeland, American music promoter (b. 1949)
  • 2010
    Leonida Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia (b. 1914)

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