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 –The Netherlands declare their independence from Spain.
- 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.
- 1813 –South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”).
- 1846 –Mexican-American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.
- 1915 –World War I: Italy joins the Allies after they declare war on Austria-Hungary.
- 1958 –Explorer 1 ceases transmission.
- 1995 –The first version of the Java programming language is released.
- 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.
Who were born on May 23?
- 1729 –Giuseppe Parini, Italian writer (d. 1799)
- 1810 –Margaret Fuller, American journalist and feminist (d. 1850)
- 1896 –Felix Martin Julius Steiner, German Waffen-SS officer (d. 1966)
- 1925 –Joshua Lederberg, American molecular biologist, Nobel laureate (d. 2008)
- 1928 –Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
- 1935 –Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish writer (d. 2009)
- 1939 –Michel Colombier, French composer and songwriter (d. 2004)
- 1949 –Daniel DiNardo, American Roman Catholic cardinal
- 1951 –Anatoly Karpov, Russian chess player
- 1979 –Rasual Butler, American basketball player
Who died on May 23?
- 1125 –Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1081)
- 1752 –William Bradford, English-born printer (b. 1663)
- 1813 –Geraud Duroc, French general (b. 1772)
- 1855 –Charles Robert Malden, English explorer (b. 1797)
- 1945 –Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official (b. 1900)
- 1994 –Joe Pass, American jazz guitarist (b. 1929)
- 2008 –Utah Phillips, American folksinger and activist (b. 1935)
- 2010 –Gane Todorovoski, Macedonian literary critic, poet, & publicist (b. 1929)
- 2010 –Leonida Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia (b. 1914)
- 2010 –Simon Monjack, English actor, producer, & writer (b. 1970)
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