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 144th day of the year 2020 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 222 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 10, 2020 – a Saturday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,590,192,000 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 ‘hectatetracontatetragon’ 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 265 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 2,710 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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May 23 Historical Events
- 1498 –Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy, on the orders of Pope Alexander VI.
- 1568 –Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, brother of William I of Orange, defeat Jean de Ligne, Duke of Aremberg and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years’ War.
- 1829 –Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian in Vienna.
- 1846 –Mexican-American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.
- 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.
- 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.
- 1949 –The Federal Republic of Germany is established and the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is proclaimed.
- 1967 –Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran and blockades the port of Eilat at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping.
- 1990 –Jordan Mack was born.
- 1995 –The first version of the Java programming language is released.
Who were born on May 23?
- 1790 –Jules Dumont d'Urville, French explorer (d. 1842)
- 1910 –Scatman Crothers, American actor and musician (d. 1986)
- 1921 –Humphrey Lyttelton, English musician (d. 2008)
- 1924 –Karlheinz Deschner, German researcher and writer
- 1954 –Hans Kruize, Dutch field hockey player
- 1965 –Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo, Spanish footballer
- 1968 –Guinevere Turner, American actress
- 1974 –Mónica Naranjo, Spanish singer
- 1980 –Lane Garrison, American actor
- 1986 –Ruben Zadkovich, Australian footballer
Who died on May 23?
- 1125 –Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1081)
- 1524 –Ismail I, Shah of Persia (b. 1487)
- 1825 –Ras Gugsa of Yejju, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia
- 1966 –Demchugdongrub, Mongolian politician (b. 1902)
- 1986 –Sterling Hayden, American actor (b. 1916)
- 1989 –Karl Koch, West German hacker (b. 1965)
- 1998 –Eminem, American Musician (b. 1972)
- 1999 –Owen Hart, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1965)
- 2005 –Fat-Tone, American rapper (b. 1981)
- 2008 –Utah Phillips, American folksinger and activist (b. 1935)
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